The Sage Gateshead opened in 2004 as a cutting-edge international music centre, Sir Norman Foster’s stunning elegant steel-and-glass curved design is Newcastle’s answer to Sydney’s Opera House or Bilbao’s Guggenheim. Controversial in design, it features a sweeping, stainless steel roof that is "shrink-wrapped" around the buildings beneath it. Love it or hate it, it has become a leading musical and cultural beacon for the north-east.
