CONTEXT 186 : DECEMBER 2025 17 INFRASTRUCTURE character, but this has been the history of Liverpool’s docks for almost 200 years, with the Old Dock infilled to build the Customs House, the giant Tobacco Warehouse occupying a large part of the Stanley Dock, and the George’s Dock replaced by the magnificent Pier Head buildings, known as the Three Graces. Already the new stadium is acting as a major catalyst to the rejuvenation of the north docks, with many of the vacant historic buildings being converted to hotels, restaurants, bars, independent businesses and retail outlets, while conversion of the Tobacco Warehouse and other industrial buildings for residential use is progressing well. Lessons can also be learned from the regeneration of the Ruhr Valley, Germany’s industrial centre, whose prosperity reached its zenith in the 1950s, followed by rapid decline, as John Pendlebury discusses on page 29. Since then, cities within the region have cooperated in transforming former industrial land and investing in green infrastructure to boost economic renewal and structural development. Within this, an EU-funded project has demonstrated how industrial heritage can be adapted to suit the environmental and economic concerns of the future. The coal mines closed in the 1980s, leaving filthy water and unbreathable air, but now the water bodies are safe for swimming, while Essen, the former industrial heart, has been named Europe’s Green Capital by the EU. Most of the mines have gone, but when the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex closed in 1986, it was immediately bought by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, which declared it a heritage site, accepting the obligation to preserve it in its original state and open it to the public. In 2001 it was inscribed as a Unesco world heritage site. During its working life, the Zollverein was the world’s largest coal mine, and the architectural quality of its buildings is high. The full infrastructure has been conserved: the pits, coking and coal-washing plants, railway lines, power station and boiler house, Dopplebock winding tower, which has become a symbol of the Ruhr’s industrial past, the pit heaps, miners’ housing, and consumer and welfare facilities. This has been achieved through reuse of the buildings for cultural activities, entertainment and tourism, implemented by the Zollverein Foundation. It includes two museums, the Ruhr Museum and the Red Dot Design Museum (the latter converted by Foster + Partners, with much of the original boiler-house equipment still in situ), a restaurant, open-air cinema, sports facilities and regular festivals. The protection of Liverpool’s dockland, Germany’s Ruhr Valley and the King’s Cross project have all relied on a shift in perceptions relating to the socio-economic and environmental values inherent in historic places. Instead of treating monuments and groups of historic buildings as isolated objects, there has been a broader understanding of historic cities as places of habitation, where cultural objects are seen as elements of a wider human context that is constantly changing. Adaptive reuse works best on a broad scale, whereby an entire area or neighbourhood is revitalised. By extending the life of buildings, it also aligns with circular economic principles, which aim to minimise waste and keep resources in hand. This enhances resource efficiency by limiting the extraction of new materials while incorporating energy-saving upgrades to improve operational performance. As such, the longterm benefits are more likely to be economically sustainable, long lasting and cherished. Shaft 12 of the Zollverein coal mine industrial complex, Essen (Photo: Carsten Steger, Wikimedia) Peter de Figueiredo is the reviews editor of Context.
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