South Bank Coke Ovens
" Summary
A Modernist architectural tower built 1955-1956 as part of a state-of-the-art coking plant to supply coke for steel production – a multifunctional building incorporating a coal bunker and handling facilities, control rooms and water tanks for emergency firefighting. It can be seen as an early example of Brutalist architecture.
Reasons for Designation
The Dorman Long Tower is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a recognised and celebrated example of early Brutalist architecture, a fine example of austere design that simply, yet wholeheartedly expresses its function; * a deliberate monumental architectural statement of confidence by the then newly de-nationalised Dorman Long company in the mid-1950s; * a rare (considered to be nationally unique) surviving structure from the C20 coal, iron and steel industries; * a design which is above the purely functional which also cleverly combines control-room, storage and fire-fighting functions for a state-of-the-art coking plant.
Historic interest:
* for its association with, and an advert for, Dorman Long which dominated the steel and heavy engineering industry of Teesside for most of the C20, a leading firm nationally with an international reputation, for example building the Sidney Harbour Bridge.
History
The second half of the C19 saw the dramatic development of the iron and steel industry on Teesside, starting at the new town of Middlesbrough in the 1840s and then expanding along the south bank of the Tees eastwards as plants grew ever larger. The industry drew on the extensive, easily mined iron ores of the Cleveland Hills, which at its peak in the 1880s represented a third of Britain’s total production, Teesside, for a time, being the world’s biggest producer of iron and steel. Dorman, Long and Company was established as a partnership between Arthur John Dorman and Albert de Lande Long in 1876, taking over an established ironworks in Middlesbrough. Through a series of acquisitions and mergers, by 1914, Dorman Long had become the dominant firm on Teesside, diversifying into many areas of heavy engineering as well as being one of the country’s leading steel producers. Further diversification and acquisitions through the first half of the C20, such as the take-over of Bolckow, Vaughan and Company in 1929, saw Dorman Long consolidate its position. Beyond steel production, the company also became an internationally significant firm for structural engineering, perhaps most famously for building the Sidney Harbour Bridge in Australia in 1923-1932, as well as the similar Grade II*-listed Tyne Bridge in Newcastle (1925-1928). In 1951, the company, along with most of the country’s iron and steel businesses, was nationalised. This period of state ownership was short-lived, and Dorman, Long and Company was de-nationalised in 1954, being re-organised into a series of subsidiary operating companies, one being Dorman, Long (Steel). This new company took over the operation of several established works on Teesside, but also made significant new investment, including the construction of a new, state-of-the-art coke works at South Bank in 1955-1957 designed by the specialist firm Simon-Carves Ltd. This coke works consisted of two ranges of coking ovens flanking the central tower which is the structure that is the subject of this listing. In operation, pulverised coal was loaded via conveyor into the upper part of the north side of the tower, the bunker loading floor being marked by regularly spaced windows. Coal was then dispensed via chutes into chargers on the second floor, the chargers would then have been run along the tops of the east and west ranges to feed the plant’s 130 coking ovens via gravity. The ovens then heated the coal in the absence of air to a very high temperature to concentrate the carbon content and drive off impurities, producing the high-quality fuel required for steel production. The ground floor of the tower included control rooms for the plant. To the roof of the tower, integrated as part of the structure, there are large open-topped water tanks which formed the stand-by reservoir for the site’s fire-protection ring main for emergency firefighting.
The tower was designed as a highly functional structure, but it was also clearly crafted to make a bold architectural statement, being Modernist in design which here can be seen as an early example of Brutalism. The term ‘Brutalism’ was coined by British architects Alison and Peter Simpson in 1954, being derived from the French term for raw concrete. Brutalist architecture is typically characterised by the large-scale use of concrete to produce massive, monolithic, geometric structures.
The tower’s bold form is carefully proportioned and broken up into vertical sections that visibly accentuate the height of the tower, which is about 56m. The broader north and south faces are broken up into three with a broad central section above the coal handling floor breaking forward, that to the south carrying the bold lettering ‘Dorman Long’, clearly using the company name as an advertisement of modernity and confidence to people travelling along the railway line that passes to the south. The east and west elevations are also broken into three, this time with projecting fins that extend slightly above the level of the parapet at the top of the tower. Although these fins may contribute to the structural integrity of the tower, providing a degree of buttressing, their thinness and the way that they extend above the parapet strongly suggests that their inclusion was at least partially for architectural aesthetics. The sizing, positioning and distribution of the window openings is also carefully considered, subtly adding to the overall architectural design of the tower, each window being divided into a vertical stack of three equal lights by transoms. The careful consideration given to the architectural design of this highly functional industrial building is becoming increasingly recognised with the commercial reproduction of images of the tower as well as its inclusion in books on Brutalist architecture.
