Gasometers

LDNiCON

LDNiCON is about celebrating Londons architectural endevours and uncovering the quirky, sometimes seemingly bland, components of the city. We are not focused on headline city architecture, rather, second course servings of London’s buildings and the spaces between them. These components represent the mass of the city and contribute more to the spatial experience than well-recognised buildings in London - the experience that most Londoners live through in their day-to-day existence. This is what we are most interested in.

Each month we will share our findings; experiences and ideas of what we think make architectural icons in the city of London.

Gasometers

Location : In most big cities in the UK
Built : First built in the 1890

Website : http://www.gasometer.org

Link :Gaspmeter gallery

What is a Gasometer?

A gasometer is the name given to a large gas storage vessel constructed with a external structure with a usually constructed from steel although historically is part of a distribution network which provides gas for homes and buildings.

A gasometer, or gas-holder, is a large container where natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressure coming from the weight of a movable cap. Typical volumes for large gasometers are about 50,000 m3, with 60 m diameter structures. Gasometers tend to be used for balancing purposes (making sure gas pipes can be operate within a safe range of pressures) rather than for actually storing gas for later use.

How it works

Gasholders hold a large advantage over other methods of storage. They are the only storage method which keeps the gas at district pressure. Once the District Low Pressure Switch falls and the booster fans come on, the gas in these holders can be at homes, being used in a very short space of time.

Gas is stored in these throughout the day when little gas is being used. At about 5pm there is a great demand for gas and the holder will come down, supplying the district. There are two basic types of gasholders, rigid waterless and telescoping. Rigid waterless gas holders were a very early design which outwardly showed no sign of expansion or contraction. Telescoping holders fall into two subcategories. The earlier of the telescoping variety were column guided variations and were built in Victorian times in order to guide the telescoping lifts they have an external fixed frame, visible at a fixed height at all times. Spiral guided gasholders were built in the UK up until 1983. These have no frame and each lift is guided by the one below, rotating as it goes up as dictated by helical runners. Both telescoping types use the manometric property water in order to provide a seal.

History

The term gasometer was originally coined by William Murdoch, the inventor of gas lighting, in the early 1800s. Despite the objections of his associates that his so-called "gazometer" was not a meter but a container, the name was retained and came into general use. The word is also used to describe a meter for measuring the amount of gas flowing through a particular pipe.

Gasometers, a British invention, first appeared 180 years ago and quickly caught on as an effective means of storing large amounts of gas at low pressure. The most recent gasometers, built 16 years ago, abide by the same, basic mechanics - as gas is fed in from a pipeline it pushes up each of the individual storage chambers one-by-one, to accommodate the exact amount. The more gas, the bigger the holder - hence the name.

The rim of each chamber is sealed by water and with no room for air inside, the holder prevents gas from igniting. Gas historian Brian Sturt says in their pre-War, pre-nationalisation heyday, gasometers were everywhere. "There were over 1,000 gas companies before nationalisation. Just about every town had its own gas works and the gasometer was the central focus," says Mr Sturt. Natural gas was still a thing of the future, and instead households and industry relied on town gas, which resulted from carbonising coal. While holders were never conventionally beautiful, in the early days at least, they exhibited a fair degree of decoration. "They were cast iron at the start but steel sections came later, in the 1880s. The ones still standing at St Pancras and Bromley-by-Bow in London carry a Grecian-type finish," he says.

"The style was dropped because it required a lot of maintenance." Gas more recently is stored in large underground reservoirs such as salt caverns. Nowadays however, line-packing is the preferred method.

The Gasometer and its environs

Gasometers are often a major part of the skylines of low-rise British cities, due to their large distinctive shape and central location. The pollution associated with gasworks and gas storage makes the land difficult to reclaim for other purposes, but some gasometers, notably in Vienna, have been converted into living space and shopping mall.

Most British cities will have several gasholders. London, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow are noted for having many gasholders. Some of these gasometers have become listed buildings. In the past holder stations would have an operator living on site controlling their movement. However with the process control systems now used on these sites, such an operator is obsolete.

More recent attempts have been made to try and soften their presence.

Gasometers in Harrow, Middlesex, and Bromley, Kent, were painted in an effort to blend it with the local surroundings. A holder in Harrogate was painted with fuchsias for a Britain in Bloom contest and wishes have been granted on the odd occasion to hang "happy birthday" banners

But Mr Sturt still doubts the public will mourn their disappearance.

"They're not the sort of thing you can get nostalgic about. Years ago they used to smell badly and some were covered in tar to preserve the iron work," he says.

However, there is one gasometer which can fuel great passions among the wider public. The giant storage tank that abuts the Oval cricket pitch in south London has become an international sporting landmark.

Surprisingly, it is not covered by a preservation order and Transco says it too will eventually be dismantled.

Transco will save the thousands of pounds it costs per year to maintain each holder. Advances in technology means the gas stored in a 6m cubic foot gasometer can, under high pressure, be contained in 200ft of pipeline, says Mr Pickford.

Cheaper, cleaner, more efficient maybe ... but could you ever lament an underground pipeline?

Written by Tai Hollingsbee