Housing for All

The Farrell Centre in Newcastle announces its 2026 season, exploring how to provide “Housing for All”.

Good quality, affordable housing should be available to everyone. But in Britain in 2026, this isn’t the case. Far too many people are stuck in housing that’s unaffordable, badly maintained, or unsuited to their needs—and far too many are without a house at all. It isn’t that we don’t know how to make good housing, but that we struggle to do so at scale and where it’s needed most.

Across 2026 via exhibitions, installations, events, walking tours and a symposium, the Farrell Centre is exploring what needs to change to bring an end to the current housing crisis and how we can build a city, region—and country—that provides housing for all.

Newcastle Quayside at 40
February 26–December 18, 2026

2026 marks forty years since the inception of the plan to regenerate the Newcastle Quayside and transform this former industrial area, which had fallen into decline, decay and widespread dereliction, into a place that the city could once again be proud of.

The project involved many partners, but at its core was the strategic oversight of the Tyne and Wear Development Corporation, the place-making expertise of developers Amec (now known as Muse), and the urban vision of Sir Terry Farrell, who oversaw the masterplan.

This exhibition brings together a range of archive materials that explore the ideas and aspirations that shaped the regeneration plan and the individuals and organisations who drove them forward, alongside a newly commisioned film produced by WithLove Studio and the LDN Collective.

The exhibition has been organised in partnership with Muse, original developers of Newcastle Quayside

Housing Standardisation
February 26–December 18, 2026

This exhibition examines how housing design governance and lived experience shape the quality of homes and the wellbeing of residents via 37 in-depth case-studies from England, Chile, China, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. 

Based on a three-year study by Professor Sam Jacoby of the Royal College of Art and a team of researchers and practitioners, the exhibitin analyses the political, economic, social, historical, and environmental drivers of design, alongside the experiences of their residents.

The exhibition at the Farrell Centre is complemented by a further series of case-studies documenting recent Housing in the North East, organised by Dr Dhruv Sookhoo of the Manchester School of Architecture.

The Housing Standardisation research project and resulting exhibition was funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. The exhibition at the Farrell Centre is supported by the Royal College of Art and the Manchester School of Architecture.

Graham Williamson: Song of the Suburbs
March 5–May 29, 2026

As part of the BFI’s National Archive Our Screen Heritage programme, Teesside-based film-maker Graham Williamson has compiled nearly a century of archive footage from movies, television, amateur film and the internet to tell the story of the British suburbs. Are they conformist or eccentric? Conservative or radical? Normal or surreal? This film  reveals they’re all these things, and more.

Our Screen Heritage is supported by the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.

Where We Live Now
A series of events tackling the big questions facing housing in Newcastle, the North East and beyond.

Council Housing Now: March 26, 2026
Exploring the past, present and future of council housing in the North East.

Rethinking New Towns: April 16, 2026
Designer Wayne Hemingway rethinks New Towns.

Urban Living: May 21, 2026
After the Urban Renaissance: living in the city centre today. 

Radical Housing: September 24, 2026
Alternative housing models—responsive, collaborative, ecological.

The Art of Retrofit: October 29, 2026
Creative approaches to refurbishing and reimagining existing housing.

Housing Manifesto: November 26, 2026
Creating a collaborative manifesto for the future of housing in the North East.

Urban explorers
A programme of walking tours around notable housing projects in Newcastle and the North East, including Byker Estate, Killingworth, Peterlee, Staithes, Sunderland and Ouseburn.

Re: New Towns
April 16–August 28, 2026

A project by Malaz Abdelgadir, Nazheef Ab Razak, Vish Mistry and Navanita Silambanan, Masters students from the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at Newcastle University, exploring the possibility of a new town in the North East of England. The installation aims to create a dynamic space for interaction and collaboration, posing a range of speculations, potentials and possibilities for how we design, build and inhabit landscapes.

Symposium: April 16–17, 2026
Two days of presentations, papers and workshops addressing what a “New Town” can mean today and offering a range of local perspectives on national planning policies. Organised in collaboration with the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at Newcastle University.