14 CONTEXT 186 : DECEMBER 2025 PETER DE FIGUEIREDO The protection and reuse of large industrial structures Adaptive reuse works best on a broad scale, revitalising an entire neighbourhood or area, and promoting the circular economy by extending the life of buildings. The Industrial Revolution that emerged in Britain in the late 18th century and spread across Europe and North America gave impetus to the development of infrastructure. Subsequent scientific discovery fuelled larger and increasingly more complex systems. From steam engines to national energy networks, and from gas to nuclear power, new technological building types and processes became ever more widespread. International ocean transport required deeper ports and taller cranes; road networks increased traffic demand with longer and more complicated bridges, viaducts, tunnels and flyovers; energy provision moved from localised gas supplies stored in gasometers to national grids; and coal-fired electricity provision with giant cooling towers is being replaced by offshore windfarms and nuclear power stations. The pressure to maintain a healthy economy, now accompanied by the need to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, triggers the continued replacement or improvement of obsolete largescale infrastructure. Do such structures have heritage value? When they are no longer used for their original purpose, what should their future be? While some may be symbolic of the communities to which they were attached, often they are regarded as detrimental to the character of the landscape. But, ironically, the re-use of these structures, which are generally high emitters of carbon dioxide in themselves, could be more sustainable than demolition. In essence, is sufficient consideration given to the protection and adaptive re-use of large engineering structures and, if so, how might they be successfully conserved? In September 2021, the Dorman Long Coal Tower on the former Redcar Steelworks site in Teesside was blown up overnight, two days after the decision to list the building had been quashed by the newly appointed culture secretary, Nadine Dorris. Erected in the 1950s, the huge reinforced concrete tower stored 5,000 tons of coal and was described by Historic England in its short-lived listing description as ‘a rare surviving remnant of the coal, iron and steel industries, standing as a monument to Teesside’s, and England’s, 20th-century industrial heritage.’ Cottam Power Station in 2023 after the partial demolition of the turbine hall (Photo: Isaac Bee, Wikimedia) Dorman Long Steelworks coke ovens (Photo: Reading Tom, Wikimedia)
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