Dorman Long Tower - Listed Building Status

The council said an independent report by engineers Atkins had found that during its time of non-operation, concrete carbonation has caused the embedded steel reinforcements to corrode, which has resulted in significant cracking and weakening of the concrete, with general age-related wear-and-tear also taking its toll on the tower.

The report also stated it could cost between £7m and £9m to secure the structure and keep it maintained, and even then it would still have to be demolished in the next two decades.
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Way more important things to spend £7-9m on and that's just securing it
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
Way more important things to spend £7-9m on and that's just securing it
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Same with retaining the furnace, high cost for no returns so a few people who never worked there can revere our iron and steel heritage. Newy almost had me trying buy the tower for him the little tinker.
( I'm thinking about riding the black path from the Navi to Warrenby to see what it's like these days.a bit of exercise if nothing else.🚲)
 

Case Name: Dorman Long Coal Bunker Case Number: 1477990​

Background
We have been asked to assess the Dorman Long Tower for listing.

Asset(s) under Assessment​

Facts about the asset(s) can be found in the Annex(es) to this report.

AnnexList Entry NumberNameHeritage CategoryHE
Recommendation
1


Visits		1477999Dorman Long TowerListingAdd to List


none No Visit / Data from other sources


Context​

The Dorman Long Tower is within the large area of the former Teesside Steelworks which closed in 2015 being cleared for redevelopment by Teesworks to form the UK’s largest freeport. It is identified in the local plan as a heritage asset and a public consultation by Tees Heritage Taskforce identified it as a structure to be assessed for retention within the redevelopment.

The local MP, Jacob Young, is campaigning to save the tower, however, a planning application including a method statement has been submitted for its demolition that the local planning authority has today (10 September 2021) approved. Some demolition work outlined in the method statement in preparation for explosive toppling of the tower has already been carried out in advance of gaining permission.

Assessment​

CONSULTATION

Because demolition work is underway, this assessment has been conducted without notification or consultation as an emergency listing assessment.

DISCUSSION

The Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings (November 2018) sets out the criteria used by the Secretary of State in determining whether a building is of special architectural or historic interest and therefore merits listing. This states that ‘careful selection is required for buildings from the period after 1945’ and sets out that ‘Aesthetic merits: the appearance of a building (both its intrinsic architectural merit or any group value) is often a key consideration in listing’ and that ‘Buildings that are important for reasons of technological or material innovation, engineering or as illustrating particular aspects of social or economic history, may have little external visual quality but can still be of special interest.’ Furthermore: ‘State of repair: the general state of repair and upkeep of a building will not usually be a relevant consideration when deciding whether it meets the test of special architectural or historic interest’.

Further general guidance is provided in Historic England’s Listing Selection Guide for Industrial Buildings (December 2017), however this very much focuses on pre-C20 structures with little coverage of post-1945

examples. The Selection Guide does note ‘The coal industry contracted dramatically in the 1980s and early 1990s with many historic sites cleared before a full evaluation could be made of their significance’ which is a comment that could now be said of the British steel industry and is very pertinent in this case. The Dorman Long Tower, is a feature of both the coal industry (coking works being a form of coal processing) and of the steel industry (it being built to serve a steel works). As a structure it is a very rare and (on the basis of available information) considered to be a unique survivor nationally. No C20 coke works are designated. The closest comparator is the Grade II*-listed Carnforth Coaling Plant (National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entry: 1078213), a monumental reinforced concrete coaling bunker built in 1940, and used for the automated refuelling of steam locomotives. Another comparator, which is more architectural in form than Carnforth, is the Grade II* Sugar Silo built 1955 for Tate & Lyle at Liverpool Docks. However, rarity of survival of structures that were never numerous is not a reason to List without other justification.

The Dorman Long Tower was clearly built as a highly functional structure to serve a dirty industrial process, just one component set within an expansive area of heavy industry. Yet its architectural form is also very carefully considered, including many design elements that appear to have been selected for their aesthetics rather than for functional necessity. The tower’s bold form is carefully proportioned and broken up into vertical sections that visibly accentuate the height of the tower. The vertical fins to the side elevations are so thin that their buttressing effect to the walling must be minimal, and the way that they extend above the level of the top parapet also strongly suggests that they were included mainly for aesthetic reasons. What appear to be giant coal chutes to the south elevation also appear to be part of the aesthetics of the structure rather than purely functional. Even the distribution and form of the windows is considered and contributes positively to the architectural look of the tower, balancing the massing of the structure. All taken together, it then becomes obvious that the addition of the company name in bold lettering to the publicly visible southern elevation was a deliberate statement by a confident, newly de-nationalised company. The Dorman Long Tower thus clearly meets the criteria for listing because of its architectural aesthetics. It is a very good example of high-quality Modernist architecture which could be seen as an early example of Brutalist design.

The Dorman Long Tower was built as part of a state-of-the-art coking works by the country’s leading company specialising in coking technology, Simon-Carves Ltd which in the late 1950s was also working with the Atomic Energy Authority contributing to the development of Britain’s nuclear power industry.
Simon-Carves Ltd merged with the leading German firm in the same field, Dr C Otto & Company, in 1974 and continues to operate as an engineering consultancy under the name Otto Simon. The currently limited available information means that the full significance of the technological aspects of the design of the tower are not fully understood, however it is clearly more than a simple storage vessel for coal.

The iron and steel industry that started in Middlesbrough and extended across Teesside was of major historical significance nationally. Dorman Long, the company that dominated that industry for most of the C20, was of international significance, its products and expertise exported across the world. Little physical evidence of that historical significance survives, and much of that which remains is currently being cleared. The Dorman Long Tower was built at a significant point in the history of the company and of Teesside, marking a period of optimism and investment following the Second World War and a brief period of nationalisation. Even now it is seen as an important marker for the history of the industry and region: images of the tower being included within celebratory books about Brutalist architecture, photographic prints and other artistic treatments being available for sale, even designs being reproduced on t-shirts. The Dorman Long Tower was a deliberately bold architectural statement expressing in physical form the national and international significance of the steel works and the Dorman Long company. It is a marker for the optimism of the mid-1950s following the austerity of the early post-war years.

Given the above, the Dorman Long Tower is clearly of both architectural and historic special interest and thus meets the criteria for listing at Grade II.

In recommending the extent of designation, we have considered whether powers of exclusion under s1 (5A) of the 1990 Act are appropriate, and consider that they are not.

CONCLUSION

After examining all the available records and other relevant information and having carefully considered the special architectural and historic interest of this case, the criteria for listing are fulfilled the Dorman Long Tower is recommended for addition to the List at Grade II.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION:

The Dorman Long Tower is recommended for listing 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.

Countersigning comments:

Agreed. This is an important and striking remnant of a largely now demolished steel works, built in the post-war years by the internationally significant Dorman Long firm as a functional structure at the heart of its state of the art coke-works, yet designed with aesthetics in mind and as prominent advert for the firm. This monumental building possesses both architectural and historic special interest and we are therefore recommending its listing at Grade II, without notification or consultation in this instance as demolition has been approved and could occur at any time.

V Fiorato

10 September 2021

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newyddion said:
I didn’t start a petition, I applied for the building to be listed. If I was to start a petition it would be for a plaque to be mounted with the names and faces of those who were responsible for its destruction.
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Is this listing in response to your application, Newy?
 
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