Gas Council Engineering Research Station

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Gas Council Engineering Research Station[1]
ERS
Gas Council Engineering Research Station is located in Tyne and Wear
Gas Council Engineering Research Station
Location within Tyne and Wear
Former namesGas and Engineering Research Station
Alternative namesBritish Gas Engineering Research Station
General information
TypeEngineering Research Centre
AddressKillingworth, Tyne & Wear, NE12 0SB
Coordinates55°02′10″N 1°34′48″W / 55.036°N 1.58°W / 55.036; -1.58
Elevation60 m (197 ft)
Current tenantsNorth Tyneside Planning Dept
Construction started1966
Completed1967
Inaugurated1967
ClientGas Council
OwnerBritish Gas, Northern Gas Board
Technical details
Structural systemPre-cast reinforced concrete
Floor count3
Floor area50,000 sq ft
Design and construction
Architect(s)Peter Yates
Architecture firmRyder & Yates & Partners

The Gas Council Engineering Research Station was a former engineering research institute on Tyneside, situated in a distinctively-shaped and listed building, now occupied by the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside.

History

Design

It was designed by Ryder & Yates in 1965, who also designed the Television Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne. Ryder and Yates had formed in 1953 in Newcastle. It was built under the former Northumberland County Council. The Northern Gas Board had its main headquarters in Killingworth. It was first announced in November 1965. It was built in anticipation of North Sea gas. Killingworth was a north-east new town, known as Killingworth Township. It was planned to open in the summer of 1968. It was built on the site of Killingworth Colliery. The modernist architecture is developed from Le Corbusier and Berthold Lubetkin.

Construction

It was built from 1966-67 on a 10-acre site. An extension was added from 1975-76 to contain a restaurant.

It was Grade II listed on 27 January 1997 by English Heritage (Historic England since 2015).[2]

Structure

It is situated[3] directly between the B1505 to east and the East Coast Main Line (ECML) to the west, in the west of Killingworth. Nearby to the south was the former distinctively-designed headquarters, Norgas House, of the Northern Gas Board, also designed by Ryder & Yates, until North Tyneside agreed its demolition in 2012.[4]

Block A housed the Engineering Research Station and Block B housed the School of Engineering.[5]

Function

It housed the main research function of British Gas, where the National Transmission System (NTS) was designed. The research centre's first function was to design the pipeline system around the UK. It researched metallurgy and pipelines, and avoiding any cracks in the UK's pipelines.

British Gas left the site in 1995 and North Tyneside Council moved in. In 2008, North Tyneside moved most of its functions to Cobalt Park on the A19.

See also

References

  1. ^ Concrete Quarterly 80 Spring 1969 Page 22
  2. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1259313)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  3. ^ Geograph
  4. ^ Norgas House demolition 2012 Evening Chronicle
  5. ^ North Tyneside Enhancing the Built Environment

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gas_Council_Engineering_Research_Station&oldid=1083052976"