Historic Springfield Brewery

Post by: Hadar Berwari

The site was originally bought in 1873 by William Butler to house his growing brewing business, with the Springfield Brewery opening in 1874 under the William Butler. The family name continued William’s sons, first Edwin, and then Samuel took the reins. The Butler family connection ended when Samuel Butler left the board of directors in 1950.

In 1960 the company was taken over by Mitchells and they ran it as a brewery for some time. When they stopped making on the site they used it as a distribution centre. The site and the building were ripe for redevelopment and these historic buildings would have to be combined into any structure. The whole site was developed by the Wolverhampton property developers, Simon Developments.

The beautiful gates at Springfield Brewery in 1974:

At the end of May 2001 it was reported that an application for outline planning permission was submitted by Simon Developments for the development of what was basically a boutique retail centre, with associated cafes and the like. The proposal met with the approval of the council's officers and of English Heritage but was refused planning permission because of the councillors' opinion that it would be a threat to the viability of the city's shopping centre. Simon Developments did not appeal and had to go away and think of some other way of saving this important building. Click the link below for the application submitted by Simon Developments.

https://slack-files.com/files-pri-safe/T3ZLG3FCJ-F436NMRFC/07_00543_rem-07-00543-rem_05-drawings-884624.pdf?c=1488463792-34f585161fe653eda76475e9378c396fac6b2aac

Since then the buildings and the surrounding area have been included in a conservation area. In the draft City Centre Strategy and Action Plan they come up with the bright idea of using it for "a new cultural conference centre" and a venue for large weddings, incorporating an "exhibition centre to act as a showcase for Wolverhampton's diverse communities, and for local artists, potentially supported by some specialist retail. The idea of holding large non-conformist and Hindu weddings in a brewery is certainly a remarkable one.

In 2004 the predicted risk duly happened and the buildings caught on fire. Extensive damage was done to the tower and the buildings at the back and all the brewing equipment left inside was lost. So Simon Development had to have yet another think. They have now (late 2004) produced a plan for offices in the old offices, restoration of much of the rest and its conversion into flats, shops, restaurants; and housing on the back land. Presumably the council will abandon its ideas about Hindu weddings and give its blessing to a sensible and practical scheme. And then Simon Developments will, as like as not, carry out the scheme, unlike many other developers in this quarter of the town.

Springfield brewery in 1889

Wolverhampton map in 1840

Springfield on October 1924

Name: SPRINGFIELD BREWERY

List entry Number: 1201790 Location: SPRINGFIELD BREWERY, CAMBRIDGE STREET

List Entry Summary This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

The building may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District: City of Wolverhampton
District Type: Metropolitan Authority
Grade: II

Date first listed: 19-Aug-1991 Legacy System Information The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System: LBS UID: 378349 Asset Groupings

This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.

SO99NW CAMBRIDGE STREET 895-1/5/370 (West side) 19/08/91 Springfield Brewery

GV II

National Grid Reference: SO 91883 99365

Map:

Revit Components for Heritage BIM

During the modelling of Block G I had found this block to be a little difficult to assemble back together as it was before the fire has happened. The model I am working from as it currently stands shows walls being modelled with areas this is because the model is modelled to the exact current stage of Springfield.

Some of the difficulties that I have were getting in window and door families to fit the opening that had already been provided to the original model. When it comes to Revit everything within the component library is set to standard components which aren’t correct for a project like Springfield I had spoken with my lecturer who had informed me to create my own Revit families so it fit within the project openings.

I had also started to use the information that the Architecture students had found at the beginning of the modelling process which supported the modelling. The students had found planning drawings which were created by the previous developer of the site which had found the plans and created working drawings for his project. Finding these documents had really helped as it supported the modelling, we already had some scanning data that has been conducted before which was useful to draw from filling in the missing area of the models. By having the scanning data and planning drawings this really has made the process so much easier as we are not only relying pictures which do help but not much when it comes to drawing and designing in Revit.

This elevation shows the obstacles i had faced during the remodelLing of this facade, the first window shows the window components that was available within the components library and the opening which is the actual opening of the model as it stand on site. I had to make sure I created a new family in Revit and make sure the window fit within the opening.

When it comes to heritage BIM the difficulties that occurs a lot of the process of creating families to replicate what once was the actual building component. Even though the process of creating families is crucial when it comes to heritage BIM, I made sure I wasn’t heavily relying on Revit components as it wouldn’t support what I was had to model for Springfield,  however when I was  creating my own Revit families I was taking control of the modelling process and created what I wanted.  

