Barry Pumphouse is located at the waterfront of Barry Docks, South Wales in an area undergoing regeneration as the new Innovation Quarter (IQ), facilitated by a partnership between the Vale of Glamorgan Council and Welsh Government.

The Pumphouse is a centrepiece of the Innovation Quarter, a 19 acre, mixed-use development site overseen by the local authority and in partnership with the Welsh Government. This mixed-use urban quarter has learning, employment, tourism and leisure uses such as a business centre and a medical centre which complement and enhance the wider waterfront. The Pumphouse is an exemplar of how a private developer (DS Properties), a design team, and the local authority (in its separate roles as local planning authority and land owner) can work together in a very positive and collaborative way to achieve the delivery of a high quality regeneration project that is delivering tangible, positive local regeneration benefits.

The IQ is located in the heart of The Barry Regeneration Area, one of the UK’s largest dockland regeneration schemes. Barry Docks opened for trade in 1889 and soon expanded owing to increasing coal exports. Barry Pumping Station was built during the 1880s to provide hydraulic power to operate coal drops, lock gates, swing bridges and other equipment around the docks. The dock estate declined during the 20th Century leaving the Pump House as one of the few remaining industrial buildings in the area. The Pump House is listed Grade 2, the original developers brief was to sensitively refurbish the heritage building for commercial and residential use and renew the industrial landscaping around the buildings.

The project was highly commended in the RTPI Cymru Wales Planning Awards.