Blackburn Meadows Biomass Plant
Blackburn Meadows is a landmark biomass power plant on the site of the former Tinsley cooling towers in Sheffield. The plant provides a sustainable source of energy for 40,000 homes.
An orange translucent clad boiler house forms the key part of the plant and is illuminated from within, with silhouettes of silos and other elements made visible at night creating a landmark beacon.
In addition to the power station, the project includes a visitor centre providing an educational resource for school parties and other interested groups, again clad in orange polycarbonate panels.
The feature backlighting to the boiler house cladding was achieved following detailed calculations using a number of night time site mock ups to calibrate the effect. The result is a striking night time ‘lantern’ with a minimal energy consumption of around 1500W.
“The striking architecture of the buildings means that already the plant is becoming a local landmark. The feature lighting on the top of the boiler house looks fantastic on an evening and the orange polycarbonate glows during sunrise”.
Luke Ellis, plant manager at Blackburn Meadows Biomass.
Awards
RIBA National Award 2017
Civic Trust Award 2018
Best Building, Sheffield Design Awards 2016
2016 RICS Yorkshire & Humber Awards (Infrastructure award and Project of the year)
Client: E.ON
Architect: BDP
Product: PC 2540-4 Bicolour
Size: 2,000m2
Blackburn Meadows Biomass Plant
Blackburn Meadows is a landmark biomass power plant on the site of the former Tinsley cooling towers in Sheffield. The plant provides a sustainable source of energy for 40,000 homes.
An orange translucent clad boiler house forms the key part of the plant and is illuminated from within, with silhouettes of silos and other elements made visible at night creating a landmark beacon.
In addition to the power station, the project includes a visitor centre providing an educational resource for school parties and other interested groups, again clad in orange polycarbonate panels.
The feature backlighting to the boiler house cladding was achieved following detailed calculations using a number of night time site mock ups to calibrate the effect. The result is a striking night time ‘lantern’ with a minimal energy consumption of around 1500W.
“The striking architecture of the buildings means that already the plant is becoming a local landmark. The feature lighting on the top of the boiler house looks fantastic on an evening and the orange polycarbonate glows during sunrise”.
Luke Ellis, plant manager at Blackburn Meadows Biomass.
Awards
RIBA National Award 2017
Civic Trust Award 2018
Best Building, Sheffield Design Awards 2016
2016 RICS Yorkshire & Humber Awards (Infrastructure award and Project of the year)
Client: E.ON
Architect: BDP
Product: PC 2540-4 Bicolour
Size: 2,000m2