Project of the week

Portland Works was built in Sheffield in 1879 and is now one of the last remaining working examples of a purpose-built metal trades factory. It was here in 1914 that stainless steel cutlery was first produced.

For centuries, Sheffield-made forks and knives graced tables across the world. However, after the Portland Works site ceased production in the 1960s, the buildings that had contributed so much to the city began to decline.

The site was subsequently threatened with being converted into flats in 2009, but several of the tenants, councillors and historians joined forces to oppose the planning application. Together, they hosted community consultations and undertook research that showed not only the significance its community placed on the complex’s history, but also that the units were in economically productive use – far from being an empty site, Portland Works was still a thriving business community. This group forged a campaign that galvanised tenants and other members of the local community to raise community shares and ultimately purchase Portland Works in 2013. Since then, the site has been undergoing an extensive renovation.

Today, Portland Works is a Grade II*-listed site and also a thriving artisan cooperative, home to over 30 different craftspeople and small manufacturers who make everything from violins and willow coffins to longbows and leather belts to gin and jewellery. Of course, it is also still home to several steel tool and knife makers, who keep the history of this important industrial site alive.