Home > Glass Houses > Glass houses > Gladstone Pavilion, Stanley Park, Liverpool.
Situated between the famous Everton and Liverpool football grounds the dilapidated and almost glass free Victorian Grade II listed Gladstone Conservatory was in a perilous state prior to Eura's recording, dismantling and repairing. It now stands as a credit to the city in the regenerated Stanley Park area.
Each of the 5,000 plus pieces (not including the bolts) were meticulously tagged and recorded, both as a photographic record and on a database prior to being transported to Eura’s Telford workshops where each piece was assessed and individually repaired. Where replacements were required these were undertaken on a like for like basis using similar materials. The only exception to this was at the top of the columns where the cast iron was replaced by pieces made from a stronger modern equivalent; spheroidal graphite cast iron.
The individual pieces were carefully cleaned, to remove all corrosion whilst leaving the parent metal undamaged, before specialist repainting and the mammoth task of putting the structure back together 1.5 metres higher than the original to allow space beneath for a new cafe, toilets and kitchens.
The team had to be careful not to alter the pre-existing load paths of the existing structure which meant locating the load bearing elements of the basement directly below the superstructure columns. There are no big bolts and the structure stays there by gravity. The structure was back on site in July 2008 and watertight only a few months later. Specialist coatings on the glass reject 70% of solar energy and at the same time strengthen the glass to modern requirements.
The whole structure, approximately 30m long by 18m wide now stands as a jewel in the crown of the regeneration scheme and is a popular venue for weddings and other social gatherings.