Derwent Tower (The Rocket)...
Derwent Tower (also known as the Dunston Rocket) was a 29-storey residential apartment building in Dunston, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom,
the tower stood directly behind the Dunston Social Club on Ravensworth Road, due to its unusual shape it was nicknamed the "Dunston Rocket" during construction (even before its official Derwent Tower title) and the name remained with locals throughout its life. It has now been demolished.
The tower was designed by the Owen Luder Partnership on behalf of Whickham Council, which controlled the Dunston area of Gateshead. The original brief was for three high-rise blocks of at least 22 storeys,but due to adverse ground conditions on site the decision was made to build one tower, with the rest being
low-rise blocks of two to five storeys. Despite the architect's advice against construction of a high-rise building on the site, the council were strongly
in favour. Following many consultations and explanatory models of the foundations with specialists, construction of the foundations began in February 1968, and the tower was completed in March 1971.
Construction was complex because of the very poor ground conditions. The foundations were based on a sunken concrete caisson that was built above ground then sunk over a period of time. Caisson foundations are often found in harbour construction; being used in the 1960s for a local authority tower block was a first, and the caisson became an underground garage area for residents.
The tower had a very bold and striking appearance, unlike any other tower block or high rise building in the UK. It was of a Brutalist design with lots of design similarities with Gateshead's "Get Carter car park" also a product of the Owen Luder Partnership. The tower housed two-bedroom flats up to the 10th floor, one-bedroom flats floors 11 to 29.
Derwent Tower (also known as the Dunston Rocket) was a 29-storey residential apartment building in Dunston, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom,
the tower stood directly behind the Dunston Social Club on Ravensworth Road, due to its unusual shape it was nicknamed the "Dunston Rocket" during construction (even before its official Derwent Tower title) and the name remained with locals throughout its life. It has now been demolished.
The tower was designed by the Owen Luder Partnership on behalf of Whickham Council, which controlled the Dunston area of Gateshead. The original brief was for three high-rise blocks of at least 22 storeys,but due to adverse ground conditions on site the decision was made to build one tower, with the rest being
low-rise blocks of two to five storeys. Despite the architect's advice against construction of a high-rise building on the site, the council were strongly
in favour. Following many consultations and explanatory models of the foundations with specialists, construction of the foundations began in February 1968, and the tower was completed in March 1971.
Construction was complex because of the very poor ground conditions. The foundations were based on a sunken concrete caisson that was built above ground then sunk over a period of time. Caisson foundations are often found in harbour construction; being used in the 1960s for a local authority tower block was a first, and the caisson became an underground garage area for residents.
The tower had a very bold and striking appearance, unlike any other tower block or high rise building in the UK. It was of a Brutalist design with lots of design similarities with Gateshead's "Get Carter car park" also a product of the Owen Luder Partnership. The tower housed two-bedroom flats up to the 10th floor, one-bedroom flats floors 11 to 29.
Detail Planning Stage...
Regeneration of Ravensworth Road.
The project which was illustrated in the 1967 Preview Issue of " Architectural Review" alongside the best schemes of some of the largest housing authorities in the country, is now in detail planning stage, work is expected to start in the autumn (1967) with the first new homes becoming available in 1968, when complete will contain 383 dwellings of various sizes it is anticipated that the whole scheme will be completed by the end of 1971. The architects for the development were Owen Luder and Brian Jones Partnership. Construction was approved by committee in 1967
Shopping...
About 14 shops with a supermarket will be provided within the scheme, to replace old, largely dilapidated shops along side Ravensworth Road and to provide up -to-date facilities for people living in the area to carry out their every day shopping, a Social Club will be built to replace the old one in Clavering Avenue and a petrol service station provided as a general amenity. However, one important link with the present will remain, the Cross Keys Public House.
The task of an architect engaged to redevelop the Ravensworth Road area of Dunston, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear was immense. So many of the requirements are contradictory - better finishes, bigger rooms, the best layout and yet less money to spend plus maximum open space for recreation
and pleasant outlook. Tall tower blocks of flats create their own problems and yet not to have them can so easily mean no real open space or real amenities.
