Forthquarter Images, Granton gasholder building demolition photos, Development
Forthquarter, Edinburgh
Former Granton Gasworks developed by SecondSite, Scotland
Granton gasholder demolished – 2004
Explosion
Controlled explosive demolition of the remaining tall gasholder at Granton:
Gasholder at Granton – photographs: Maurice McDonald Pool Pa/Photo 15 August 2004.
Forthquarter Edinburgh
SecondSite’s Forthquarter development project at Granton was the 2004 RICS International Regeneration Award winner.
Forthquarter News
Gilberts have received Planning consent for 150 flats at Plot 20 Forthquarter Granton, Edinburgh on behalf of clients Hart Estates and Places for People
Forthquarter: Building information issued Aug 2004 by Secondsite
Edinburgh’s skyline is set to change for the better with the controlled explosive demolition of the redundant Number Two gasholder on the former Granton Gasworks site (expected to take place on Sunday 15 August but weather-dependent).
The removal of the 250 foot high industrial structure – a dominant feature of the north Edinburgh coastline since its erection in 1930 – will open up views across the Forth and allow further future development on SecondSite Property’s 110-acre ForthQuarter site at Granton. The tallest of the three gasholders which stood on the site was dismantled last year.
Specialist contractors will carry out the demolition by the controlled use of explosives at key points on the already-weakened gasholder structure. This will topple the holder which will then collapse onto a pre-identified area where it can be cut into manageable sections. As much as possible of the 1,200 tonnes of scrap metal will be cleaned and recycled to minimise waste.
The 250-foot holder had a capacity of 5 million cubic feet and was built by Robert Dempster & Sons.
Local residents have been informed about the gasholder’s demise through a community letterdrop conducted around the perimeter of the gasworks site.
The City of Edinburgh Council has also been consulted about holder project, and Lothian and Borders Police will assist with health and safety issues on the day of the demolition.
Commenting on the Granton project, SecondSite’s UK Head of Sales Stewart Macintyre said: “Removal of the gasholder marks yet another milestone in the transformation of the former gasworks into a major mixed use development in the heart of Edinburgh’s Waterfront”.
The ForthQuarter site was recently named as a 2004 Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) International Regeneration Award Winner. It is already home to the new Scottish Gas headquarter building and work is currently underway on the new £32 million Telford College campus.
The site, which will take around 15 years to complete, will also feature at least 2,000 residential units, 75,000 sq metres of office space and a planned local centre to be operated by William Morrison Supermarkets if a current planning application is granted.
PA photographer Maurice Macdonald
Granton Harbour
Llewelyn-Davies Masterplan
Madelvic
Waterfront Edinburgh – Wm Morrison
Granton Masterplans,
1998-2003
1. West, incl. gasometers: SecondSite – formerly Lattice Property Holdings
2. Middle, incl. Madelvic factory: Waterfront Edinburgh Ltd.
3. East, incl. Granton harbour & Forth Docks: Forth Ports Plc
These complex masterplans and accompanying buildings are explained at the Granton page. Developments are recorded in various weeks’ news.
Granton Waterfront Development
The Granton harbour area is principally owned by three organisations, going from West to East:-
SecondSite Property own approx 44 ha (109 acres), based on the former Gasworks including the three gasometers.
Waterfront Edinburgh Limited, owns much of the land around The Strand & Caroline House, between SecondSite and Forth Ports.
Forth Ports PLC, own 39 ha mostly in the harbour area. Forth Ports also own large tracts of land to the East, in Newhaven and Leith, and is the largest Edinburgh landowner of the three.
The area encompassed by the Masterplan (originally developed by architect-masterplanners Llewelyn-Davies) is more than 176ha and will involve one of the largest reclamations of brownfield sites ever undertaken in the East of Scotland.
EDAW and CZWG were both involved in drawing up early masterplans.
Development of the area as a whole is expected to last 15-20 years, during which time some 9000 jobs are due to be created, and 6,500 “affordable” homes built. Education, retail, community, entertainment and leisure facilities will also be accommodated on the site.
