100m Tall Plans Mooted For Sunderland

There might be a recession on but that doesn't stop some companies. Thornfield Properties are the latest developer to sense they should get in just in time for the start of the next property cycle, and with this in mind they've been working on a long term plan that will involve a massive new residential and retail development in the middle of Sunderland's Holmeside.

Aspirationally named the Spirit of Sunderland, a title that makes it sound more like a ship, the scheme features a huge new shopping centre with pedestrian routes running through under glass canopies to shelter shoppers from the elements.

Situated on one end of the mall is a residential tower with two interconnected curving vertical elements and a sloping roofline that will rise 33 storeys and contain an exclusive cocktail bar on its 24th floor in addition to the 150 apartments.

It's expected that the tower could rise to a height of 100 metres, which will not make it the tallest building north of Manchester as the PR for the scheme has erroneously claimed. Glasgow's Savoy Centre will be taller but Sunderland's current tallest comes in at a mere 60 metres.

The plans come from the pens of architecture firm Page and Park and are at this stage only outline ideas. The scheme will need to be firmed up before a planning application gets underway meaning even the fastest turnaround on the scheme will not see it start to rise out of the ground until the economy has started to recover.