Fenwick Newcastle’s shopfront has always been more than an architectural feature—it has shaped how the city interacts with one of its most important retail institutions. As the first Fenwick store in the UK, established in 1882, it has continually evolved, responding to changing shopping habits and urban growth. Yet over time, the shopfront’s openness to the street has gradually diminished. What was once an active threshold between Fenwick and the public has become increasingly closed off, weakening its presence on Northumberland Street and limiting its connection with the people of Newcastle.
As part of our ongoing collaboration with Fenwick, we have been tasked with reimagining the shopfront—exploring how it can once again become a permeable, engaging space that strengthens its relationship with the street. To visualise this transformation, we developed a timber and acrylic model, mapping the shopfront’s evolution over time. This study allowed us to interrogate the changing nature of the façade and present our vision for a renewed dialogue between Fenwick and the city.
A LEGACY OF TRANSFORMATION
Our historic investigation traced the evolution of this shopfront through key moments in time:
1885 – Intricate metalwork and curved glass framed the entrance, drawing people into the store with a sense of elegance and transparency.
1913 – A deep threshold created an immersive retail experience, blurring the boundary between the street and the shop interior.
1950 – Glazed arcades at street level invited pedestrians to engage with displays, transforming window shopping into an interactive experience.
1990s to Present – A shift away from openness resulted in a more enclosed façade, with entrances pushed to the corners and the shopfront becoming a single-sided presence, limiting its connection with the street.
This gradual closing off of the shopfront, we found, weakened its relationship with the city. The absence of a central entrance and the loss of transparency meant Fenwick’s once-engaging dialogue with the public had become muted.
RE-ESTABLISHING A CONNECTION
Our model, crafted in acrylic and timber, visualises this transformation through layers of floor plans, each illustrating how the shopfront’s permeability has shifted over time. The solid and raised blocks represent the increasing enclosure of the store, while the open elements highlight moments when the shopfront actively engaged with Newcastle’s public realm.
Our design proposal reintroduces this lost connection by centralising entrances within fully transparent curved glass façades. This re-establishes the shopfront’s role as a permeable threshold—a space where pedestrians on Northumberland Street can visually and physically engage with the activity inside Fenwick.
A PHYSICAL DIALOGUE
This model was created for the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, responding to the theme of ‘Dialogues’. Through our approach, we sought to illustrate multiple layers of conversation—between the building and the street, the commercial interaction between the shop and the city, and the human connection between shop workers and the public. By reintroducing transparency and openness, our proposal strengthens these dialogues, ensuring Fenwick Newcastle remains a vibrant and inviting presence in the heart of the city.
By revisiting Fenwick Newcastle’s historic relationship with the street, our proposal seeks to create a shopfront that is both rooted in its past and fit for the future. Through thoughtful design, the building can once again invite people in—restoring its role as a key meeting point on Northumberland Street and reinforcing its connection to the city it has served for over a century.