Decarbonisation at The Point

Behind the Scenes

It’s been a busy year at The Point – darts’ Centre of Excellence for Creative Health and Learning in the heart of Doncaster.

darts secured half a million pounds worth of funding from Arts Council England, City of Doncaster Council and the VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme (Central Government) for phase one of a capital programme that moves us very close to our ambition of becoming Net Zero by 2030.

As a Doncaster anchor organisation responding directly to the needs of local residents, and as one of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisations, we take our role very seriously, and are conscious of our responsibility to advocate and to share best practice for environmental responsibility.

Net Zero

We have swapped older gas boilers for new air source heat pumps and heat recovery ventilation. To get the best efficiency from these we are installing underfloor heating, adding insulation and draught-proofing, and renewing or replacing our single glazed windows.

We have installed solar panels to the newer parts of the building which will generate around a third of our previous electricity demand. Our partners are sustainable building experts – LEDA (Leeds Environmental Design Associates) and we are collaborating with local suppliers and companies to deliver and supply the work and materials to meet our needs. We have identified low-carbon options such as wood fibre insulation with lime plaster finish to the walls.

Heritage Conservation

As The Point is a Grade II Listed Building, the process has been a bit of a rollercoaster! We’ve made some interesting discoveries as we have stripped back the walls and floors, and our plans have had to be very flexible to respond to each room and its individual complexities. We’ll be sharing the learning about decarbonising an older building with others who are embarking on similar journeys.

We have worked closely with City of Doncaster Council to ensure we are enhancing and protecting our building’s heritage, using a combination of new technology and traditional crafts and materials to protect and preserve the original details and character of three 18^th Century town houses.

The Point is a complex mix of old and new, combining three Victorian town houses in the Georgian style, with modern extensions built in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Lime plaster and breathable wood fibre insulation will protect the building from damp. Windows are being restored where original with secondary glazing added to improve insulation. Poorer quality windows added in the 20^th century are being replaced with new timber sash frames and heritage grade double glazing.

We have had some insight from Doncaster Civic Trust and Doncaster Archives to discover more about the history of the buildings and the people who lived here. We believe that the architect, William Lindley – who is responsible for the design of many notable Doncaster buildings – designed the houses along with Denison House and the Pillared Houses on South Parade. Our buildings were probably built between 1795 and 1804.

Futureproofing The Point for Future Generations

The Point is darts’ home and is a Centre of Excellence for Creative and Learning. Each year we welcome fifty thousand visitors to take part in our participatory arts programmes, and engage with the arts, culture, health, and education programmes that our partners run in our building.

Doncaster is the largest metropolitan borough in the UK, a region of diverse urban and rural communities, and significant socio-economic challenges: Doncaster has the third worst deprivation levels in Yorkshire & Humber and is one of the 20% most deprived authorities in England. These challenges are getting more serious: in the last five years Doncaster’s relative deprivation has worsened from 48th to 41st of the 317 local authority areas.

The Point is critical to darts’ mission. 30% of our programme happens here, and crucially the building gives us a high-quality, purpose designed centre to test new activity, develop our method, and train and support our artist and programme team.

Ensuring The Point remains a viable, sustainable resource in the face of climate heating and increasing fuel costs is an important practical goal.

This capital programme will resolve the issues around The Point being hard to heat and hard to cool, meaning that our rooms will no longer be unacceptably cold in winter and overly hot in summer. We work with older and more vulnerable people, or those with long term health conditions, and need to offer spaces that are safe and comfortable for all.

As we face the reality of global heating and more extreme weather in the UK, this will become an increasing challenge unless we act now to improve the environmental performance of the building. This project will significantly improve heating and ventilation throughout The Point, ensuring we can continue supporting people at all stages of their lives, and increase participation in high-quality creative activities in our local community.

Relaunch – The Point for Hire

We will be relaunching The Point at a special event on 28th November 2025. We’ll be showing off our incredible selection of newly decorated rooms that will be flexible and practical for meetings, creative workshops, events, conferences and much more. We will also be showcasing our cafe and catering options, as well as sharing more about darts’ work and the impact we have on the lives of Doncaster residents.

For sneak peek tours before the Relaunch date, or to find out more about this programme or the Relaunch Event, please contact sophy@wearedarts.org.uk – we’d love to hear from you!