Mansfield Road fire station Sheffield: Landmark to become gym, café and climbing wall from January

It has been a Sheffield landmark for over 50 years.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

And now the former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use.

Former policeman and strong man Phil Roberts, and plumber Tom Lee, have started work to convert the former fire service base into a gym and café – and they hope to also create a climbing wall on the site’s tower.

Read More
Former Sheffield fire station could be converted into gym, cafe and creche
The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. Former policeman and strong man Phil Roberts, and plumber Tom Lee, have started work to convert the former fire service base into a gym and café – and they hope to also create a climbing wall on the site’s tower.The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. Former policeman and strong man Phil Roberts, and plumber Tom Lee, have started work to convert the former fire service base into a gym and café – and they hope to also create a climbing wall on the site’s tower.
The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. Former policeman and strong man Phil Roberts, and plumber Tom Lee, have started work to convert the former fire service base into a gym and café – and they hope to also create a climbing wall on the site’s tower.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They are looking to keep many of the features of the fire station – including the big doors which the fire engines drove through at the front of the building, and even the firefighter’s pole.

It will see a new use for the building for the first time since it was closed around 10 years ago.

Phil, who left the police in 2015 to set up a gym, Titanium Strength gym on Fitzwalter Road, near City Road, said he had hoped to set up a fitness venue in the ex-fire station since he first drove past it after it had closed, after seeing it lying derelict.

England’s strongest man star Phil Roberts

The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. Former policeman and strong man Phil Roberts, and plumber Tom Lee, have started work to convert the former fire service base into a gym and café – and they hope to also create a climbing wall on the site’s tower.The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. Former policeman and strong man Phil Roberts, and plumber Tom Lee, have started work to convert the former fire service base into a gym and café – and they hope to also create a climbing wall on the site’s tower.
The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. Former policeman and strong man Phil Roberts, and plumber Tom Lee, have started work to convert the former fire service base into a gym and café – and they hope to also create a climbing wall on the site’s tower.

Phil, a former England’s Strongest Man contestant, was injured in 2019 when he dropped a heavy stone on his leg while competing, and almost lost his leg.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He gave up athletics in 2020 to concentrate on the gym, and decided to go ahead with opening the new site, which will be called Station Gym, after meeting business partner Tom at City Church, who has also been a fitness instructor.

The pair are already well underway with work on the building, and hope to be ready to open in January 2023. They are doing much of the work themselves to keep costs down, bringing in expert specialists where needed.

Highest outdoor climbing wall in Sheffield

The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. Former policeman and strong man Phil Roberts, and plumber Tom Lee, have started work to convert the former fire service base into a gym and café – and they hope to also create a climbing wall on the site’s tower.The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. Former policeman and strong man Phil Roberts, and plumber Tom Lee, have started work to convert the former fire service base into a gym and café – and they hope to also create a climbing wall on the site’s tower.
The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. Former policeman and strong man Phil Roberts, and plumber Tom Lee, have started work to convert the former fire service base into a gym and café – and they hope to also create a climbing wall on the site’s tower.

Phil said: “The tower, we’re hoping to change into the highest outdoor climbing well in Sheffield. We’re also looking to have an apprenticeship scheme and food banks here – we want to help the community, and we know times are tough.

"We are keeping the majority of the characteristics of the building. We will keep the doors, but with bigger windows to let more light in. We’d like to have some art on site in recognition of the firefighters who served here over the years.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It served the community as a fire station. We’d like it to serve the community as a gym."

Health food café

The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. The picture shows the tower that could be a climbing wall.The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. The picture shows the tower that could be a climbing wall.
The former Mansfield Road fire station building, in Birley, is set to stay under plans to convert it to a new use. The picture shows the tower that could be a climbing wall.

He said the café, which will serve healthy food, will be open to the community and not just gym users and gym members. The gym will be available to people paying a fee on the day, as well as members, and hopes to form clubs within the building to help people make friends and build communities.

He said he also hopes to work with the NHS to get people fit and healthy.

Phil said he feels the project has gone well so far, and added he has had a lot of support locally for the project.

He said: “We are embracing the old and the new in a building which I think dates back to 1965, a building that everyone knows around here.”

Related topics: