Our facilities
The Henry Royce Institute's cutting-edge facilities put us at the forefront of research and innovation in advanced materials – enabling us to bridge the gap between small-scale laboratory metals processing and industrial scale processing.

Our aim is to deliver translational research and development capacity in advanced powder manufacturing and processing. In addition to our existing facilities within the Department of Materials Science, we now have a purpose-built Royce Translational Centre based at the University of Sheffield Innovation District. This houses a team from the Henry Royce Institute and also the National Metals Technology Centre (NAMTEC). In 2020, more of our team will also move into another state-of-the-art building on our City Centre Campus.
The Royce Translational Centre
The Royce Translational Centre has been set up to evolve novel materials and processing techniques developed by research teams and make them accessible for trial by industry.
We understand it's not always possible to visit us in person, so our virtual tour lets you explore and learn more about our state-of-the-art facilities, wherever you are.
Businesses operating in the manufacturing and engineering supply and value chain will be able to assess the emerging technologies, make a measured assessment of the applicability of, and threats to, their existing markets that these advances present, and drive specific research activities that have a direct benefit to them.
For some, this opens up R&D options that would previously have been inaccessible. For others, the facility enables them to perform speculative research so that in-house research facilities can remain focused on processes that are closer to market.
Once proven, companies can invest in these manufacturing processes with the confidence that they will add value to their businesses and their customers.
How to find us
If you are travelling by car, exit the A630 Sheffield Parkway at Junction 1 and follow the signs to Sheffield Business Park. Take the Europa Link Road and at the third roundabout, turn left. Go straight over the next roundabout and follow the road around past the circular Factory 2050 building. The Royce Translational Centre (RTC) is located beyond Factory 2050, the central building in a row of three. Free car parking is available just past the RTC, to the right.
If you prefer, you can find us on Google Maps.
The Royce Discovery Centre
The purpose of the Royce Discovery Centre is to take materials and processing concepts, and develop them from basic principles through analytical and experimental processes with the aim of proving the concept in terms of feasibility and applicability for industrial use.
In order to achieve this, we draw on the expertise present within the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, along with that of equipment and materials manufacturers. This allows us to understand the potential of what is possible, and investigate how this can be fully realised in an industrial setting.
The Discovery Centre will work in tandem with the Translational Centre and the Engineering Faculty facilities to further enhance the University's status as a world leader in the science and development of materials processing.
The building will house state-of-the-art specialist laboratories, workshops and office spaces, along with 150 members of staff. Watch the architect's fly-through of the building below.