Dorman Long (Steel) became part of the nationalised British Steel in 1967, the coke works being replaced in the early 1970s by a new plant. The Dorman Long Tower was retained because of its continued use as a reservoir for firefighting, but the ovens, and most of the associated equipment and structures were stripped out and demolished.
Details
Multi-functional tower (coal handling and storage, control rooms and fire-control water reservoir) 1955-1956 by Simon-Carves Ltd for Dorman, Long (Steel).
MATERIALS: reinforced concrete with some refractory and other brickwork.
EXTERIOR: the tower is approximately 56m high, rising from a rectangular footprint with the north and south elevations being of four bays, the east and west being three bays. The central two bays of both the north and south elevations break forward from the third-floor level, that to the south carried by thin tapering fins to form imitation giant coal chutes. Above, on the south face, in large bold lettering in two lines is the company name ‘Dorman Long’. Immediately above this lettering there is a floor level of regularly spaced windows, a larger opening being central to the north elevation which was where the coal supply conveyor originally entered the structure. The top-most floor has just two windows, these set to the central section of the south elevation. The sections of the top of the tower on the east and west sides are blind because these form open-topped water tanks. The east and west elevations of the tower are divided into three by thin, projecting fins which extend slightly above the level of the tower-top parapets. The lower three floors of the east and west elevations include the remains of the demolished flanking ranges.
INTERIOR: has been largely stripped out of equipment and control gear, but with some surviving features such as the coal charging chutes set into the roof of the first floor along with evidence of the control function on the ground floor.
Sources
Books and journals
Chadwick, P, This Brutal World, (2016)
Williams, M, The Steel Industry in England: An Historical Overview (Historic England Research Report 65-2019), (2019)
Websites
Grace's Guide to British Industrial History: Dorman, Long and Co, accessed 09 Sept 2019 from gracesguide.co.uk/Dorman,_Long_and_Co "
South Bank Coke Ovens
" Summary
A Modernist architectural tower built 1955-1956 as part of a state-of-the-art coking plant to supply coke for steel production – a multifunctional building incorporating a coal bunker and handling facilities, control rooms and water tanks for emergency firefighting. It can be seen as an early example of Brutalist architecture.
Reasons for Designation
The Dorman Long Tower is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a recognised and celebrated example of early Brutalist architecture, a fine example of austere design that simply, yet wholeheartedly expresses its function; * a deliberate monumental architectural statement of confidence by the then newly de-nationalised Dorman Long company in the mid-1950s; * a rare (considered to be nationally unique) surviving structure from the C20 coal, iron and steel industries; * a design which is above the purely functional which also cleverly combines control-room, storage and fire-fighting functions for a state-of-the-art coking plant.
Historic interest:
* for its association with, and an advert for, Dorman Long which dominated the steel and heavy engineering industry of Teesside for most of the C20, a leading firm nationally with an international reputation, for example building the Sidney Harbour Bridge.
History
The second half of the C19 saw the dramatic development of the iron and steel industry on Teesside, starting at the new town of Middlesbrough in the 1840s and then expanding along the south bank of the Tees eastwards as plants grew ever larger. The industry drew on the extensive, easily mined iron ores of the Cleveland Hills, which at its peak in the 1880s represented a third of Britain’s total production, Teesside, for a time, being the world’s biggest producer of iron and steel. Dorman, Long and Company was established as a partnership between Arthur John Dorman and Albert de Lande Long in 1876, taking over an established ironworks in Middlesbrough. Through a series of acquisitions and mergers, by 1914, Dorman Long had become the dominant firm on Teesside, diversifying into many areas of heavy engineering as well as being one of the country’s leading steel producers. Further diversification and acquisitions through the first half of the C20, such as the take-over of Bolckow, Vaughan and Company in 1929, saw Dorman Long consolidate its position. Beyond steel production, the company also became an internationally significant firm for structural engineering, perhaps most famously for building the Sidney Harbour Bridge in Australia in 1923-1932, as well as the similar Grade II*-listed Tyne Bridge in Newcastle (1925-1928). In 1951, the company, along with most of the country’s iron and steel businesses, was nationalised. This period of state ownership was short-lived, and Dorman, Long and Company was de-nationalised in 1954, being re-organised into a series of subsidiary operating companies, one being Dorman, Long (Steel). This new company took over the operation of several established works on Teesside, but also made significant new investment, including the construction of a new, state-of-the-art coke works at South Bank in 1955-1957 designed by the specialist firm Simon-Carves Ltd. This coke works consisted of two ranges of coking ovens flanking the central tower which is the structure that is the subject of this listing. In operation, pulverised coal was loaded via conveyor into the upper part of the north side of the tower, the bunker loading floor being marked by regularly spaced windows. Coal was then dispensed via chutes into chargers on the second floor, the chargers would then have been run along the tops of the east and west ranges to feed the plant’s 130 coking ovens via gravity. The ovens then heated the coal in the absence of air to a very high temperature to concentrate the carbon content and drive off impurities, producing the high-quality fuel required for steel production. The ground floor of the tower included control rooms for the plant. To the roof of the tower, integrated as part of the structure, there are large open-topped water tanks which formed the stand-by reservoir for the site’s fire-protection ring main for emergency firefighting.
