Launceston Gasworks

The site is instantly recognizable by its 1930s, steel braced, vertical retort building with the words "COOK WITH GAS" in the brickwork.

As early as 1854, the Examiner newspaper urged locals to consider the creation of a gasworks in Launceston pointing out the numerous benefits and cheaper costs of coal gas as a means of lighting.

In 1856 the Launceston City Council engaged Scottish-born engineer, William Falconer of the Hobart Gas Company, to prepare plans for the proposed gasworks.

The company purchased a marshy paddock near Cimitier Street the same year due to its proximity to the North Esk River in order to build the new gasworks.

The site of the gasworks was also directly opposite the TMLR rail yards on Willis Street which was also convenient for the delivery of coal.

The company office is located next to the chief engineer's cottage, and once looked out across the North Esk until the levee system was built over the wharves.

On either side of the main building were two wings: the western one for the storage of coal imported form NSW and the other being a purifying house which also contained the "smiths" and gasfitters shops.

Today the building is falling into disrepair despite minor restoration work being carried out a few years earlier and most of the sandstone is heavily eroded.

The last restoration attempts from the 1980s saw the purifiers removed and converted to conference rooms; closing the originally open air structure with galvanized iron and plate glass bearing the new Gasworks emblem, based on the ventilation hole patterns in the Vertical Retort's walls.

Located along the southern perimeter of the site facing Cimitier Street, the gasometers were where gas produced at the gasworks was stored at pressure for later distribution.

These 2 gas holders were smaller than the newer one and were last painted Boral's yellow and green colour scheme before they were dismantled in 2007.

Shortly after dismantling, a proposal was forwarded to council to develop all 3 gasometers as a single 6 storey apartment block but was cancelled.

Located on the south of the site bordering Cimitier Street, this small galvanized iron and timber building was used as the gaswork's distribution point.

As part of a development proposal from 2007, this building was meant to be restored as a public historic site with interpretive panels but was canceled in 2008.

The first floor (ground level) housed many associated machinery items including both electric and steam powered exhausters, a wash box and tram cart.

The Meter Shop also played a secondary role as the staff training center and under Origin Energy ownership in the late 1900s, was solely used for this purpose.

Gas Fitters, Meter Makers and Repairers had to do an apprenticeship that lasted 5 years with most men working for the company their whole life.

The 29m high (not including stack height) Vertical Retort Building was built in 1932 as the primary gas production facility for the Launceston Gasworks site.

During the opening ceremony, the buildings moving components were switched on and visitors were taken to the top of the retorts to view what was the most advanced gasworks of its time.

The small rear section plus the first connected division of the building were part of this extension with the divide visible by a slight change in brick colour.

Unlike many gasworks sites in Australia that were either demolished or stripped after closure, the vertical retort house in Launceston still retained most of its original machinery after it was abandoned.

Since it was abandoned in favor of LPG in 1977, the vertical retort was left to fall into ruin with large piles of droppings cover the floor and machinery due to the pigeons that used the building as a roost because of the many openings in its brickwork.

[4][5] In June 2012 a proposal by developer Ross Harrison was put forward to the Launceston City Council to incorporate the Vertical Retort House and Carburetted Water Gas Building into a restaurant and bar with additional commercial space.

In late July 2012, the site changed zoning from industrial to commercial and work commenced on cleaning the building of the accumulated pigeon droppings and polystyrene blocks that were dumped inside it.

On the 10 October 2012, the original 1932 machinery was blow-torched out of the building to be taken away followed by disassembly of the fire-brick retorts except for the coke extractors which were partially retained for aesthetic value.

The machinery within the Vertical Retort House underwent a heritage survey to assess the historic value of the surviving equipment and from that, local architectural firm, ARTAS, was left to incorporate this into the final design.