Grimsby Ice Factory
Regenerating a Grade II listed historic landmark
This landmark project comprises the restoration, extension and conversation of the historic Grimsby Ice Factory North and South buildings to provide revitalised office, conference and events spaces, alongside food and beverage areas.
History of the site
The history of the Grimsby Docks can be traced back to the early 19th century when the town of Grimsby experienced remarkable growth as a bustling fishing port and an important centre for shipbuilding. The construction of the first dock began in 1800. As the fishing industry grew, so did the need for a place to house the fishermen and maritime workers.This led to the establishment of the Kasbah which became home to thousands of fishermen and their families. Its narrow alleys and tightly packed houses created a distinctive character for the area. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Grimsby Docks maintained their prominence as the largest fishing port in the world.
In recognition of its industrial scale fishing representation, the Kasbah was designated a Conservation Area by Historic England in 2017. However, in the 20th century, the fishing industry declined rapidly, causing many old industries to shut down, rendering the port largely unused. Today, the Grimsby Docks and the Kasbah stand as reminders of the town’s rich maritime heritage.
Grade II Listed Ice Factory
The Grimsby Ice Factory is a former factory and was constructed from 1898–1901 to provide crushed ice to preserve fish stored in ships at Grimsby’s seaport. It engaged in operations up to 1990. The buildings still contain some of the original historic machinery with some of the most important and largest refrigeration machinery in the world existing there. The Ice Factory has been added to the World Monument Fund’s biannual World Monuments Watch list, a global
list of buildings of historical importance that are risk of being lost to the elements. The structure has been considered as the oldest and largest surviving of its type in the world. The building has also been listed on the Heritage At Risk Register since 2008.
Proposals
The re-development of the Ice Factory consists of its full refurbishment with extensions being proposed to provide new events and office workspace. The project maintains the original north and south buildings as physically separate entities with connections at high level in the form of walkways.
The south building will provide the conference, events and leisure floor space at ground floor, predominantly in the former ice making hall and refrigerated store. The boiler house will provide food and beverage facilities. In the former turbine hall we propose to provide entrance facilities for office space which will be provided at the first floor in former ice making halls. The more modern extension to the south of
the building will be another, broadly self contained office space. There are also areas of proposed extension to the building at roof level which are more clearly delineated in later sections - these will also provide office use.
In the north building, the impressive tall open space at the northwest of the building will be broadly retained and will become the primary entrance space for the building. In the ground and upper ground floor former ice making halls, we propose to provide office space by enclosing these areas along the line of the existing impressive vertical steel structure.
