Beacon House Whitley Bay completed 1959.
Client: JM Liddell
Photograph: David Bilbrough
Cycling twixt Newcastle and Amble, I espied a tower block upon the horizon.
Leaving the coastal path I came upon Beacon House.
Research lead me to the work of Ryder and Yates Architecture.
Two pioneering young entrepreneurial architects who worked with Le Corbusier and Ove Arup first met in the office of Berthold Lubetkin. In 1953, they formed Ryder and Yates in Newcastle upon Tyne. That Le Corbusier, Lubetkin and, to no less extent Newcastle born Arup, had a powerful influence on the subsequent design philosophy of Gordon Ryder and Peter Yates can still be seen in any evaluation of Ryder’s work today.
Their work celebrated in this RIBA publication.
Beacon House is and elegant eleven storey tower, modest in scale yet rich in detail.
Two tiled elevations to the north and south.
Elegant balconies of a refined construction.
Plus a curious curved shell surrounding the entrance, along with a cantilevered covering.
Sadly this Peter Yates mural Procession of Shells is now lost.
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