Prestwick Park is a 350-acre rural estate, located between Newcastle International Airport and Ponteland, and anchored by the Grade II* listed Prestwick Hall – an early 19th-century classical villa designed by renowned Newcastle architect John Dobson.
Estate
Since the 1980s, the estate has been owned and stewarded by the Wilson family, who have invested with care to guide its transition from a working farm into a more diverse place of enterprise, heritage, and environmental responsibility.
In 2005, the Wilsons repurposed the estate’s agricultural buildings to create a business park comprising 15 self contained offices, which today hosts a thriving community of small and medium-sized enterprises.
The centre offers architecturally distinctive office space neighbouring the Hall, with excellent connectivity and a reputation for nurturing business growth.
The current Northumberland Local Plan includes 2.5ha of land allocated for the business park’s expansion, and the family is currently advancing designs and arranging financing to deliver the first new office building on this site, responding to sustained demand from existing tenants requiring grow-on space and new business enquiries.
The remainder of the estate is currently private land, save for a short section of National Cycle Network Route 10 and a bridleway that links the Hall and business centre to the A696 and Ponteland.
Prestwick Hall
Owners of the estate or manor have been traced back to the thirteenth century and the reign of Henry III.
The current Prestwick Hall was built around 1816 and was designed by John Dobson, only 4 years after he began his distinguished career as an architect. This is one of his earliest and most successful classical houses.
Described as ‘a little gem of a three bay villa... a Greek Temple but on the smallest possible domestic scale’ by Dobson enthusiast, Lyall Wilkes, this family home and estate is much loved by its owners. Mike and Kim Wilson bought the hall in 1979 and set about restoring the Grade II* listed building which had been used during World War II as a prisoner of war camp for Italian and German officers. A decade later they bought the surrounding 350 acres of farmland to give additional protection to the unique beauty and originality of the setting.
Business Park
In 2005 the farm buildings were converted and redeveloped into the stylish offices now available at Prestwick Park. Architect Kate Fischer created concept designs featuring distinctive rooflines which would be eye-catching when viewed from the air, as the airport is nearby.
The business park was then developed by the property development company run by Chris Wilson (son of Mike and Kim), working with Newcastle-based PJC Architecture.
The contemporary office units were built using reclaimed Northumbrian stone, and rubble from the demolished agricultural buildings was crushed on site and used as a concrete base for the car park and access road.
The slates on the distinctive feature roofs were sourced from La Sagesse school in Newcastle, appropriately a Dobson building from the same era as Prestwick Hall.
Design Ethos
A priority for the Wilsons during their stewardship of Prestwick Park has been to deliver environmental improvement, including through sustainable building design and construction.
For the business park, this meant creating a high-quality development using traditional materials, drawing inspiration from the layouts of Oxford and Cambridge colleges, which have pedestrian walkways and large areas of lawn, inviting people to make outdoor spaces part of their normal working day.
Where possible, the original stone and brick buildings were retained and restored, complemented by new modern buildings that reclaimed Northumbrian stone from work being done at Tuggal Hall.
The Wilsons were fortunate that the timing of construction coincided with the demolition of part of John Dobson's La Sagesse School, which enabled the sourcing of 19th century roof slates for the office buildings.
To find out more, please contact us today by sending us an email or giving us a call.
Telephone: 01661 872203 | Email: info@prestwickpark.co.uk