PROJECT REPORT: ADAPTIVE REUSE 31


young people to come up with a bold set of colours, the music room, recording studio and employment hub all have bold colour schemes to give a fresh and forward looking feel,” says Puttick.


Layered history


The designers were keen to respond to the site’s industrial heritage and certain original features have been restored and preserved, most notably a roof-mounted crane and rail system in the double height space, plus the Electricity Works sign on the outside of the building.


The new palette of materials was selected to emphasise the power station’s robust industrial feel. The structure for the new mezzanine is made up of exposed steel columns and I-beams at the perimeter, and metal balustrades with welded steel joints and infi ll panels of galvanised metal mesh. A large sliding door to the digital maker space is fi tted with industrial-style glazing. The raw, stripped back material palette helped the project meet a relatively tight budget of less than £1,500 per square


ADF NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025


metre, as did the focus on reusing as much of the original building as possible. However, certain design compromises were required to keep costs in check. “The main impact was on the fi nishes, most obviously on the ground fl oor we would have loved to do a poured concrete fl oor but that clearly wasn’t within budget so we went for a vinyl fl oor instead,” says Puttick. The building’s rich and layered history


is refl ected in a series of artworks by Uncultured Creatives, a collaboration between Artist Jamie Holman and curator Alex Zawadzki.


Spread throughout the building and themed on energy, progress and technological transformation, these include a stained glass window in the wall facing onto the recreation area and an AI- generated artwork, created in collaboration with youngsters and craftspeople, to explore how power, technology and culture continue to evolve. Another example of tech innovation is a large digital screen on the ceiling below the mezzanine space


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The Gaming Zone features a space-aged hexagonal doorway lined with neon


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