The redeveloped Belfast gasworks site

Image: © Robert Ashby Taken: 15 Oct 2012

The Belfast gasworks was built between 1887 & 1893 and supplied the city with mains coal gas until it ceased production in 1988. The derelict site was subsequently taken over by the Laganside Corporation and was officially opened again in 2001. As well as accommodating various company offices - one of which is seen here reflected in the large dumbell-shaped water feature - it is now a public space where office workers and the general public can sit and have lunch it also provides access to the new riverside path along the Lagan. Few people who use this space are aware that the Blackstaff River, which rises in the Belfast hills, flowed through the city and entered the River Lagan through the gasworks, is still flowing beneath the water feature through a large underground culvert.

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