West: SecondSite – incl. gasometers, Centrica, Telford College
West: SecondSite
‘ForthQuarter’ site
Secondsite property (SSP), formerly Lattice
www.theforthquarter.co.uk
www.secondsite-property.com
Principal Architects: Foster & Partners
Secondsite has committed more than £20m towards the construction of a new Waterfront access road and to its current programme of site activity at Granton. These involve remedial works to address its historic coal-based gas production legacy, and the planned demolition of its gasholders.
photograph © Adrian Welch
SecondSite’s Forth Quarter includes approx. 8ha landscaped public open space, 75,000 sq m of office/business space – including Centrica HQ, hotel & leisure facilities, 2,000 residential dwellings, Telford College, a primary school (competition Autumn 2003 – approx. 90 entries reported), a local centre of 10,500 sq m for retail & mixed commercial use, and inclusion of strategic links for a proposed 10-mile tram route (‘East Loop’) proposed to link Granton and Leith with the city centre. ‘Granton Links Park’ is proposed, public transport interchange facilities and retention of the listed gasworks gatehouse.
04.02.03
Granton Gasholders
photograph © Adrian Welch
SSP own the ‘Granton Gas Works’ – a large industrial complex which developed from 1898. Originally built for the Edinburgh and Leith Corporations, the site passed to the Scottish Gas Board and, following de-nationalisation and break-up, is now operated by Transco, the gas distribution company, with part of the site home to Scottish Gas, the combined utility supplier.
Aerial photograph [below] showing demolition staff at work at the top of the gasholder. In the background of the photograph can be seen the new headquarters office building being built for Scottish Gas.
photograph: Ken Whitcombe
KENBARRY PHOTOGRAPHY/AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY SOLUTIONS
107 Lathro Park, Kinross, KY13 8RU Scotland UK Tel: 01577 863757
The demolition and removal of both 275-feet high gasholders which dominate the Waterfront area will be one of the largest visual changes to Edinburgh’s coastal skyline, but the B-listed gas holder, the low central one and oldest of the three, will remain by Historic Scotland request.
‘One of Edinburgh’s tallest industrial structures which dominates the city’s coastal skyline is gradually disappearing, in an four-month demolition programme for SecondSite Property, which owns the 110 acre former Granton gasworks site.
The holder’s removal symbolises the renaissance of the Edinburgh Waterfront area, which has seen recent decisions by both Scottish Gas and Telford College to relocate onto SecondSite’s land – now renamed as the city’s “ForthQuarter” – into new, purpose-designed buildings. The 300-foot high easternmost gasholder is undergoing a progressive dismantling programme by contractors using a 150-tonne crawler crane.
The 5,000,000 cubic-feet holder was built by Clayton & Son of Leeds in 1970, but was decommissioned around 1999, and is now surplus to the needs of gas storage providers Transco. The site’s two remaining holders, although decommissioned, remain’.
Centrica HQ
Foster & Partners created a masterplan for 110 acres around the former gasworks and designed Centrica HQ, headquarters for Scottish Gas, topped out June 2003. This 93,000 sq.ft, energy-efficient building will be available for planned occupancy in August 2003.
Telford College
One of Scotland’s largest further education colleges plan to relocate to 8.4 acres of SSP’s land. Telford College proposes to replace its existing four campuses with a single, £30m custom-built four-storey building set to be one of the largest in the Waterfront to date.
The largest purpose-built college to be created in Scotland for approximately 30 years, the £60m relocation package has received a £21m grant from the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC). A planning application was due to be submitted late in 2003 and the completion is due summer 2005.
Telford Deal (Dec 2003)
The house-building giant Miller has bought three sites totalling 26 acres from Telford College, and hope to build about 800 private and affordable residential units.
Telford College is building a £60m campus on a ten-acre site at Granton, the largest (30,000 sqm) purpose-built college in Scotland for 30 years on the gasworks site acquired from Second Site Properties. The four-storey building designed by HOK Architects is to be constructed on the site of the former Granton gasworks is due to be complete by summer 2005, catering for around 20,000 students and 600 staff.
Competition Bid
120 mixed residential units creating street with hidden courtyards behind. Finalist collaboration with Wickham van Eyck & Richard Murphy Architects 2002
Comments / photos for the Forthquarter Property page welcome