Community gardeners in Huddersfield have been given a new shelter made largely from recycled materials that would have otherwise been thrown away.
The shelter has been built on a community garden site at Peace Pit Lane, off Leeds Road in Deighton.
The project brought together the University of Huddersfield’s Sustainable Living Research Centre, Mirfield-based modular building company Actiform and charity Natural Kirklees.
Natural Kirklees supports more than 100 voluntary groups which look after green spaces across the district.
Many of those groups work on council-owned sites and some have no shelter, leaving volunteers with nowhere to go when the weather turns inclement.
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.”
The Deighton site, on council-owned land close to the canal, 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 the Support to Recovery and Community Platform organisations also involved.
Dr Gao said: “We identified this one at Peace Pit Lane as it is a great place to try this prototype structure.
“This is because of the important work growing groups are doing and the ability to unite members from other groups, such as Support to Recovery and Community Platform together with the Kirklees Community Growing Group, who now manage the site.”
Actiform supplied the materials and built the structure over a weekend. The shelter uses recycled materials including wooden pallets, a sawn timber frame and composite panels.
The new shelter under construction in Deighton
The structure can also be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere.
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 university team measured the carbon impact of using waste materials for the shelter and 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.
