Introduction
Another from mine and Jake’s Merseyside trip. I love the modernist and minimalist interior of this site so I was excited to visit. We also did Pilkington’s old sandwash plant, my recent report of this can be found here if of interest.
Company History & Information
This is one of the many sites dotted around the St Helen’s area which was used by the Pilkington Glass company. The company was originally known as St. Helens Crown Glass Company and was established in 1826 by John William Bell. The company is very well known around the area of St Helen’s and was the largest employer in the area for a period of time.
In the fifties, employees Alastair Pilkington and Kenneth Bickerstaff made a breakthrough in the glass industry by inventing the float glass process. This involved a method of producing flat glass by floating molten glass over molten tin baths. The benefit of this method was to avoid the need to grind and polish plate glass in order to make it transparent, thus saving money. £28 million was spent in R&D for this process. Surprisingly, Pilkington licensed its industry competitors to use this same process rather than keeping it to itself. Either way, it seems that it certainly paid off and changed the glass industry forever. As of today, there are around 500 glass float lines in the world, and is now considered to be an industry standard.
After this breakthrough, Pilkington became a major world supplier of glass to some of the world’s largest companies and dipped its toes into numerous industries. The automotive industry was one of the most notable areas Pilkington focused on, supplying companies like Mercedes-Benz aswell as offering a wide range of aftermarket solutions for both modern and classic cars.
Here’s a simplified timeline of notable events occurring in the company following 1849 (taken from the Pilkington website):
Pilkington still owns and operates several sites in St Helen’s and across the country. The St Helen’s sites include Cowley Hill Works, Watson Street Works, and Greengate Works. The company also has a technical centre a bit further away in Ormskirk, and various other sites across the UK including specific sites dedicated to its automotive operations.
Site History & Information
The site which the canteen sits on was formerly Pilkington’s world HQ. The main office block is one of the tallest buildings in St Helen’s and dominates the skyline with its futuristic design and blue glass windows. It is also a listed building. Once Pilkington moved out of these offices in 2015, the building was leased out to other businesses, as of March 2023, there were nearly 30 businesses here, but in the same month, they were given two months' notice to leave the premises due to the energy crisis and economic instability. I’m not sure if this is still the case, perhaps someone local to the area could advise?
As for the canteen itself, it has sat derelict for years (longer than the diminish of the World HQ on the site) and was never re-occupied. It sits in a dilapidated state with boards all round and piles of concrete and rubble in the building. It has been pretty much fully stripped out. It is a shame. Although not exactly groundbreaking, the building is very nice externally but the interior is absolutely lovely with multiple art-deco staircases and landscaped airing courts at each end of the building which makes for some nice photos and also creates a really nice atmosphere in the place. The canteen spans across two floors (in addition to an underground section), and overlooks the lake and the former HQ block.
The Explore
We had no issues and was very chilled out, entry was easy even though initially we thought it would be fully sealed as it got popular earlier on in the year. There were a couple of kids in there but they left after they saw us. We also had a walk over the bridge to take some shots of the main office, when a random security guard came out of nowhere. I just told him I was taking photos and he didn't even answer me, very strange. Anyway, we just walked away and headed back to the hotel after that.
Onto the photos…
Here’s a pic I came across online with a view of the front of the canteen building in 1964:
Here's what the building looks like now, it is in a sorry state:
The airing courts are the main attraction of the site. Absolutely fantastic in my opinion!
There is a bit more to it of course:
A rusting thermostat on one of the nice tiled poles:
Electrical gubbins:
Beautiful staircases:
I assume these on the ceiling were used for either ventilation or were just skylights. Either way, pretty cool:
A nice old elevator with the big zig-zag metal doors. Can't get enough of these:
And another, this one was a bit smaller and was situated in the centre of the building:
There was also an underground section with some extant machinery and pipework:
And that's pretty much it, thanks for looking.
Another from mine and Jake’s Merseyside trip. I love the modernist and minimalist interior of this site so I was excited to visit. We also did Pilkington’s old sandwash plant, my recent report of this can be found here if of interest.
Company History & Information
This is one of the many sites dotted around the St Helen’s area which was used by the Pilkington Glass company. The company was originally known as St. Helens Crown Glass Company and was established in 1826 by John William Bell. The company is very well known around the area of St Helen’s and was the largest employer in the area for a period of time.
In the fifties, employees Alastair Pilkington and Kenneth Bickerstaff made a breakthrough in the glass industry by inventing the float glass process. This involved a method of producing flat glass by floating molten glass over molten tin baths. The benefit of this method was to avoid the need to grind and polish plate glass in order to make it transparent, thus saving money. £28 million was spent in R&D for this process. Surprisingly, Pilkington licensed its industry competitors to use this same process rather than keeping it to itself. Either way, it seems that it certainly paid off and changed the glass industry forever. As of today, there are around 500 glass float lines in the world, and is now considered to be an industry standard.
After this breakthrough, Pilkington became a major world supplier of glass to some of the world’s largest companies and dipped its toes into numerous industries. The automotive industry was one of the most notable areas Pilkington focused on, supplying companies like Mercedes-Benz aswell as offering a wide range of aftermarket solutions for both modern and classic cars.
Here’s a simplified timeline of notable events occurring in the company following 1849 (taken from the Pilkington website):
- Late 1800s – Siemens furnaces developed by William Windle Pilkington (son of founding brother Richard) which allowed continuous molten glass flow, rather than the intermittent pot method. He also developed more efficient lehrs (the furnace used for cooling, or annealing glass), reducing annealing time to hours rather than days.
- 1894 – Pilkington Brothers became Pilkington Ltd.
- 1901 – Pilkington UK became the only British manufacturer of plate glass after buying the first plate glass works built at Ravenhead
- 1927 – Baron Harry Pilkington joined the company.
- 1945 – Sir Alastair Pilkington was offered a position within the company.
- 1949 – Baron Harry Pilkington was appointed chairman of the company. Sir Alastair Pilkington was appointed as production manager at the plate works in Doncaster.
- 1951 – Pilkington UK bought out its last remaining UK competitor, Chance Brothers. The Chance Brothers were responsible for Paxton’s glass house in Chatsworth (demolished in 1920) and Crystal Palace in London (destroyed by fire in 1936). Alastair Pilkington returned to a post in St Helens.
- 1953 – Baron Harry Pilkington knighted.
- 1957 – Cowley Hill 1 (CH1) is chosen to be the pilot plant for float glass production and is converted from plate glass production to float.
- 1959 – The float process was announced to the glass-making world.
- 1968 – Baron Harry Pilkington created a life peer, taking the title of Baron Pilkington.
- 1981 – UK5 opens with 400 employees, a number which was considered small for the task of float glass production; however the advancement in technology led to the reduction of people required on the factory floor.
Pilkington still owns and operates several sites in St Helen’s and across the country. The St Helen’s sites include Cowley Hill Works, Watson Street Works, and Greengate Works. The company also has a technical centre a bit further away in Ormskirk, and various other sites across the UK including specific sites dedicated to its automotive operations.
Site History & Information
The site which the canteen sits on was formerly Pilkington’s world HQ. The main office block is one of the tallest buildings in St Helen’s and dominates the skyline with its futuristic design and blue glass windows. It is also a listed building. Once Pilkington moved out of these offices in 2015, the building was leased out to other businesses, as of March 2023, there were nearly 30 businesses here, but in the same month, they were given two months' notice to leave the premises due to the energy crisis and economic instability. I’m not sure if this is still the case, perhaps someone local to the area could advise?
As for the canteen itself, it has sat derelict for years (longer than the diminish of the World HQ on the site) and was never re-occupied. It sits in a dilapidated state with boards all round and piles of concrete and rubble in the building. It has been pretty much fully stripped out. It is a shame. Although not exactly groundbreaking, the building is very nice externally but the interior is absolutely lovely with multiple art-deco staircases and landscaped airing courts at each end of the building which makes for some nice photos and also creates a really nice atmosphere in the place. The canteen spans across two floors (in addition to an underground section), and overlooks the lake and the former HQ block.
The Explore
We had no issues and was very chilled out, entry was easy even though initially we thought it would be fully sealed as it got popular earlier on in the year. There were a couple of kids in there but they left after they saw us. We also had a walk over the bridge to take some shots of the main office, when a random security guard came out of nowhere. I just told him I was taking photos and he didn't even answer me, very strange. Anyway, we just walked away and headed back to the hotel after that.
Onto the photos…
Here’s a pic I came across online with a view of the front of the canteen building in 1964:
Here's what the building looks like now, it is in a sorry state:
The airing courts are the main attraction of the site. Absolutely fantastic in my opinion!
There is a bit more to it of course:
A rusting thermostat on one of the nice tiled poles:
Electrical gubbins:
Beautiful staircases:
I assume these on the ceiling were used for either ventilation or were just skylights. Either way, pretty cool:
A nice old elevator with the big zig-zag metal doors. Can't get enough of these:
And another, this one was a bit smaller and was situated in the centre of the building:
There was also an underground section with some extant machinery and pipework:
And that's pretty much it, thanks for looking.
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