This then is the background to the problem of the redevelopment scheme commissioned by Whickham U.D.C. and by far the most important housing project yet proposed for the area, the site of about 14 acres, former terraced housing, shops and picture hall is long and narrow, the area is flanked on four sides by :- Gas Works near to the Teams, Ravensworth Road and Ellison Road and an railway set up with an embankment of seven foot high.
The council require development at about 100 persons per-acre not a high density by today's standards which gives a total of about 400 housing units
of various types and sizes the sub soil of the site is poor over much of it and the buildings could only be built not more than four or five floors high and any high building are to be near the southern end of the site.
The first scheme prepared by the architects was to avoid high building altogether but this resulted in little "open space" the solution was to provide about one half of the accommodation in a single tower block and the other half in low blocks from two to five floors in height, this enabled the problems of foundations, open space, general amenity and the problem of family living to be solved, the tower block accommodates smaller flats suitable for couples without children and the lower blocks, family flats with two, three and four bedrooms.
All flats will have equipped kitchens and bathrooms with central heating provided by a gas/warm air system. Due to the railway embankment to the east the low flats the opposite direction, the tower block which is 29 floors high will become a landmark in the area and command magnificent views in all directions.
Car Parking...
Car parking represents a very considerable problem with all projects, on one hand it is necessary to provide proper facilities for each family to park their car for, even if they don't own one now they almost certainly will within the next ten years. To provide such parking at a reasonable cost so often means spreading parked cars over the whole of the ground space leaving nowhere for children's playgrounds, sitting areas and open space clear of everything other than grass and trees.
The foundation problems presented by the tower block provided the solution to a large part of the car parking problem. Foundations for a building of this type are normally concrete piles sunk like legs into the ground until they reach a good hard soil foundation- perhaps 50 0r 100 feet below the surface.
In this case the piles would have been far deeper and the Engineers suggested a "caisson" foundation, which is a circular concrete drum, 140 feet in diameter, sunk 25 feet into the ground, on which the tower sits. In effect the whole structure "floats" in a similar way to a ship floating on the sea, the whole in the ground formed by the drum is then used for cars, thus providing parking space and leaving the equivalent area of ground space, about two acres, free for open space of various kinds.
Community Spirit...
The creation of a community spirit on a housing project this size is essential if it is to be really successful. In this case, open space at ground level, will encourage adults and children to mix, as they so often id quite naturally in the past. The isolation of living in one flat in an isolated block with only one or two adjoining flats on your floor is avoided by linking all flats together. This is obtained by means of a wide pathway at different levels from which the various flats are entered, encouraging people to mix and get t know the neighbours, this elevated walkway also helps to keep people and children away from the dangers of the road and cars, as it will be possible to walk from any flat to the shopping centre without crossing any road.
Tower Foundations
( The caisson, February 1968 )...
£130,000 Worth of building taking five and a half months to erect will subside into the ground and will be lost to view - and it's all intentional.
The first work to commence on the site is the caisson foundation to the 30 storey tower block of flats (the highest in the north). This caisson or "drum"
of concrete is 143ft in diameter and 33 ft deep and will eventually provide a car park for 165 vehicles.
It is being constructed above ground and when the main walls are complete it will literally be sunk into position in the ground by a method which has been extensively used on the continent but which is being used for the first time in England. Once the main walls are sunk into position the remainder
of the internal work on the car park will be carried out, access will be a spirally ramped road running around the inside of the drum, the basement area will also include a special refuse compressor and conveyor for disposal of all the refuse from the dwellings.
The final sinking of the concrete drum will take approximately 15 days, the six month contract for the caisson foundation is being under taken by the British Licensees of the System, Foundation Engineering Ltd.
The tower was completed in March 1971
Tower Facts..
Height (280 feet)
196 flats.
Thirty Floors.
Built to a septagon design.
Concrete walkways from the third floor of the tower block to two of the adjacent maisonette blocks.
