2 min read - 15 Jan, 2026
Steelwork assembly starts on landmark Sheffield building
Steelwork assembly has started on a landmark Sheffield building, which will become one of the world’s most advanced, large-scale machining facilities.
McLaughlin & Harvey will kick off the New Year at Ministry of Defence-owned Sheffield Forgemasters by putting up the steel frame for its new machine shop on Weedon Street. The new building spans 30,000 m², with a height of 32 metres, and will be clearly visible from the M1 motorway at Meadowhall.
The steel framework is due for completion in June, with gantry cranes for the facility fitted by October and the roof and cladding to follow later in the year. The building will house 24 new machines, including some of the world’s largest, most advanced, vertical turning lathes.
The new machine shop is a key feature of Sheffield Forgemasters’ £1.3bn recapitalisation programme, and will complement its new 13,000 tonne forge, currently under construction on the opposite side of Brightside Lane, to underpin UK defence manufacture.
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Steelwork assembly has started on a landmark new machining facility in Sheffield / Picture: Sheffield Forgemasters
Gareth Barker, chief operating officer at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “Following the award of our main works contract for the new machine shop to McLaughlin & Harvey, enabling works and piling progress mean that we can start 2026 with steel assembly.
“This will really allow people to visualise the scale of the construction and to see industrial engineering reshaping the eastern side of Sheffield once again.
“The Weedon Street location is the former site of Cammell Laird’s Brightside Steel Works, once part of the Vickers empire, which Sheffield Forgemasters inherited in 1983, so it is great to know that we are reinstating world-leading manufacturing facilities in the country’s steel heartland.”
Jonathan Cole, operations director at McLaughlin & Harvey, added: “As we start 2026, we are delighted to drive forward with the steelwork assembly for one of the UK’s most important defence-related construction projects and to support Sheffield Forgemasters in its highly ambitious plans.
“Following an intensive period of enabling works and advanced works, we are able to progress the structural steel assembly, which will bring the full scale of this project to life.”
The machine shop project team consists of Arup, which handled the ecological and travel assessments, Bond Bryan Architects, and JLL, which acted on behalf of Sheffield Forgemasters for the site acquisition and planning submissions, and delivery support partner, Turner & Townsend.