So far I am enjoying the modelling process and I had picked up a lot of skills to recreated Springfield Brewery Wolverhampton. 

Sagal Rooble, Msc BIM Student

Our Starting Point

As part of the design work for the new Springfield Campus, Atkins Global (the designers appointed by the University) commissioned a 3D Laser Scan of the existing site by Scantech International Ltd. From the 3D Laser scan data, a 3D model was produced using Autodesk Revit and this was provided to the University to allow our Heritage BIM team to gain a head start in the development of the larger model.

Scan2BIM modelling is something that we teach as part of the curriculum here at the University of Wolverhampton and we have a wide range of experience of working in this field from our KTP project work with Severn Partnership Ltd over a period of the last 7 years. In addition we have also engaged in several heritage based Scan2BIM projects in the past and had our undergraduate Architectural Technology students generating historic Building Information Models of some amazing buildings in the region - you can read more about our project with the Anstice Memorial Hall here.

3D Scan and Revit model produced by Architectural Technology students as project

Following the fires in 2004 and 2005, many of the old buildings which made up the site were demolished and large sections of the those that remained were dilapidated, roofs were missing, walls collapsed etc. The scan of the site recorded all of this data accurately. In addition, in the latter stages of the decade, some development work was undertaken on the site and so the building fabric had been changed (new walls constructed) in order to create new apartment blocks. Whilst these were all recorded in the Scan data, they were not part of the original buildings and so some forensic work was needed to determine which parts of the existing scan and Revit model needed to be removed to strip back to the original structure.

Our undergraduate Architecture students and the PG team then started to mine information on the original buildings and began looking for plans, photographs, sketches, written accounts and any other historic documentation that might help in building up the model of the site. There will be another post in the future giving details on all of the information found.

In addition to the model of the site, we started to find out lots more information about the surrounding urban area. Interesting aspects, such as the railway line which used to run into the Wolverhampton South station and straight past the brewery which then tied in with the placement of the hoppers in the basement. This feature can't be seen from the ground level but the 3D Laser scan shows these clearly. Based on this we decided to also model the heritage of the urban landscape using maps obtained from 1800 to the present day. This would allow us to review the urban changes over the period of the brewery operation. In order to model this the team identified Autodesk Infraworks as a great modelling tool and also a method to bring together the range of data we are collecting!

Springfield Brewery, Wolverhampton, A Documentary, and Fabric Analysis and Equipment Analysis

Posted by Ailish Whittington

During our research, we found a report called ‘Springfield Brewery, Wolverhampton, A Documentary, and Fabric Analysis and Equipment Analysis (1999)’ written by George Demidowicz, University of Birmingham Honour research fellow in the department of history and his wife Toni Demidowicz. We found this article online and contacted George to ask him more about his research and if he could be of any assistance to the project. He contacted us, and told us that he sent a document to the building conservation team at Wolverhampton City Council, outlining different phases of layouts of the brewery over time along with supporting photos. Unfortunately, he did not have a copy of this, but we will contact the council to see if they still have a copy and if they would be able to send us a copy.

Meet the team...

Post by: Dr. David Heesom, Reader in BIM

The development of the Heritage BIM (HBIM) of Springfield Brewery is being undertaken by a team of Postgraduate and Undergraduate students studying in the School of Architecture and the Built Environment at the University of Wolverhampton.

Students from the MSc course in Building Information Modelling for Integrated Construction are spending the year gaining a deeper understanding of how BIM is used throughout the built environment. As part of this course we study a module entitled Urban Modelling, and during this academic year we are using the site of our new building, which is to open in 2019 at Springfield, as a case study. To build on this, and linking in to our other research in the School, we have looking more into heritage BIM and virtual heritage (more details to follow in another post).

Student collaborating using the touch screen in our Virtual Reality Lab (MI215)

Meet the team:

Postgraduate Team:

We have a team of 7 Postgraduate students working on the project. These students are developing the 3D geometric models of the buildings as they would have existed when the site was operational. By bringing together existing 3D Laser Scan data, historical plans, photographs, maps and other information they are going to develop a full 3D representation of the site during its operational phase in the late 19th / early 20th century. In addition, using archeological maps and urban data they are also using a GIS approach to model the urban surroundings of the Springfield site throughout the years of operation.

