The Building

The starting point was a detached house on the edge of the Heeley City Farm site. It had been an end-terraced house, but the rest of the terrace was demolished to make way for a by-pass that never happened.

The house (for most of its life a bakery on the ground floor with living accommodation above) had never been refurbished and needed a lot of work:

The house was very damp and in need of TOTAL renovation. We had to hack off wall-plaster, take down ceilings and remove rotten timber.

Three of the ground floor rooms had been knocked together. Some of the supporting beams were very substantial:

And some were not!

The house had never been fully re-wired, and the electrics were somewhat free-form.

Some original features remained, like the sliding-sash shutters in the front room


...but very few.

We had to fill a great many skips...

And got through a great many dust masks.

The costs were far more than we had anticipated, so we had to do as much of the demolition and minor works as we could ourselves, but by January 2006 we were ready for the builders.

The original plans included a building-mounted wind-turbine, a 2 kilowatt photovoltaic (solar electric) system, all the external work and internal fitting-out - in fact a building complete and ready to use. When the estimates came in, incorporating all the requirements of structural engineers, building inspectors, fire officers, and so on, we had to review our plans seriously. The structural steelwork alone (which was needed to keep the building upright) cost more than the photovoltaics would have cost.

Finally the decision was taken to do all the works to the second floor, including all the insulation, ourselves, and to carry out all the decorations, fitting-out and external works 'in-house'. The builders would do all the internal building work, and would have all the heating, plumbing and electrical installations done, but we (mainly a team of dedicated volunteers) would do everything else.

Why was the work so expensive?

Partly because the house was so very dilapidated, but also because we wished the refurbishment to form an integral part of the display. The idea was not to show the cheapest way to do things, but a whole range of alternatives. Some of the best ideas (such as using untreated timber in certain areas) require no extra expenditure at all, while others (for example the 'green' insulation materials and paints) were very pricey. But if we don't show what's available, then it's hard to make the choices.

The next photos cover the building works as they progressed. We hope you enjoy seeing the transformation, and that you come and visit South Yorkshire Energy Centre.