Experimental Dance Theatre Part 1 Project 2007 Steven McGimpsey Newcastle University | UK The project for an experimental dance centre presented the opportunity for a new urban identity in the Lower Ouseburn Valley, a de-industrialised area in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The site possesses severe level changes and is layered with years of industrial heritage giving it an edgy urban grain. The scheme is a direct response to the site complexities and raw urban condition. This project aims to make a positive impact within a neglected and forgotten context by raising cultural awareness and promoting the idea of social inclusion. The expressive form and clear functionality of the building merge to generate exciting, open, public spaces for the whole community. Set in a changing post industrial landscape, extreme, twisting site levels and a rich but gritty context represented an enormous challenge to students. Seeking to capture space to resolve a developed brief while responding to that setting, Steven was able to articulate a new place within the Ouseburn Valley, creating a magnet and focus for culture-led regeneration, and at the same time engage with the possibility of 'escape' through dance. This project demonstrates a mature, pragmatic and stylish response to the brief without losing sight of an architecture able to transport and inspire user, visitor and observer alike.