Iconic Sheffield substation featured on new album cover

A Sheffield native, Richard Hawley is widely respected as a leading light of the Britpop movement – both from his time with The Longpigs and Pulp, and as a collaborator and writer. More recently, Hawley’s focus has been on his solo work, with his last three albums all charting in the UK Official Albums Chart Top 10 – two of those reaching the Top 3. 

Hawley’s new album, titled ‘In this city they call you love’, is released on 31 May and will be supported by a 14-date tour of the UK and Ireland. So why has Moore Street substation featured on the front cover and what’s the history of the site? 

Substation Operations Manager Malcolm Davies explains.

"Sheffield City, or Moore Street substation as it’s commonly known, was built in 1967 and designed by local architects Jefferson Sheard. 

Originally, it was envisaged that the substation would be replicated on land adjacent, but that never materialised due to the demand in the area not reaching the expected level. That is why today the top floor of the site is just a massive empty space – ideal for hosting art exhibitions, dance productions and a host of other events over the years too numerous to mention.

From a technical perspective, everything inside the substation is exactly the same equipment that you would find at an outdoor one. Obviously, items are closer to the ground, but from a safety perspective all distances and access restrictions are all in place. Should we need to replace a major item such as a transformer, it is designed such that a wall can be dismantled, old transformer removed, new transformer slid across and dropped in. 

'Moore' insight from Malcolm

Moore Street, or “Sheffield City” as it’s also known is one of twelve sites we manage in the team, we have staff there as and when required. I would say there is a split liking and loathing the brutalist architecture, a bit like its appeal to the public really. To us it’s a place of work and have never really thought about its architectural properties. Obviously now with it being a listed building we are more aware of it. 

On a personal note, it became my favourite site when we lit it up blue as a gateway to Sheffield, I’ll leave that for the football fans to figure out why! 

With respect to its recent photographic and video use by Richard Hawley for his new album, that was a first for us; one iconic Sheffield star performing at an iconic Sheffield location. It was a pleasure to host Richard and all those associated with the new album – he was appreciative of the building’s status, architecture and the part it plays within the local and national infrastructure. He also fully respected the dangers potentially contained within an electricity substation environment."

In Richard Hawley’s own words 

Richard Hawley himself was also keen to share his own history with the site: 

“I’ve driven or walked past the Moore Street Substation several times a week for decades. In my ignorance I had no idea what the building was until about ten years ago. It’s always fascinated me as to what actually went on inside it. It has no windows and is a hugely imposing building that you can’t miss, because of its location at the roundabout on one of Sheffield’s busiest intersections. 

“Sheffield is famous for its brutalist architecture – much of which is sadly gone now, but I find the substation a strangely beautiful structure. When I found out it was finished on the year of my birth, 1967, a few years ago I made my mind up to use it somehow on one of my album artworks. It looks amazing when the lights are turned on at dusk so that’s what I had in my mind’s eye for the new album cover. 

“The people I’ve met who work there have been nothing short of incredible to me and the folks I work with. Thanks very much to them all! And let’s face it, without them and the building's true purpose…just like music… we’d all be very much in the dark!” 

You can listen to Richard Hawley’s latest single ‘Two new heels’ on your streaming platform of choice here.