A Mirfield company has helped turn waste materials into a new shelter for community gardeners.
Modular building experts Actiform, based on Lowlands Road, supplied materials and built the structure at a community garden site on Peace Pit Lane in Deighton, Huddersfield.
The shelter was built mostly using materials that would otherwise have been discarded at Actiform’s factory.
The project brought together Actiform, the University of Huddersfield’s Sustainable Living Research Centre and Natural Kirklees, a charity which supports more than 100 voluntary groups looking after green spaces across the district.
Many of those groups work on council-owned land and some sites have no shelter, leaving volunteers with nowhere to go when it rains.
Dr Yun Gao, Professional Lead in Architecture and the Built Environment and director of the Sustainable Living Research Centre, said: “Groups that are part of Natural Kirklees work on many, mainly council-owned, sites around the area.
“Some sites have no shelter and there is nowhere to go when it rains, which is one of the reasons that they can struggle to attract more volunteers.”
Actiform supplied the construction materials and its team worked over a weekend to build the shelter for the community.
The structure uses recycled materials including wooden pallets, a sawn timber frame and composite panels. It can also be dismantled and rebuilt on another site.
Dr Gao said: “Actiform are local and we were very happy when they came on board. They provided all the construction materials and also worked over the weekend to build the shelter for the community.
“This project is a great example of how a range of partners can be brought together for a cause that benefits everyone.
“Recycling and reusing material is a huge issue in the construction industry right now and this project demonstrates how that can be done with a quick win that saves carbon as well.”
The Deighton site was chosen from six possible locations after the university had worked with Natural Kirklees for around two years.
It is now managed by Kirklees Community Growing Group, with people from Support to Recovery and Community Platform also involved.
The university team used whole lifecycle assessment to measure the carbon impact of using waste materials for the shelter.
The research found that whole-life carbon emissions could be reduced by up to 73% compared with a shelter built from all-new materials.
Dr Gao added: “The project has been beneficial for our research centre, as we have compiled a database to record what waste materials can be reused, rather than discarded.
“We are in discussions over constructing some more buildings along these lines, which would be great because there are so many volunteers working on the green spaces locally that would benefit from somewhere to shelter from everything the climate in Kirklees can throw at them.”
A launch event was held at the Peace Pit Lane site and was attended by members of community growing groups and the Mayor of Kirklees, Clr Karen Allison.
The mayor praised the groups involved in making the project happen.
A song written for the shelter was performed by Dr Manas Murthy, with music played by Tom Taylor.
The song includes the line: “Covid hit us really hard, lost so many members… This is our sanctuary, our home away from home.”
The university research team was led by Dr Yun Gao and Professor Nic Clear and also included Dr Manas Murthy, Dr Nwakaego Onyenokporo, Dr Tamiris Capellaro Ferreira and Hemen Galal.
