Newcastle Science Central teaching centre approved

The building's mesh cladding is a reference to the work of Newcastle-born mathematician and meteorologist Louis Fry Richardson

A £29m learning and teaching centre at a science and engineering hub has been approved.

The facility at Newcastle Science Central will have a flexible auditorium and lecture theatre for 2,200 Newcastle University students.

Pro-vice-chancellor Prof Suzanne Cholerton said the facility would provide an "excellent environment" for learning and research.

The £350m hub is based on the site of the old Scottish and Newcastle brewery.

The building's shape is a reference to its location on Oystershell Lane, Prof Cholerton said

The new building will have a "sustainable urban drainage system" to hold back rainwater running off the site.

It will also house an exhibition space and a number of seminar rooms.

Design team Sheppard Robson said it had a "strident design that resonates both with the campus context and the city's history of scientific innovation".