Nottingham Waterside

What could the future hold for two mighty old warehouses, sitting derelict and abandoned on the banks of the River Trent? This is the question that, in 2012, Ash Sakula was asked answer. Built in the 1930s, the warehouses occupied land held by the Homes and Communities Agency, who had earmarked them for demolition. Somewhat awed, we explored their cavernous concrete insides, which were inches-deep in guano having been lived in by colonies of pigeons for decades. We found them to be lofty structures, possessed of a special sense of place, and so devised a strategy to retain them both and use them to kick-start the transformation of the site into a vibrant and profitable development of homes, commercial property and a new riverside plaza.