INCA Case Study: Eyewitness Works, Sheffield

Social impact developers Capital&Centric invested in the £25 million pound redevelopment of the Eyewitness Works – its newly restored apartments and gardens at an historic listed building in Sheffield, with properties now available to rent. The developer has been transforming the scheme on Milton Street since 2021, with Capital&Centric bringing Channel 4 to Sheffield with the development featuring weekly on The Big Interiors Battle fronted by AJ Odudu.

Located in Sheffield’s Devonshire Quarter, nearby the Devonshire Green, the Build to Rent scheme includes 97 loft apartments and town houses – with a mix of five different architectural styles. The pet-friendly homes will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, duplexes and townhouses in the Grade II listed works.

The uniquely designed apartments boast high windows and original features including fireplaces, safes, timber beams and trusses. The spaces have a contemporary edge, fully furnished with HAY furniture – a collection of high-quality, sustainable Scandi pieces.

Residents will also have exclusive access to three peaceful gardens in the internal courtyards – one featuring a giant friction screw press as a reminder of the building’s past – as well as a residents’ lounge, mini cinema, co-working space and private dining.

The building was once the proud home of Taylor’s Eyewitness Ltd. The company was set up in 1820 before moving into Milton Street in 1852, where it manufactured and exported cutlery across the world.

The redesign of Eyewitness Works, by shedkm and Twentysix Architects, both respects, takes advantage of and enhances the distinctive features of Sheffield, its districts and neighbourhoods. Homes are modern and open plan, featuring dual aspect windows, exposed brickwork, and many original features such as beams, original staircases and existing machinery. Crisp free-standing kitchens and bathrooms pods are inserted centrally to provide a strong contrast to the existing fabric and make best use of the space creating generous open plan living, removing unwanted circulation space and offering dual aspect layouts to maximise light. The project has been shortlisted for the 2024 AJ Retrofit Award & 2024 Housing Design Award.

Rendserve supplied and installed a Permarock insulated Render System to the Headford Road elevation to overcome the terrible condition of the existing brickwork substrate. Even though the had IWI installed we used varying thickness of mineral fibre insulant ranging from 50mm to 80mm to overcome the background issues and provide line and level substrate ready to receive the reinforced render coatings finished with a silicone 1.5mm top coat in a charcoal grey colour.

Upon completion a local street artist, unattractively known as ‘Phlegm’ was commissioned to provide an impressive giant mural on the side of the building providing a totally unique and one-off build.