Metropolitan Workshop were commissioned by Forward Swindon Ltd to convert two historic former railway sheds into new managed workspace for creative small businesses and start-ups in the centre of Swindon. Located in the heart of the Railway Village Conservation Area, the Grade II listed buildings are a large group of industrial sheds built at the end of the nineteenth century, originally for the design and construction of railway carriages, which took raw materials at one end through to completed, painted rolling stock at the other. The original buildings have now been sensitively repaired with minimal interventions. The roofs have been overhauled and insulated with new heritage rooflights and the distinctive roof cowls replaced with modern copies to conceal new ventilation plant. At the Lower Ground Floor, at street level, an existing entrance has been connected to the main level above with a new wrought steel stair and lift, threaded through a new floor opening. The main intervention is the construction of a free-standing, lightweight mezzanine structure to create two levels of new offices, meeting rooms and open-plan workspace. This greatly increases the space available; making the most of the considerable height of the former sheds. Shortlisted for Workplace of the Year (up to 20,000sqm)