Lottie Consalvo and James Drinkwater live, make and collect art in one of the most storied buildings in Newcastle.
Words Kym Elphinstone & Jo Higgins
Photography Dave Wheeler
JAMES Drinkwater was at the pharmacy waiting for a vaccination when he got talking with the person in front of him. “He said, ‘You’re those artists! You should
buy my building!”’
The building was Longworth House, originally known as Wood’s Chambers, designed and built by the German architect Frederick Menkens in 1892 for merchant and brewer Joseph Wood. “They say if you throw a stone in Newcastle, you hit a Menkens building.”
Drinkwater grew up in Newcastle and recalls the mythology surrounding Longworth House. During its lifetime, which has been punctuated by periods of abandonment and dereliction, it was bought by William Longworth, donated to a mysterious patriots society, and used as a function centre and legendary punk venue.
