The Nanotechnology Centre for PVD Research is a Sheffield Hallam University owned site, based in Sheffield. Although this particular site has closed, the department, along with much of their equipment, moved premises; presumably to a larger and more apt facility somewhere around their primary City Campus. The date of closure is currently unknown, although some sections of the site have seen been used as a temporary storage space since 2011. To describe the facilities function and purpose simply, the place specialised as a ‘surface coating centre’. For those who want a more comprehensive explanation, the Nanotechnology Centre is distinguished for its research and developments in relation to ‘nanoscale multilayer Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) coatings and for the development of the HIPIMS technique’. Fundamentally, this means that the centre could produce extremely strong thin films, each measured only as a few micrometers in thickness. As Sheffield Hallam University illustrate, these coatings can provide multi-functionality and are useful for a number of applications, functioning as a; hard wearing, strong, aesthetic, biomedical, corrosive and oxidative resistant material. Sheffield Hallam University are recognised as nanotechnology experts and have long since been partly financed by UK supported research projects and the European Community, through the European Regional Development Fund.
As we returned from an earlier explore we noticed a wide open access point and decided to investigate. Overall, the site is largely stripped, particularly the former teaching/seminar rooms, and it looks as though work is currently being undertaken to perhaps renovate the site – although, this is entirely assumptive. There are, however, a few interesting items that can be located, including security equipment with seemed to be turned on. While there was evidence of recent activity in the building, we failed to stumble across anyone; rather, the place eerily resembled a ghost facility.
1: Surface Coating Centre Plaque
2: Valves and Pipes
3: Hand Soap Dispenser
4: Kitchen - Last Night's Tea Party?
5: Old Seminar Room
6: Old Bioscience Equipment
7: More Old Bioscience Equipment
8: Large Workshop Area
9: Fork-Lift Vehicle
10: Research Machinery
11: Large Research Machine
12: Forgotten Computer
13: Vial of Strange Liquid and Unknown Item at the Bottom
14: Mini-Crane Rig
15: Crane-Cam - To Watch the Crane Outside
16: Crane Motor
17: Chains and Industrial Carabiners
18: Stairway Landing with Research Papers
19: Teaching Rooms Corridor
20: Old SHU Visitor Guide Leaflet
As we returned from an earlier explore we noticed a wide open access point and decided to investigate. Overall, the site is largely stripped, particularly the former teaching/seminar rooms, and it looks as though work is currently being undertaken to perhaps renovate the site – although, this is entirely assumptive. There are, however, a few interesting items that can be located, including security equipment with seemed to be turned on. While there was evidence of recent activity in the building, we failed to stumble across anyone; rather, the place eerily resembled a ghost facility.
1: Surface Coating Centre Plaque
2: Valves and Pipes
3: Hand Soap Dispenser
4: Kitchen - Last Night's Tea Party?
5: Old Seminar Room
6: Old Bioscience Equipment
7: More Old Bioscience Equipment
8: Large Workshop Area
9: Fork-Lift Vehicle
10: Research Machinery
11: Large Research Machine
12: Forgotten Computer
13: Vial of Strange Liquid and Unknown Item at the Bottom
14: Mini-Crane Rig
15: Crane-Cam - To Watch the Crane Outside
16: Crane Motor
17: Chains and Industrial Carabiners
18: Stairway Landing with Research Papers
19: Teaching Rooms Corridor
20: Old SHU Visitor Guide Leaflet
