SIMON BASTON The Man Behind The Goodsheds
How developer Simon Baston put a new spin on Barry town with the Goodsheds development Situated in the centre of Barry, South Wales, The Goodsheds is the first new sustainable urban high street in the UK where people can work, eat, live and play. We sit down with the developer and creator of this exciting new concept. Tell us a bit about your background and how you got into building and developing? My interest in construction and development started at quite an early age of 13-14 years old when I worked with my father’s construction company, which led on to me, in the end, completing a degree in Construction Management. When leaving university, it was
the depths of recession so I didn’t think I had any choice but to start my own business! To start with it was a classic any job, painting, changing gutters, any house clear-outs etc to get the business going, 1992 was quite a difficult time. As soon as we built up a portfolio of work, my father joined me and we have worked together ever since. I have spent my whole working life with my father and now my son Alex has joined us in the business. To have three generations working together, I think is a great achievement for us. What inspired you to create The Goodsheds in Barry?
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To create the Goodsheds was a lifelong ambition really in terms of creating a new model where there are high levels of social collaboration and interaction. I think everybody understands now that we are moving towards a more independent nature with people reconnecting in their local areas. The Goodsheds itself is a beautiful building and directly opposite the awardwinning Pumphouse and alongside all the housing stock opposite, it just felt that there was a new start needed for this area and a huge amount of amenity needed. From this point, we took a look at what people would
