Building collapse..

[Nemesis]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6359043.stm

I wait for further details with interest...

I recall another a couple of years' ago where builders were knocking out a chimney breast to trendify a period property...

 

[CHRIS]

News is that it is chaos in that area.

E1 Commercial Road (Stepney)Hazard 13-FEB-07

At the junction of A13 / A13 and Goodmans Stile / B134 and White Church Lane / B134

Eastbound and westbound direction. Commercial Road is closed in both directions between the Aldgate Gyratory System and Back Church Lane and westbound from Cannon Street Road due to a dangerous structure. Local diversions are in place. Drivers advised to expect possible delays in the area.

Update: 07:18: Commercial Road remains closed westbound at Cannon Street, Aldgate Gyratory closed eastbound, local diversions in place, expect delays.

just got sent the text via TFL website (The only thing Red Ken has ever done for me!)

We have people going to work near there today so I will look out

 

[Penners]

I recall another a couple of years' ago where builders were knocking out a chimney breast to trendify a period property...

Was that the cottage in Oxfordshire? Extraordinary pictures of a completely collapsed building, with only the thatched roof remaining intact, sitting on the ground. Looked as though it had fluttered to earth like a parachute.

 

[Nemesis]

No, that was another where the owner decided that open plan was best.

There was one in Islington where builders were hired to remove the fireplaces and chimney breasts. The results were very open plan indeed.

 

[plumbers mate]

When they tried to convert a listed building into (yet another) bar in the centre of Newcastle, they took one wall too many out and the back of the building completely collapsed - fortunately the listed facade stayed put although the road was reduced to half width for almost a year (seemed that long!) buses all rerouted etc whilst the inside was rebuilt and could support the facade again. Even the Tyneside Metro was stopped for a while until tests showed the underground vibration wouldn't cause the facade to fall and the structure was stabilised.
The scaffolding and concrete used to hold that flimsy ashlar front up was incredible. The building is on a corner so I suppose the fact that there were two sides of facade helped hold it up long enough for scaffolding etc to be erected. It was touch and go as to whether it would survive though. It's one of the first things a vissitor to Newcastle sees after leaving the Central Station and is in the much protected Grainger Town area of the city. It would have been a really sensitive piece of development if it had had to be replaced.
Internally now, the floors don't line up with the windows etc as they built a brand new building with the old front so at night it looks a bit of a mess.

The only good thing was that it happened during building and not when there were up to 1000 clubbers inside. As it was, no-one was injured.

 

[Nemesis]

And indeed here it is:

http://www.timmonet.co.uk/html/tsb_collapse.htm



Then there is the Quayside warehouse, which had the fire... is that road still closed off?

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Looks like the sort of building that would have had an impressive Victorian interior, alas

 

[Nemesis]

I know. But at least the facade is still there. Better than the fate of a great deal in Newcastle.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

well, being in Newcastle would be fate enough

(ducks and runs) :twisted:

 

[Nemesis]

Has what has apparently been voted the finest street in Europe in Grey Street.


http://www.streetsofshame.org.uk/case-study-good.htm

 

[Penners]

Has what has apparently been voted the finest street in Europe in Grey Street.

I bet they never even looked at Swan Street in Boxford. Or the High Street in Hadleigh.

 

[Nemesis]

Maybe not.

http://www.hadleigh.org.uk/walkthroughtime.pdf


http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/place_page.jsp?p_id=7044

 

[Craig]

Am not a Geordie, but Newcastle is lovely

Even the Bigg market.

 

[Nemesis]

Well - it's not what it was when I was young, but yes. Newcastle still has fine places.

 

[Penners]

Like the Biscuit Factory art gallery & restaurant. Lovely building.

 

[Nemesis]

Actually I was thinking more along the lines of the Crown Posada...

 

[Craig]

I always liked that terrace in North Shields - is it North Terrace? Turn of the 18c, I think somebody said they were built for Naval officers?

 

[Craig]

Crown Posada a great pub - I also loved The Bridge - pretty much the reason why I moved there :lol:

And the Pineapple and The Ship Inn and ...

Though its been 10 years and I guess its all changed. I liked the feel of the abandoned riverside buildings but knowing how manny people had lost their jobs made it a sad place.

 

[plumbers mate]

Newcastle "was" lovely .. many decent buildings gone and hideous structures put in their place.
Now the wooden NER ex-Parcels Office by the Central Station is going to vanish and be replaced by a shiny new hotel :-(

http://gallery142971.fotopic.net/c473577.html

 

[plumbers mate]

PS. Apologies for some of the pics which are blurry because I had to hold my camera through a hole in the door/wall and I knew that if I dropped the camera I would never see it again .......