Architects wake up to appeal of Newcastle’s reinvented railway hotel

150 150 Daniel Fountain
  • 0

Sleeperz Hotel Newcastle, a reinvention of a classic railway hotel in Newcastle city centre, has been shortlisted for a prestigious award by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Sleeperz Newcastle – the 98-bedroom premium budget hotel near Newcastle Central Station – has caught the attention of judges at RIBA, whose awards honour buildings that achieve the highest architectural standards and make a substantial contribution to the local environment.The sleek glass fronted hotel opened on Newcastle’s Westgate Road in January on the site of a derelict former Parcel Works close to Central Station.

Sleeperz Hotels, a fast growing innovative UK budget hotel operator, specialises in building stylish design-led hotels on unusually shaped land in city-centres near mainline railway stations.

It opened its first hotel in Cardiff in 2008 and has plans to open new hotels in Birmingham, London and Manchester by 2015.

David Myers, chief executive of Sleeperz Hotels, said: “We are passionate about creating hotels that are beautiful landmark buildings located in Britain’s leading city centres. To be shortlisted for this prestigious architectural award less than six months since opening our Newcastle hotel is proof that we are achieving our goals.”

The property has been nominated in the RIBA Hadrian Awards, the regional awards for the North East, from which the winners are put forward for the national RIBA Awards. The winners of those awards are considered for the RIBA Stirling Prize.

The hotel will find out whether it has won the award at the RIBA Hadrian Awards ceremony in Leeds later this month.

“Our Newcastle hotel is a welcome addition to the capital of the North East region. The building is sleek, modern and stylish and blends naturally into a city scape boasting iconic buildings and landmarks including Newcastle Castle Keep, St James’ Park football ground, the Tyne Bridge and the Georgian architecture on Grey Street,” said Mr.Myers.

It is not the first time that Sleeperz approach to building hotels has caught the attention of RIBA. In 2010, its landmark Cardiff hotel won the RIBA Wales Award.

Martin Knight, chair of the RIBA Awards judges 2010, said: “The whole Sleeperz operational model is an innovation and the resulting construction cost per room suggests many more sites could be made to work with this sort of thinking and with clever design tailored to small sites.

This is not back-to-basics architecture but possibly a reinvention of the city-centre hotel model for a money-conscious world.”

Both the Cardiff and Newcastle properties are designed by award-winning architects Clash Associates, who have succeeded in making the hotels into modern, highly-visible and instantly recognisable buildings.

Daniel Fountain / 24.06.2012

Editor, Hotel Designs

Share

  • 0

Fun fact: I’m usually the person friends rely on to organise trips, schedules, and group plans.

Workhighlights: Successfully coordinating events from planning through to delivery and seeing everything come together on the day.

Fun fact: I’m a keen cyclist and will happily bore people with copious amounts of cycling chat. My top cycling experience (so far) would have to be riding in the spectacular mountains of Crete.

Work highlights: Charles joined Forum Events in 2022. With a background in publishing, editorial media and events, Charles brings a wealth of experience to his role as Senior Production Manager. Having being involved with SPACE from the outset, he is excited to see the brand grow and develop.

Fun fact: People tell Sienna she gives off Bridget Jones vibes, and she loves to bake, always making sure there are shortbreads floating around the office

Work highlights: Sienna joined Forum Events & Media Group while studying Communications and Media, starting in the sales team where she managed and helped launch the first the PA Life Leading Venues of London SHOWCASE, where she built relationships with luxury venues across the capital. Drawn to the stories behind these spaces, she naturally transitioned into the editorial team, creating social media and editorial content. Upon graduating in June 2026, she is excited to be joining as Assistant Editor for Hotel Designs and SPACE.

Fun fact: When not working, Jess can usually be found tending to her kitchen garden in the Sussex countryside or foraging for herbs in the nearby woods. A keen grower, she recently studied a RHS Level 2 Diploma in the Principles of Horticulture during her spare time.

Work highlights: Jess joined SPACE magazine in 2022 and has since progressed from Assistant Editor to Editor. During this time, she has worked across many aspects of the publication – from shaping editorial strategy and overseeing operations to contributing to art direction and representing the brand on stage at industry events including Surface Design Show and WOW!house.

Alongside her role at SPACE, Jess has built a creative career spanning the arts, culture, design and travel sectors. Prior to joining the magazine, she spent more than a decade in the commercial art industry, in artist liaison, gallery management, and curating collections for the hospitality sector across hotels and cruise ships. During this time, she also worked on freelance projects as a writer, photographer, and creative content producer.
 
Jess studied photojournalism at London College of Communication and the Danish School of Media and Journalism and holds a first-class BA (Hons) in Culture, Criticism and Curation from Central Saint Martins.

Fun fact: Katy has spent years perfecting all kinds of accents and loves a good impersonation!

Work highlights: Katy has been with Hotel Designs since the beginning, way back in 2015 when Forum Events & Media Group acquired the brand.

During this time, she has fostered many meaningful relationships with clients from across the hospitality spectrum, as well as playing a pivotal role in the launch of The Brit List Awards, Hotel Designs MEET UPs, client-led roundtables and panel talks, brand and website redesigns, HD Wellness Sets, DESIGN POD podcast, Hotel Designs LIVE panel talk series, Accessible Design Talks and more. Katy is always on the lookout for the next opportunity to help grow the Hotel Designs brand even further.
 
Most recently Katy has stepped in to the role of Publisher at SPACE magazine, the printed bi-monthly publication focused on hotel design, architecture, and development.

Together these platforms offer a comprehensive 360-degree service encompassing digital media, print publishing, and live events – providing unparalleled value to advertisers, partners, and readers alike.