The Glass Works

The Glass Works is a £200 million development project, designed to create a vibrant town centre in the heart of Barnsley. It will deliver a diverse range of retail and leisure experiences while also preserving the town’s heritage, as it will include the Barnsley Markets.

Billington Structures was involved in the second development phase of The Glass Works. It will be home to a variety of retail and leisure facilities including 26 new retail units, a 13 screen Cineworld, seven family restaurants, a Superbowl UK bowling, soft place and laser quest, a new public square and a 500-space multi-storey car park.

One block is entirely retail, measuring 97m x 30m and consisting of two-levels of shops. Steelwork is based around 8m x 9.25m grid pattern, although parts of the structure have an increased grid with beams spanning up to 12m. Facing one elevation of the retail block, the structure incorporates two levels of shops at ground and first floor, with a six-level multi-storey car park above.

The main part of this structure measures 73m x 37m, while the lower two-storey retail zone continues eastwards along the boulevard to create an extra 52m x 19m area.

Billington Structures fabricated, supplied and erected 450 tonnes of structural steel to strengthen the existing concrete frame to allow the hall to be reconfigured. New steelwork was also erected to form a new façade.

The project received an extremely positive response from end users and has increased footfall in the town centre, bucking the national trend.

“The positive impact of the development across the town centre is already visible. An investment like this not only stimulates inward investment and economic growth, it creates more and better jobs; our initial estimates suggest that the scheme will generate approximately 1,100 jobs by 2025,” said Steve Houghton, Leader of the Council, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

Take a look at the video below for more information on the project courtesy of BMBC and Henry Boot Construction Ltd.