Fulham's Newest Park Starts to Take Shape
World's oldest gasholder to become stunning centrepiece
Visualisation of how King's Road Park might look
January 8, 2024
The large landscaped park will be in the middle of King’s Road Park, St William’s redevelopment of Fulham’s former gasworks south of King’s Road and will have the Grade II listed Gasholder No.2 - the world’s oldest - as a stunning centrepiece.
Gasholder No.2 was designed by John Kirkham and built around 1830 for the Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company and has remained largely unchanged for almost 200 years.
The gasholder, which was one of six on the 16-acre site but is now the only survivor, is currently in a dilapidated state, with an initial survey raising concerns about its fragile condition.
Developer St William, a joint venture between National Grid and property developers the Berkeley Group, says it has since consulted Historic England and the London Planning Authority to agree a new strategy for its decontamination and refurbishment.
A planning application has now been submitted to H&F Council as follows:
Proposed works to Gasholder No.2 (Grade II* listed) comprising the recording, repair and refurbishment of guide frame components, fabrication of replacement components where the original components are degraded beyond repair, repainting and re-erection of elements of restored gasholder in new configuration and with required alterations to accommodate new use of the gasholder as integrated feature of wider landscaped park, including introduction of a water feature and new seating.
The application, which is open for comments, can be viewed in full on the council’s website using the reference 2023/03110/FUL.
Another computer generated image of the park
A Heritage Statement supporting the proposals unveils these new computer-generated images of the gasholder after refurbishment and says the plans include painting the 12 refurbished tripod standards a deep red ochre, reflecting the earliest colour scheme for the gasholder as revealed by the architectural paint analysis undertaken by Lincoln Conservation, and reinstated in their original location around the perimeter of the infilled tank.
Depending on their condition, the existing stone plinths to the tripods will be retained and refurbished and the refurbished crown truss structure will be raised above a public open space to allow people to walk through.
There will be new circular bench seating at the centre of the infilled tank and mirror pool spanning the full circumference of the tank with walkways laid across it leading to this central area.
This water feature will be designed to drain away through drainage channels, making the open space within the gasholder suitable for small public events.
There will also be new benches at the edge of the gasholder, which will sit amongst lawns, flower beds and mature tree, with a waterway to its east.
The original gasholder was the oldest in the world
King's Road Park will provide almost 1,900 new flats, some at the northern end of the development already completed and lived in. As well as the gasholder, several existing buildings are being preserved, including the 1856 Chief Engineer's Office and former 1927 Former Research Laboratory.
As reported earlier this year, two war memorials commemorating employees of the Gas Light and Coke Company who died in World War I and II are also being restored and installed in their own dedicated memorial garden to the south of the new park
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