Event Information

Date: Tuesday 24th March 2026

Time: 1:00pm – 6:45pm

Venue: Northern Design Centre, Abbotts Hill, Baltic Business Quarter, Gateshead, NE8 3DF

Room: The Presentation Suite – Design Hub

How to get to the Northern Design Centre

By bus

If you’re coming from Newcastle City Centre, the VOLTRA 53 bus from Mosley Street (Grey Street Hotel), and this will take you to Gateshead College.

By car

The best location for nearby parking is Quarryfield Road at Gateshead College, which uses the PayByPhone parking app. This is just a 5-minute walk from the Northern Design Centre’s entrance.

By metro

The Gateshead Stadium Metro is a 20-minute walk away. You can also get off at Gateshead Interchange Metro and hop on the VOLTRA 53 bus, which takes around 6-minutes and drops you off outside Gateshead College.

What to expect when you get there

When you get to the venue, you will need to give Nathan from Sunderland Software City your full name that you used to book your ticket. 

You don’t need to bring your actual ticket.

The room is located to the left of the main entrance. There is no cloakroom so you will need to bring your coats/bags with you into the space.

During the event

At 1pm, Sunderland Software City will introduce themselves as the delivery partners of this event and the Access:Given conference, the Design Talks programme and TechNExt. They will then introduce Wojtek and his workshop.

There will be a break halfway through the workshop for comfort and catering. This will likely be supplied by Olivia’s Kitchen. When you booked your ticket, you will have let organisers know about any food restrictions you had (allergens, religious, dietary), and they will be clearly marked.

The workshop will start again after 30 minutes.

After Wojtek’s workshop ends, there will be another break. This is to allow new attendees to the evening session to arrive.

Daire’s talk will start at roughly 5:15pm, and will end close to 6:00pm, including time for questions. 

At 6:00pm, there is time for networking and chatting, until 6:45pm when people will be asked to leave. Everyone needs to be out of the building by 7:00pm.

After the event

The main entrance to the Northern Design Centre closes at 5pm. This means you will have to exit the building by the rear entrance.

This is downstairs, and exits through the car park. You can use either the lift or the stairs in the main reception to get to this entrance.

Wheelchair accessibility

The building is fully wheelchair accessible, with internal and external step-free access. If people are leaving after 5pm, they will be asked to use the rear entrance. This is downstairs and leads to an exit through the car park.

Wheelchair users can get to the rear exit by the lift in the reception area.

Toilet Facilities

Gender neutral toilets are on the ground floor to the left or right of the main entrance. Both sides additionally have a gender-neutral accessible toilet. These accessible toilets utilise the National Key Scheme (NKS), often called Radar Keys, for access. Radar Keys are available at the reception desk.

There is an additional accessible toilet and washroom on the lower-ground floor, next to the rear exit.  

General access

Speaker slides will be displayed on a large screen to ensure readability.

Contact Information

If you have any questions, requirements, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Email: nathan.rowland@sunderlandsoftwarecity.com