The tower was designed as a highly functional structure, but it was also clearly crafted to make a bold architectural statement, being Modernist in design which here can be seen as an early example of Brutalism. The term ‘Brutalism’ was coined by British architects Alison and Peter Simpson in 1954, being derived from the French term for raw concrete. Brutalist architecture is typically characterised by the large-scale use of concrete to produce massive, monolithic, geometric structures.
The tower’s bold form is carefully proportioned and broken up into vertical sections that visibly accentuate the height of the tower, which is about 56m. The broader north and south faces are broken up into three with a broad central section above the coal handling floor breaking forward, that to the south carrying the bold lettering ‘Dorman Long’, clearly using the company name as an advertisement of modernity and confidence to people travelling along the railway line that passes to the south. The east and west elevations are also broken into three, this time with projecting fins that extend slightly above the level of the parapet at the top of the tower. Although these fins may contribute to the structural integrity of the tower, providing a degree of buttressing, their thinness and the way that they extend above the parapet strongly suggests that their inclusion was at least partially for architectural aesthetics. The sizing, positioning and distribution of the window openings is also carefully considered, subtly adding to the overall architectural design of the tower, each window being divided into a vertical stack of three equal lights by transoms. The careful consideration given to the architectural design of this highly functional industrial building is becoming increasingly recognised with the commercial reproduction of images of the tower as well as its inclusion in books on Brutalist architecture.
Dorman Long (Steel) became part of the nationalised British Steel in 1967, the coke works being replaced in the early 1970s by a new plant. The Dorman Long Tower was retained because of its continued use as a reservoir for firefighting, but the ovens, and most of the associated equipment and structures were stripped out and demolished.
Details
Multi-functional tower (coal handling and storage, control rooms and fire-control water reservoir) 1955-1956 by Simon-Carves Ltd for Dorman, Long (Steel).
MATERIALS: reinforced concrete with some refractory and other brickwork.
EXTERIOR: the tower is approximately 56m high, rising from a rectangular footprint with the north and south elevations being of four bays, the east and west being three bays. The central two bays of both the north and south elevations break forward from the third-floor level, that to the south carried by thin tapering fins to form imitation giant coal chutes. Above, on the south face, in large bold lettering in two lines is the company name ‘Dorman Long’. Immediately above this lettering there is a floor level of regularly spaced windows, a larger opening being central to the north elevation which was where the coal supply conveyor originally entered the structure. The top-most floor has just two windows, these set to the central section of the south elevation. The sections of the top of the tower on the east and west sides are blind because these form open-topped water tanks. The east and west elevations of the tower are divided into three by thin, projecting fins which extend slightly above the level of the tower-top parapets. The lower three floors of the east and west elevations include the remains of the demolished flanking ranges.
INTERIOR: has been largely stripped out of equipment and control gear, but with some surviving features such as the coal charging chutes set into the roof of the first floor along with evidence of the control function on the ground floor.
Sources
Books and journals
Chadwick, P, This Brutal World, (2016)
Williams, M, The Steel Industry in England: An Historical Overview (Historic England Research Report 65-2019), (2019)
Websites
Grace's Guide to British Industrial History: Dorman, Long and Co, accessed 09 Sept 2019 from gracesguide.co.uk/Dorman,_Long_and_Co "