Middlesbrough's Northern School of Art: Funding agreed for campus move

The new college will be built near Sainsbury's supermarket opposite BBC Tees

Multimillion-pound funding has been approved for the relocation of part of a 140-year-old art college.

Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) agreed £14.5m to facilitate the Northern School of Art's move across Middlesbrough.

The first images of the college's proposed building on Newport Road have also been revealed.

Art school principal Martin Raby said the money was a "major step forward" in an "exciting new chapter".

"As the region's only specialist creative institution, it makes sense for our campus to be closer to Boho in Middlesbrough and at the heart of the creative and digital cluster in the town," he said.

The building will be covered with glazed terracotta panels to reflect its ceramics courses

Councillors heard the 1960s campus had "reached the end of its economic life" and was not suitable for teaching in the 21st Century.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the current facilities were "dreadful".

"For something as unique as the Northern School of Art it's just not fit for purpose," he said.

The college wants to expand its curriculum and increase the numbers going on to take degrees, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The new location will also offer improved transport links.

Subject to planning approval the new campus will open by September 2021 with the existing building, off Green Lane in Linthorpe, demolished.

The college has three campuses - one in Middlesbrough and two in Hartlepool, the first of which was opened in 1870.