Sheffield Forgemasters seeks planning for new facility

Engineering specialist, Sheffield Forgemasters, has submitted a pre-planning application for a 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 Ministry of Defence-owned 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. 

Gareth Barker, Chief Operating Officer at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “The pre-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 construction of the UK’s largest open-die forging-line, which is underway on our adjacent Brightside Lane site.”

Plans for the new machining facility detail a main building with a circa 272.5 x 110 metre footprint, standing 32 metrestall, 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.

Gareth added: “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 trilateral AUKUS defence programmes, it will provide some of the most technologically advanced and rewarding working facilities for our employees.”

The machining facility is set to be operational by the end of 2028 and will deliver unmatched levels of speed, accuracy and efficiency for the manufacture of large, highly complex, nuclear-grade components. 

All of the new machines are bespoke to Sheffield Forgemasters’ requirements, and are already being designed and built by machine tools specialist, WaldrichSiegen.

Both the company’s new forging line and proposed machine shop will service defence and also commercial work in sectors such as civil nuclear power, creating a new generation of engineers and designers trained to work with Industry 4.0 technologies.

JLL acted on behalf of Sheffield Forgemasters for the site acquisition and planning submissions.