On Wednesday 20th September 2000, Voluntary Action Leicester purchased 9 Newarke Street, an old hosiery factory with two halves, the front from the early 1960s and the back from the 1800s.
From that day, the next 5 years were spent completely renovating every aspect of the building. From all new windows to a lovingly done restoration of the original parquet flooring, VAL gave this derelict shell a new purpose in the new millennium.
Join us, as we share some of the history and insights of a building that has been our home to us, and many other organisations over the years.
Rebuilt in the 1960s following a devastating fire, VAL’s building was originally operated by the F. Ellis & Co Hosiery company, which later became part of the Chilprufe brand.
These photos show what we started with, much of the building was unusable. There were broken windows, a leaking roof – even an entire section of floor was missing where VAL’s office and Liles Conference Suite is now.
Around the corner on Chancery Street the original Goods Yard to the factory became a hub for the various trades coming to renovate.
Leicester became Britain’s first Environment City, and this was reflected in our renovations.
We incorporated many eco-friendly and green features into the design of the building. cutting edge technology of the early 2000s, to lower the environmental impact of the building.
These eco-conscious additions meant the VAL building was recognised as one of the first Environment City Buildings in Leicester.
Things never stay still and over the years VAL and it’s home has adapted.
From meeting the needs of tenants, clients and the public – things never stay still for long.
In 2021 our reception had a complete overhaul.
The new reception was a cleaner, more streamlined look, but carried over some of the industrial features we loved – our unique metal ceiling grid and exposed lighting trays.
VAL has been proud to welcome many tenants over the years, who through their own work have helped make our local community a better place to be.
It’s not just people either – in October 2023, in partnership with BID Leicester, a huge inflatable monster moved in! We aren’t quite sure where he escaped to.
Today our building offers a mixture of rentable office space in the heart of Leicester, and we are always ready to welcome visitors to our meeting rooms.
Our building provides a space for our VALUES service to give adults with learning disabilities a place for fun and friendship. Over 100 people a day visit VALUES.
Sustainability plays a large part to running a building like ours, and that’s why renting an office, or booking one of our meeting rooms helps us to keep going and provide support for the sector.
Now a space for VALUES, the rear part of VAL’s building underwent a huge transformation – these pictures show the work on Chancery Street with our custom metal gate and the space that eventually became VALUES Room 1, 2 and 3
Originally the builders tea room, this space was the home to VAL’s IT and Comms team, and became known as ‘The Geek Shed’. Now the Shed is used by VALUES for music and singing.
VAL’s Liles Suite wouldn’t exist if you couldn’t step into it – so we had to put a floor in. Here you can see the huge steel beams and other works it took to make the space it is today.
Before we had to re-felt the roof, VAL’s roof garden gave us some much needed green space in the city centre
