Inside the Norfolk Hotel as birthplace of Sunderland AFC enters new chapter

Work is nearing completion on phase 1 of a £500,000 project to give new life to the former hotel which has had a colourful past.

Dating back to the mid 1800s, with a new entrance created in 1900, the building, in Norfolk Street, has a long history in the city, from the building where SAFC was created at a meeting in 1879, to its time as a grand hotel, the site of many weddings, and, in more recent years, as a hostel.

Although many of its original features remain, the site had been seriously neglected and fallen into a state of disrepair, becoming something of a white elephant in the city centre.

Sunderland-based Marengo Estates took over the 16,000sqft hotel and its 45 bedrooms back in 2022, with ambitious plans to repurpose the site for the future.

The team has encountered many problems along the way, including wet rot, dry rot, structural issues and break ins, meaning they have gone £100,000 over their initial budget.

But, in the coming weeks, the first of the new tenants will move into phase 1 in the former townhouse section of the old hotel.

Marengo specialises in quality commercial spaces, for a whole range of creatives and businesses, and they’ve created 12 new spaces in the townhouse, as well as making the building accessible.

Mark Burns Cassell, director at Marengo, said: “We’ve encountered so many unforeseen circumstances, which is commonplace with heritage buildings, but you just have to roll with the punches and have self belief. It’s very much been a vertical learning curve, we encountered things we never have before with this project.”

Marengo has more than 100 commercial spaces across Sunderland city centre, created by repurposing old buildings, including a string of buildings in Norfolk Street, studios at 35 West Sunniside, a former brewery in back Norfolk Street and Hills Arts Centre at the former Hills book shop in Waterloo Place.

Their tenants include everything from tarot card readers and reiki practitioners to dance studios and tattoo artists.

“Our commercial spaces are aimed at people who don’t fit the model of regular business parks,” explained Mark.

The social entrepreneur added: “The Norfolk has been a constant learning curve. So to finally see something tangible, fire doors going in, and everything looking fresh and clean, is a big moment for us.

“The state of the building when we took it on was unbelievable, I still retch when I think of the smells. So to see it now is incredible.”

The Norfolk has a significant history in Sunderland and bears a blue plaque which honours the fact that the red brick building was once home to the British Day School, playing host to a meeting of local school teachers in 1879 which would lead to the formation of Sunderland AFC, originally known as Sunderland and District Teachers’ Association.

“This building is the birthplace of SAFC and has had so many iterations in its life,” said Mark. “I have been in love with this building for years and have always wanted to buy it.

“It’s a privilege to be behind the transformation of a building like this and to unlock its potential. It comes with a history of negative perceptions and connotations, but we’ve repurposed it for a brighter future.

“We've had so much support from the community and so many people want to see the project succeed. The UKSPF Levelling Up Fund and Sunderland City Council's award of a capital improvement grant have been really instrumental to us in getting the doors open for phase 1 of the development”

With phase 1 nearing completion, work will now turn to the outside of the building, which has already had a new roof and structural reinforcement, as well as phase 2, which will create a further 40 commercial spaces.

The Norfolk has some parking to the back of the old hotel, and backs onto Nile Street car park, one of the surface level car parks which still offers free parking after 3pm.

24-hour security has also been installed.

Sunniside Up

Marengo Estates was granted £175,000 UKSPF levelling up funding via Sunderland City Council for the project.

“The Norfolk ties in with wider strategic plans for Sunniside, there’s a lot of positive noise and progress in the area at the minute and it’s great to be a part of that,” said Mark.

Sunniside has seen a number of new businesses open in recent years, such as the Sunshine Co-operative, Pop Recs, Bridge Hotel Vaults and Diego’s.

Work has also started on creating the new ‘Nile + Villiers’ housing development.

It will see the creation of 75 homes and 575 sqm of commercial space at a site bound by High Street West, Villiers Street, Coronation Street and Nile Street as part of wider plans to improve Sunniside.

Meanwhile, the old Peter Smiths Antiques warehouse has been earmarked for the proposed Glassworks site, with the project already awarded a £5m grant from the DCMS Cultural Development Fund, towards the £7.5m project.