BALTIC stands on the south bank of the Tyne in Gateshead, in the former Baltic Flour Mills. Rank Hovis built the mill to a late-1930s design by Gelder and Kitchen, and it began operating in 1950. Dominic Williams of Ellis Williams Architects won the 1994 competition for the conversion. Gateshead Council bought the building. The article calls the result simple, honest and industrial.
The tower is 138 feet (42 m) tall with 13 levels and a 1,000-ton steel frame. The conversion kept the red and yellow brick and the lettering. New materials include glass, concrete, aluminium, Welsh slate, Cor-Ten steel and Swedish pine.
It opened at midnight on July 13, 2002, after four years of construction, at a cost of £50 million. It has no permanent exhibition. Awards include a 2003 RIBA award. The article gives no hours.
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