Historic smelting shed to be converted into homes

A rare surviving smelting shed from Swansea’s industrial past is to be converted into 12 rental apartments.

The Grade II-listed sandstone building on Phoebe Road, in the city’s Copper Quarter, formed part of the Upper Bank Works, founded in the mid-18th century by London merchant Chauncey Townsend.

The works initially smelted lead and zinc before switching mainly to copper around 1775. Large-scale zinc smelting returned between 1838 and 1842 following George Muntz’s development of “yellow metal”, an alloy used to sheath ships.

According to Cadw’s listing, the surviving sheds probably date from the late 18th or early 19th century, although they may have been built during the later expansion.

The works closed in 1928 and the site was subsequently used as part of a munitions factory.

Cadw describes the sheds as rare survivors of their kind, with particular importance to the industrial history of the lower Swansea Valley. Their listed status also recognises their relationship with nearby historic quay walls and Morfa Bridge.

The building retains distinctive architectural features, including brick-framed arched openings and three circular openings in its main gable.

The residential scheme will involve repairing and adapting the building, which has a footprint of around 600 square metres, in line with conservation requirements. The apartments will be rented out once work is complete.

Business advisory firm FRP has arranged a £1.43 million loan to support the refurbishment.

Its finance adviser Sam Beaumont said listed buildings required specialist assessments and additional checks before lenders would back a conversion.

He said: “Listed buildings throw up questions that a lender needs answered early, and a lot of the work on this one happened out of sight, long before the homes were visible.

“There was plenty to work through between the valuation and completion, so my job was to stay close to everyone involved and keep things moving, so the lender could lend with confidence.”

The finance agreement runs for 18 months. No completion date for the apartments has been announced.