The Postgraduate team is made up of:

Katie Andrews

Hadar Berwari

Joe Groves,

Mike Loleke

Sagal Rooble

Stas Steikunas

Ailish Warwick

Module Leader: Dr. David Heesom

Undergraduate Team:

In addition to the Postgraduate team, we also have a team of Undergraduate Students who are currently studying the first year of the BSc (Hons) Architecture course at the University of Wolverhampton. Currently the students are studying a module of History and Theory of Architecture and using this project and Springfield as a case study to understand the industrial history and impact of architecture within this area of the city and the broader region. These students are collaborating and working closely with the Postgraduate team to search for relevant archive information, analyse and present plans and images through the era and brief the modelling team of new sources of data.

The Undergraduate team is made up of:

Harry Braid

Javaughn Chung

Phillip Gibson

Sufyan Nasiru

Ahmad Zubayr

Module Leader: Andrew Cunningham, Craig Wall

Please keep checking back for more details of the project as is progresses, including links to information found on the site, the progress of the 3D modelling and issues that we come up against from a technical perspective as we progress through the project and learn more about the process.

Initial Research

Posted by Ailish Whittington

In researching the brewery using the internet search engines Google ‘scholar’ and ‘books’, we found a book called ‘British Breweries: An Architectural History’ by Lynn Pearson, in which the history of the Springfield Brewery is noted. This book highlights important information, such as the architect of the brewery ‘R.C. Sinclair’ who designed the brewery between 1881- 1883. It also named the specialist architectural photographers ‘Bedford Lemere & Co’ who photographed the brewery in 1960. After learning this, we were then able to use these names in our searches to find further information and any remaining photographs. A few photographs were uncovered from these searches depicting different angles of the site (below), giving us a good understanding of the buildings the brewery occupied.

 

 

The book also contained information such as the addition of the boiler house in 1920, constructed using sprayed concrete and the addition of the cask washing building, which had its own engine house and occupied almost all of the northern end of the site. This information helped to map out vague areas and help to piece together the arrangement of the site at different points in time.

We researched the site through the Planning Portal and found a wealth of drawings dating back to 2006 by Howl associates, comprising of existing and proposed plans to renovate the site into apartments. These plans were approved and worked started on site but unfortunately the redevelopment was abandoned and the site today remains how it was left, partially renovated in areas. As most of these drawings are proposed, some elements will be redundant to the project team. However, they give a true insight into the buildings around the site, depicted layout and giving us dimensions and external elevations that can be compared against the laser scan data to ensure accuracy.

 

Developing Heritage BIM of Springfield

Post by: Dr. David Heesom, Reader in BIM

In 2014 the University of Wolverhampton purchased the 12 acre site of the old Springfield Brewery located near to the railway station in Wolverhampton City Centre. Between 1873 and 1991, the brewery was operated by Mitchell and Butler, then a fire destroyed much of the site in 2004. A further fire in 2005 destroyed even more of the site until only the shell of some of the buildings were left. The site was well renown in the City and a landmark as trains travelled past on the West Coast Mainline.

The brewery site circa ????

(source: ????)

The brewery site following the fire of 2004

(source: ????)

As part of a project involving MSc students studying Building Information Modelling (BIM) and BSc Architecture students, we are attempting to collate as much architectural history of the brewery, including the surrounding urban area, and build up a 3D model of the site as it was when it was fully operational. This 3D model will be compiled in the form of a Heritage BIM (HBIM) and as such will allow not only 3D geometric information but also allow additional heritage data to be added to the building. In addition to this we are also creating a 3D virtual model of the surrounding area to show how this part of the City of Wolverhampton has changed over the years. This will include developing the model to show the old railway line that used to run next to the brewery and into the Low Level Station, just below the existing railway station today.

This blog has been established to give information and show details of the work we are undertaking and is being maintained by the students undertaking the project. As we progress with the project we will ad more details, including links to data we have found and also progress with the modelling exercise that we are undertaking. We hope that once the project is completed we will have an accurate 3D model (BIM) of the building as it was before the fire and before the University starts work on the redevelopment of the site in the summer of 2017.

To read more about the concept of Heritage BIM or Historic BIM (HBIM) you can read this document from Historic England (Click Here). This will provide a little more information on the concept and how a range of new technologies and emerging software is being used to generate a new method of recording digital heritage.