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Report - - Stephenson House, Killingworth, Feb 13 | Other Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Stephenson House, Killingworth, Feb 13

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H1971

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
After Magpie423 had done the research on this place we decided to give it a go. Rather eventful entrance which ended up me nose butting a plank whilst getting a helping hand off Magpie lol . Anyway once in we had a look around not much too see and the place is trashed. Evidence of ware thieves. Unfortunally we set off a Pir so had to leave rather quickly. History a bit sketchy I'm afraid.
History -
The fate of buildings from the 1960s in the northeast is becoming a matter of great concern to those interested in the modern architectural heritage of the region. Important buildings from this period are being systematically altered or demolished and none more so than the work of pioneering modernists Ryder and Yates in Killingworth, where the local authority has received demolition notices for two of their buildings, Norgas House (1965) and Stephenson House (1969).
Norgas House was the first in the series of progressive industrial designs by the practice and after completion in 1965, was quickly followed by the Gas Council’s Engineering Research Station, the office building Stephenson House, Norgas Training College, a separate computer building also for Norgas, a School of Engineering, the Lion Brushworks, the Amberley Citadel and even the practice’s own offices: the eventual ensemble of 12 representing possibly the most sustained architectural endeavour in a complementary range of modern buildings by a single firm anywhere in the country. Had several of the works not been damaged or demolished, a case for designating the whole of the Ryder and Yates’ Killingworth Township a conservation area would have been worthy of consideration.The loss of any of their works would be a disaster for our modern architectural heritage – as it is only the Gas Research Station is listed and others in the series remain vulnerable to misuse and neglect on the part of their changing owners. In addition to the individual interest of the various buildings they undertook for the new township, there is considerable group interest in the way the whole series works together to illustrate the emergence of an entirely new genre of industrial architecture in a regenerated setting. This series of buildings by Ryder and Yates in Killingworth is a unique contribution to the development of modern architecture in England; there simply isn’t anything like it anywhere else, by any architect either geographically or in terms of an episode in post-war architectural history.
An application for the spot listing of Stephenson House has been made to English Heritage soon to be followed by a further one for Norgas House.
Pics - sorry did not get my own external's so took these from google earth

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Demo of Norgas House opposite well under way
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Enjoy :)
 
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