Tar very much

Wimpey Homes North East is winning plaudits from a wide range of sources for its remarkable conversion of the HO Wills tobacco factory in Newcastle on Tyne. The original building was completed in 1950 and saw 35 years' service making cigarettes before falling into disuse in 1986. Located on the main Coast Road about a mile east from the city centre, the Art Deco-inspired Wills Building is a regional landmark and, despite its comparative youth, it was listed to try and ensure that it would be redeveloped to respect the fabric of the structure. It was bought by a local developer, Garthwood, who in turn hired architects Wildblood Macdonald to draw up a redevelopment scheme. However, the timing was bad and, as the property market slumped, no suitable use for the building was found.

Gradually the rear of the site was sold off for housing land until all that stood was the front section, facing onto the main road. For 10 years, people scratched their heads trying to figure out what to do with it. With a depth of 20 m, it was reckoned to be impractical for housing: not only was it too wide but the fenestration is awkwardly placed and the site is bounded by a dual carriageway and the main East Coast railway line, hardly a prime housing location. However, all other development avenues were to prove fruitless and the building fabric was being vandalised and was rapidly decaying. Reluctantly it had been decided that the only course left was demolition. Even English Heritage agreed. The final planning meeting which was to seal its fate was set for summer 1997.

Step forward Bruce Wheelan, Wimpey Homes' regional director. He lives in nearby Whitley Bay and is a regular commuter along this stretch of road. He dared to think the unthinkable and at this late stage made an approach to Garthwood with a view to converting the Wills building into private housing for resale. A deal was struck with remarkable speed and a team assembled to tackle the unique problems posed by the conversion.

Wimpey's brief was straightforward: convert the structure into flats with as little change to the external shell as possible. Architect Michael Wildblood had been involved in the redevelopment plans all through this period. He was retained by Wimpey and asked to deliver marketable living space.

"We had to overcome four particular problems to make the scheme work for Wimpey," says Wildblood. "Obviously the 20 m depth of the building was the major one, but we also had to find a way to cut down on traffic noise and solar gain on the south side, facing onto the main road. Finally, we had a problem getting adequate ventilation to these front flats - because of the traffic noise we couldn't depend on trickle vents or opening windows."

The layouts of the individual apartments are governed by the fact that natural light is present on just one aspect: consequently the living rooms and bedrooms are adjacent to the windows and the kitchens and bathrooms are tucked away next to the corridor. No way is it an ideal floor layout, but the high ceilings and the large glazed areas really help to give a sense of space to each unit. The feel of the development as a whole is greatly enhanced by the interior design by Double Dimension of Leeds of the common areas: lots of chocolate and cream painted MDF lending the corridors a faintly theatrical touch. And the entrance lobby, open the full height of the building, is very sexy indeed. At least, the Tyneside housebuyers think so because they are being attracted to the scheme like moths to a flame.

"It's selling very well," said Ian Laight, Wimpey Homes North East technical manager. "We took more than 40 deposits before anyone had even moved in and we've already had several price rises." This despite a flat market and high profile local redundancies - the mothballed Siemens plant is just two miles away. "The very fact that the Wills building is such a well-known landmark has, in itself, drawn in an enormous number of curious visitors."

The selling prices being achieved are now well in excess of £100 /ft², an uplift of 25% on the local benchmark, and the final sales value of the entire conversion is currently estimated at £9m, significantly ahead of the £6-7m costs. Wimpey Homes has shown that it is possible to regenerate a listed building in a marginal location and to turn in a healthy profit into the bargain - without any grant money at all.