Derwent Tower
Derwent Tower AKA the Dunston Rocket is a 29 storey residential apartment building in Dunston, a suburb of Gateshead. Due to the tower blocks very unusual shape, the building was nick-named Dunston Rocket during construction (even before its official Derwent Tower title) and the name has remained with locals throught its life.
The tower was designed by the Owen Luder Partnership on behalf of Whickham Council who at the time controlled the Dunston area of Gateshead. The original brief was to design 3 high rise blocks of at least 22 storeys, but due to the adverse ground conditions on the site it was decided to build 1 tower, with the rest of the properteys being low rise blocks of 2, 3 and 5 storey. The construction of the tower foundation began in Feburary 1968, the completed tower was handed over in march 1971.
The construction of the tower was complex because of the very poor ground conditions on the site. The foundations were based on a sunken concrete cassion that was built above ground then sunk over a period of time. Cassion foundations are often found in harbour construction, to find this foundation being used in the 60's for a local authority tower block was a first, the cassion below the tower was put to use as an underground garage area for residents. The tower itself has a striking appaerance, unlike any other tower block in the UK. Derwent Tower is of a Brutalist design and retains lots of design features and similaritys with the Gateshead Trinity centre complex, most noted for its "Get Carter car park" which was also a product of the Owen Luder Partnership. It also has similaritys with the Tricorn, designed by Rodney Gordon (of Owen Luder Partneship at the time). The building houses 2 bedroom flats up to the 10th floor, 1 bedroom flats from floor 11 to 29. The unusual features af Derwent Tower are:
Height
Design
Plan form change between 10th and 11th floor
Flying butresses form the ground, to 5th floor to assist foundations
Unusual Foundations
Complexity of construction
In 2007 Gateshead Council decided to relocate residents of the Derwent Tower amid health and saftey concerns? The block now stands empty while its fate is to be decided.