Made of reinforced concrete with precast concrete panels on the exterior.
The plan of the tower is structured and changes between the tenth and eleventh floors.
Each floor has seven flats, with the service stair and lifts at the centre.
The 10th floor accommodates two 10,000-gallon water tanks.
Two bedrooms up to the 9th floor and from 11th to 29th floor one bedroom.
Flying Buttresses from the ground to 5th floor assisting the foundations.
To protect the flats in the event of flooding, the tower itself is lifted above the ground.
The Maisonettes..
The central area redevelopment scheme also consists of 22 low rise housing developments. The total cost of the project was £1,350,000, providing
383 council homes for 1000 people at a ratio of 100 people per acre.
Downfall..
Gateshead Council Statement Prior To Demolition, October 2009...
Councillors have worked closely with local residents to agree a comprehensive redevelopment for the Ravensworth Road area which will mean the demolition of Derwent Tower and 116 adjacent maisonettes, followed by new residential development, new shopping facilities, improved health facilities and a range of environmental improvements.
The new development framework was agreed in January this year (2011) subject to the Council being allowed to demolish Derwent Tower.
Councillor Angela Armstrong, Cabinet member for Housing, says: “We welcome the decision not to list Derwent Tower - and we think the 95% of residents who live under its shadow and who’ve told us it is a blight on their landscape will agree.
“Many people see the Derwent Tower as representing all that was wrong with the past, when buildings were designed and created rather than places to live. “Some also don’t appreciate its serious structural problems which are due to its poor design and its poor standards of construction. The building would require many millions of pounds to make it habitable.
“The tower has been a huge drain on our resources and a constant irritation to the residents and community who had to live under its shadow. “We are currently bringing forward our proposals for a major redevelopment of the Ravensworth Road area and we expect to begin the demolition of Derwent Towernext year.”
The issuing of the Certificate of Immunity from Listing brings to a close a process begun in October 2007 when Cabinet members agreed to start moving
tenants out of Derwent Tower into alternative accommodation because of health and safety concerns. The Council’s concerns centred on the tower’s structural condition, which has deteriorated over the years due to its form of construction and the materials used. Many of the 196 flats in Derwent Tower suffer from damp, water pressure and heating are both poor, the underground car park floods – and has done since the building opened in 1973 and essential services break down regularly. The tower would require many millions of pounds to make it habitable, but this is not thought to be cost-effective as very few people actually wish to live there.
In 2008, Gateshead Council asked local residents how they thought the Ravensworth Road area should be redeveloped, offering them a variety of scenarios including demolishing Derwent Tower, retaining the tower, and demolishing all or some of the adjacent maisonettes.
The public’s response was overwhelmingly - 99% of tenants living in the maisonettes supported the demolition of Derwent Tower, and 78% also supported the demolition of the maisonettes. Among the wider community, some 96% of local residents were in favour of the demolition of Derwent Tower, with 92% also supporting the demolition of the maisonettes.
Proposals for a re-developed Ravensworth Road area include a range of residential development, including affordable housing in the form of social rent, a supermarket, a number of shop units, and possibly a doctor’s surgery. The development would be phased to ensure that a new supermarket is provided on site before the existing supermarket building is demolished.
Listed Building ?...
Gateshead Council’s plans to redevelop the Ravensworth Road area of Dunston, Gateshead and demolish Derwent Tower - the so-called Dunston Rocket – have cleared a major hurdle.
An application to have the 29-storey Owen Luder-designed Derwent Tower listed as a building of significant architectural merit has been turned down
by the government following a careful inspection by English Heritage, allowing Gateshead Council to bring forward its plans for the site. Cleveland Mews was demolished first in 2011 followed by Cheviot Green and then eventually Derwent Tower in January 2012, the Towers top nine floors were taken down by hand then high reach nibbler was brought in to demolish the rest of the Tower which finished in September 2012.
View 511 photographs shown the demolition of the Tower HERE
View photographs of Cleveland Mews being demolished HERE
View Photographs of Cheviot Green being demolished HERE HERE & HERE