Owing to modern developments in gas storage, gasholders are increasingly obsolete and are therefore being demolished or reinvented across the country. Amir Bassir, who works in our Northampton team, has been developing rapid survey techniques for the historic building recording of gasholders and other historic infrastructure across the East and West Midlands, and he tells us more…
Gasholders in the modern landscape
A visible link between producers and consumers, gasholders are a familiar landmark in the urban skyline. These structures, which fuelled Britain's post-industrial development and growth, represent the last visible remains of our former town-gas industry. The recently granted Listed status of Kennington Gasholder 1, overlooking the Oval cricket ground, and the conversion of gasholders at King's Cross to a public park and apartments, reflect a continuing public interest in Britain's industrial and architectural heritage and the desire to see some of the physical structures retained and incorporated into developments.
However, many former gaswork sites are also being redeveloped provide sites for much-needed residential and other developments. The largest owner of gasholders in the UK is National Grid, who own around 500 gasholders across 350 sites and in 2013 announced that 76 gasholders had been earmarked for redevelopment. As part of their decommissioning and dismantling scheme, they commissioned a programme of archaeological recording.
