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Report - - DHSS Hebburn / Reyrolle Offices 14/09/2008 | Other Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - DHSS Hebburn / Reyrolle Offices 14/09/2008

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numpty

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
I've put this in here as the haziness of the day didn't lend itself to "high stuff shots", so it's really more to do with the interesting stuff from the fabric of the building.

Monsieur Alphonse Reyrolle decided that Hebburn would make an excellent place to build his engineering empire - god knows why, but next door were such giants as Parsons, Armstrong-Vickers and others.

As most visitors to this site know from the "viewing room" plans, this building was designed and built in the late 50s, early 60s, opening in 1961. The main 8-storey building has a lower, 4-storey executive block on the front, with a sadly, now burnt-out reception area.

The company employed over 12,000 people in it's heyday, and typical of large companies at that time organised mass day trips to the seaside, sponsored sports teams, and invested in the local leisure facilities. Reyrolle's football team was the pre-cursor to the local Hebburn team. By the late 80s the number of employess had dropped below 1000. This tower was taken over by the DHSS in the 70s, when the decline had already started.

The building is riddled with asbestos, which has delayed it's demolition. All of the lead, copper and bronze alloys have been stripped, as have the metal ceiling tiles.

The ground floor is a secure archive area, with safe doors at both ends of the corridor. Then individual fire-proof rooms,
IMG_4810.jpg


Each room had a light switch outside of the room, with a fantastic jewel-shaped indicator light

IMG_4807.jpg



Each room's lighting was wired with "Pyro" cable - normally used for fire alarm cabling, and a heat sensor
IMG_4819.jpg


Working up the building, next was access to the boiler room, although unless you've brought some waders (and possibly an NBC suit) it probably out of bounds now - I loved the yellow scum.
IMG_4833.jpg


I wondered what the hell this was, until I realised that it's a 50s heating thermostat patch panel!
IMG_4835.jpg


Out into the offices then - basically what follows is 8 floors of this (Executive offices aside) It's a bit like flying under the belly of Red Dwarf!
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Broken only by the odd cleaner's cupboard (not for the HDR averse)
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The executive bathroom is one of the oddities - complete with splash guards for executive shoes.
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The executive stairwell is one quite nice tho' with or without HDR
IMG_4882_0_1.jpg


Fast forward to the roof then, the Reyrolle "ghost sign" is just visible on the side of the tower
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The air-intakes for the heating and ventilation were quite spectacular, with Tappanga for scale
IMG_4970.jpg


Need to try and re-visit for some high shots, before the demolition starts.

There's a couple more pics on photobucket, Photobucket | The safer way to store your photos
 
Last edited by a moderator:

IVIik

28DL Member
28DL Member
Re: DHSS Hebburn / Reyrolle Offices 14/09/2008 Report

An interesting site and well worth another visit.

Here's a few of my own pic's:

Switch
Reyrolle01.jpg


Socket
Reyrolle10.jpg


Boardroom
Reyrolle16.jpg


She Geordie waz 'ere
Reyrolle24.jpg


Up on the rooooof
Reyrolle26.jpg


Numpty on Huge Fan
Reyrolle30.jpg


More pics here
 
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