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| The Silo |
If you travel along the dock road out of Liverpool you will
see a surprising structure of concrete which dominates the corner of Bankfield
street and Derby road. It is one of the most unusual and unique dock buildings
in Liverpool, a city with a rich selection of dock buildings of all ages.
From the 17th century the amount of sugar used by Europeans
soared. Its use, particularly in the 'new' drinks of tea, coffee and chocolate,
and later in hot puddings, helped sugar to become an everyday commodity
imported in large quantities to satisfy demand. The sugar producers Tate and Lyle commissioned the
Cementation Company to build a new, state-of-the-art silo at the Huskisson Dock
site in Liverpool. This enormous project, which started in 1955, took about two
and a half years to complete. It was built to serve their Love Lane refinery. Work
started in 1955 and took nearly two and a half years to complete.
The building consists of 12 sections, each supported by six
external 'ribs.' A scaffolding frame was made, over which a steel skin was
laid. Over this, a wooden template was assembled which was used to form the
walls and supporting ribs. Once ready, the mould was filled with wet concrete
and when each section had dried, the wooden template was dismantled and the
steel skin moved along so that the next one could be made.
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| The conveyor belt housing and the tower |
In addition to the main silo, a conveyor belt and tower were
constructed to transport the sugar from the ships in dock up to the overhead
conveyor running along the underside of the silo roof. The sugar was then
dropped from here into the silo below. The building was completed by the end of
1957, measured 86,000 sq ft and could accommodate 100,000 tons of sugar.
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| An internal view of the Tates Silo. As an indication of scale, a lorry can be seen tipping its load of sugar into the back of the building. |
Tate and Lyle announced its intention to close its Love
Lane refinery in 1971, but it wasn't until 22 January 1981, that workers at
Tate and Lyle were issued 90-day redundancy notices and, after 99 years, sugar
refining at Love Lane ceased with the loss of 2,000 jobs.
Many people consider concrete to be an ugly and purely
functional material. Its use in the soaring curves of this silo shows its
possibilities and justifies the categorising of the structure as a Grade II
Listed Building. Today it is owned by Mersey Docks and Peel Ports. Alternative
uses have been proposed for the silo including repurposing the building as an
arts and music venue. In November 2003, mobile phone company Orange organised a
one-off concert featuring a number of local and national bands. The building
has appeared in many books and publications including 1001 buildings you must
see before you die - Mark Irving,
Sources
Liverpool Central Library
Liverpool Records Office
Nick Gladden
English Heritage
