MonoMonday: "Building": Newcastle's Old Coop Store

Nickimags888 has set "Building(s)" as today's MM theme. As I was going into town anyway I took my camera and in spite of the rain I photographed several interesting buildings.

In the end this fisheye view of the old Coop department store in Newgate Street won its place on my blip.

A co-operative society was established in Newcastle in 1860, and the Newcastle Society first acquired property in Newgate Street in 1864. The General Cooperative Survey Committee, appointed at the Co-operative Congress of 1914, recommended that individual co-operative societies establish large ‘emporia’ or department stores. Many urban-based societies did so, and by the interwar years the co-operative movement was able to provide a network of large department stores. The art deco building in this photo was opened in 1932, being designed by L.G. Ekins (an architect working for the Co-operative Wholesale Society). On the right-hand tower (the one in the thumbnail) the word ‘cooperative’ replaces numbers on the clock face. The Newcastle Society’s iconic department store remained open for over seventy years, closing in 2007(although the food hall stayed open until 2011). I can remember several shopping trips there and used to love the staircases in particular, positioned just behind the lovely full-length windows.

This building is attached to an older part of the building round the corner on St Andrew's Street dating from 1902.

After the Coop store closed the building began to decay, but fortunately has now been fully renovated as a Premier Inn hotel. There's a fascinating series of photos taken during the work here if you're interested.