Sheffield Forgemasters tops out
The 320,000 sq ft machine shop is being built by McLaughlin & Harvey and is part of the Ministry of Defence-owned company’s £1.3bn recapitalisation programme.
The £210m 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.
The machine shop is located on 16 acres of brownfield land on Weedon Street, towering 10 metres above the neighbouring Meadowhall shopping centre and Ikea.
The factory will house some of the world’s largest five-axis vertical turning lathes and is due to be operational by the end of 2028.
At the same time, construction of a building to house its 13,000-tonne forging line is also underway on a separate site nearby, also delivered by McLaughlin & Harvey.
The steel frame on the Brightside site measures 45 metres high and will house the UK’s largest open die forging line, located adjacent to the Midland Mainline railway.
Sheffield Forgemasters was formed in 1983 and can trace its heritage back to 1776, when George Naylor moved his cutlery manufacturing partnership into steelmaking through the construction of a crucible steel furnace.
The company still operates from its original River Don Works site and is expanding onto the former William Jessop & Sons’ Brightside Steel Works at Weedon Street, where the new Machine Shop will be located, housing 24 new machines including some of the world’s largest vertical turning lathes.
Gareth Barker, chief operating officer at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “Our new facility enables us to bring together our years of expertise and investment in state-of-the-art machines, to deliver incredible accuracies and dramatically improve our ability to innovate, making Sheffield Forgemasters more competitive on the world stage.
“Attending the topping out ceremony were a number of our long serving employees, some with almost fifty-years of service with the company alongside our first-year apprentices, who’ll transfer this inherited skill and knowledge into future engineering practices.
“For many of our machinists, this was the first time they had visited the new site and what will eventually be their new workplace.
“It’s less than two years until the site is due to become operational and will provide a working environment that is cleaner, faster and better in every way. This really is an exciting time for Sheffield Forgemasters.”
Paul Griffen, managing director at McLaughlin & Harvey, said: “The completion of the structural steelwork at Sheffield Forgemasters is more than a construction milestone. It reflects the journey we have taken together to reach this point.
“A journey that would not have been possible without the unwavering commitment, collaboration and professionalism from all involved. We look forward to continuing the journey together as we head towards a successful completion and handover.”
