Love and loathing for two distinct buildings

FOR anyone of a certain vintage who's familiar with the changing layout of Newcastle city centre, this now-vanished view of Pilgrim Street will likely be indelibly etched in the memory.

- DAVID MORTON

Newcastle's Pilgrim Street and the Odeon cinema in 1995, by Malcolm Maybury, and below, the new Pilgrim's Quarter office complex taking shape

Over the decades, the muchloved Odeon Cinema attracted countless Geordie filmgoers; although its next door neighbour, the multi-storey Commercial Union House - inexplicably sticking out into the middle of the street like a sore thumb - was rarely a source of affection.

It’s all change now, of course. Work is progressing at pace on the new Pilgrim's Quarter complex which will become home to 9,000 civil servants working for HMRC when they move from their current offices in Longbenton and Washington. The building is set to be handed over to HMRC for fitting out this year, with the opening taking place in 2027.