Page 195 - Beyond Decommissioning

176 Beyond Decommissioning

both protect it and make it more appealing to prospective users. A raised floor was
created over the platform and track and an external platform removed and replaced
with a smaller balcony.
In 2011–12 further improvements were performed including the installation of
internal electricity circuits, toilets and drainage, and improvements to the offices,
and car park.
Now a secure building with light, water, and drainage, the Goods Shed could be
removed from English Heritage’s Buildings at Risk list.
On November 18, 2014 the Network Rail lease for the Brunel Goods Shed was offi-
cially assigned to Stroud Valleys Artspace. SVA is, a registered charity with a good
record of achievements in Stroud including the restoring of their own warehouse as
artists’ studios, developing the Open Studio trail since 1998 and running innovative
exhibitions and events (Stroud Preservation, 2014).
Temple Works (or Temple Mill or Marshall’s Mill) in Holbeck, Leeds, West York-
shire, UK, is a former flax spinning mill: it was built in 1836–40 by the architect Igna-
tius Bonomi for John Marshall. The design of the building had a distinctly Egyptian
style and even the original chimney was an Egyptian obelisk. Unfortunately, this
cracked and had to be replaced by a more conventional Victorian stack. During the
first half of the 19th century there was a craze for all things Egyptian, so Marshall
and Bonomi wanted Leeds to join in Templeworks (n.d.).
The roof was covered in soil to insulate the building against extreme tempera-
tures and grass was grown on the roof to control the humidity and prevent the
linen thread from becoming dry and hard to work. A flock of sheep maintained
the grass by grazing it. Inside, the main flax mill was based in a very large room
yet it is very light. That light floods in from numerous huge glass skylights in the
large roof.
The room contains many pillars but their main function is not load bearing but to
conceal the drainage system.
When John Marshall died, his flax business went into decline and ceased trading
altogether in 1886.
Within the building is a series of offices, a canteen, and kitchen. From 1953 until
1981 it was the northern headquarters of the mail-order catalogue company Kay’s.
In late 2008 a column of the facade fell down. A large slice of gritrock fell on the
sidewalk and the roof balustrade above the column gave up. These events highlight the
risk to successful redevelopment posed by the structural weakness of old structures,
However, from 2009 Temple Works Leeds has been a thriving cultural hub that is
given over to 20% heritage and education, 40% location shoots and in-house studio
events, and 40% public events.
In 2015 plans were disclosed whereby the building would be reused for
manufacturing purposes. But the Brexit events suspended, and eventually cancelled
the initiative in 2017. The building was sold to developer CEG a day before it was
due to go up for auction (BBC, 2017).
The Volponi’s kiln is an historic brick factory situated at the Urbino city gates,
Italy. The first factory in the area dates the second half of 1800, but only in 1908 there
is news of the acquisition by the Volponi family of a “kiln with a square in order to