Kiveton Park and Wales Village Hall took just eight months to complete from demolition of the old hall to handing over the keys to its trustees.

The hall integrates some of the most ground-breaking energy saving systems available, the combination of which, Hillside believe, makes the hall unique in the UK.

Matt Brown, senior contracts manager with Hillside, says the concept is about making financial sense as much as it is about being environmentally conscious.

"This village hall is here for the long-term and as such will have to be self-sustaining. The technological systems we have built into the hall mean that it will not only save money on heating, light and water; it will generate income that can be used to provide more services for the community. We honestly believe there is no other village hall with such complete advanced environmental concepts anywhere else in the UK," says Matt Brown.

The hall was designed by Burnell Briercliffe Architects of Sheffield.

Key green features of the building include:

• A ground source heat pump that extracts heat from below the ground that is then used to fuel an under floor heating system to warm the hall. The pipes for the system are buried 100 metres vertically down in the grounds of the hall.


• A rainwater harvesting system which recycles rain water for use in the building as grey water. The water will be used in the toilets and to tend the newly planted gardens.


• A pholto voltaic solar panel system which should provide sufficient electricity to supply the whole building. An export meter has also been installed allowing unused generated electricity from the solar panel to be returned to the national grid, producing income for the hall.


• Natural light tubes in the roof illuminate internal rooms that would otherwise require powered lighting.

Inside, a fitted digital display unit presents up to the minute information on how much power and water has been saved since the hall was opened.

Hillside Ltd is based in South Yorkshire on the outskirts of Sheffield from where its 60-strong team of tradesmen and managers handle contracts throughout most of England. The team of directors have a minimum of 30 years' individual construction industry experience and have been running the firm since 1991.

Year-on-year growth has seen the company move on to larger projects and is establishing a strong reputation for completing private and public sector contracts valued between £100,000 and £2,500,000.

Planning a business event you want others to know about? Let us add it to the Business Calendar