2 minute read - 24th July 2024
Sheffield Forgemasters submits plans for new machining facility
Sheffield Forgemasters has submitted a planning application for a new landmark 30,000 m² machining facility on brownfield land in Sheffield’s Meadowhall district. Located on a 16-acre plot at Weedon Street, the new facility will form one of the world’s most advanced large machining facilities, to support the company’s manufacture for the UK defence programme.
With work on the site planned to start in Q4 2024, the building will cover a space equal to 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools and will contain 17 new machines, including some of the largest and most advanced five-axis vertical turning lathes ever produced.
Plans for the new machining facility detail a main building with a circa 272.5 x 110-metre footprint, standing 32 metres tall, located close to the River Don and designed to complement the historic look of the company’s existing buildings. Adjoining the main construction is a second, proposed 3,500 m² building, with a state-of-the-art test house facility and a dedicated training area to transfer vital skills to the next generation of engineers.
Sheffield Forgemasters has submitted a planning application for its new landmark 30,000 m2 machining facility which is set to be operational by the end of 2028 / Picture: Sheffield Forgemasters
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Gareth Barker, chief operating officer of Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “The planning application covers an ambitious new project, to create a facility which will deliver some of the world’s most advanced, large-scale machining capabilities. Creating this new facility on derelict ground, which was once part of Sheffield’s engineering past, is an amazing investment for the city and for the wider UK, which will create highly skilled engineering jobs for decades to come.
“The building is set to become an iconic landmark and the sheer scale of the endeavour is actually larger than the construction of the UK’s largest open-die forging line, which is underway on our adjacent Brightside Lane site. The scope of what we are creating in the centre of Britain’s industrial heartland is truly monumental and will not only de-risk supply for the UK and AUKUS defence programmes, but it will also provide some of the most technologically advanced and rewarding working facilities for our employees.”
The facility will contain 17 new machines, including some of the largest and most advanced five-axis vertical turning lathes ever produced / Picture: Sheffield Forgemasters
The machining facility is set to be operational by the end of 2028. It will deliver unmatched levels of speed, accuracy and efficiency for manufacturing large, highly complex, nuclear-grade components. All new machines are bespoken to Sheffield Forgemasters’ requirements and are already being designed and built by machine tools specialist, WaldrichSiegen. Sheffield Forgemasters said JLL acted on its behalf for the site acquisition and planning submissions.
