The Redevelopment of
High Street West, Sunderland
Welcome
Welcome to the online public consultation for the proposed redevelopment of High Street West, Sunderland.
This website provides information on the proposed development and offers the opportunity to comment on our ambitious proposals.
Please complete a short questionnaire and post any feedback on the ‘Have Your Say’ page by 11th May 2025.
We will consider all comments prior to finalising and submitting a formal planning application in Spring 2025.
Riverside Sunderland
Situated on the banks of the River Wear, Riverside Sunderland is a hugely ambitious regeneration project led by Sunderland City Council.
The Riverside Sunderland Masterplan sets out the strategy for revitalising and reinventing Sunderland City Centre by creating an exciting new urban quarter, regenerating and repurposing large tracts of degraded former industrial land.
Remarkable progress has already been made following the publishing of the Riverside Sunderland Masterplan in October 2020.
Several significant projects have now been completed, including the development of City Hall, The Beam, The Fire Station and the Riverside Multi-Storey Car Park. Several other projects are also underway, including the development of Culture House and the new Sunderland Eye Hospital.
Key features of the Riverside Sunderland Masterplan include:
The development of 1,000 new energy efficient homes in four distinctive neighbourhoods, doubling the city centre population and creating a vibrant new community
The creation of a new central business district with 1 million sqft of modern office space, complemented by space for small businesses and start-ups
Sunderland City Council has already undertaken various developments within Riverside Sunderland which is revitalising and transforming this area into a highly successful, exciting and popular place.
High Street West lies to the south of the River Wear within the ‘Heart of the City’ development zone, forming one of the six areas that constitutes the comprehensive Riverside Sunderland Masterplan.
Riverside Park
Vaux
Farringdon Row
The Heart of the City
Sheepfolds
Ayres Quay
Our Proposals
To support the ambitions of the Riverside Sunderland Masterplan, Sunderland City Council are bringing forward plans for the redevelopment of High Street West.
The four plots will be developed to provide a mixture of uses including retail, commercial, leisure and residential development, generating economic activity and diversifying the city centre offerings in Sunderland.
The redevelopment of High Street West will create new opportunities for living and working in the ‘Heart of the City’, with active ground floor uses forming a focal point within Sunderland City Centre.
The following visuals demonstrate how High Street West may be developed in the future:
Existing Massing
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Potential Future Massing
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Improvements to the public realm of High Street West and St Mary’s boulevard will specifically focus on improving the connectivity of the city centre, making it a safer, more enjoyable experience for pedestrians in particular.
The restoration of the “lost lanes” linking High Street West to St. Mary’s Boulevard will further strengthen links between the old city and the new, creating connections between the City Centre and the Riverside.
The lanes have been neglected for decades, but they are places of character and value, reflected in the richly detailed townscape of Pann Lane and Back Bridge Street.
The proposed redevelopment of High Street West provides the opportunity to use sector-specific benchmarks for Whole Life Carbon reduction, such as the Low Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) for commercial and residential sectors.
As part of the proposed development, Sunderland City Council is working to redesign pedestrian crossing points and servicing arrangements to better serve the routes across the new development.
The principles of reductive design, fabric-first material efficiency, designing for flexibility and robust material selection will ensure that embodied carbon for the development is minimised.
Architectural Sketches
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Creation of lively and engaging urban space
Key principles of the development include:
Architectural Styles
Proposed Facades
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The Benefits
The proposed redevelopment of High Street West would generate the following social, economic and environmental benefits:
Generating up to £210m in capital expenditure
Supporting up to 1,070 direct FTE construction jobs
Generating up to £175m GVA per annum throughout construction
Creation of up to 45,000 sqm of floorspace
Environmental benefits including net gains in biodiversity
Reinvigorating the high street footfall through new quality buildings
Have Your Say
Feedback closed on 11th May 2025. We will consider all comments provided prior to finalising and submitting a formal planning application in Spring 2025.
