Take a look at the restoration work for the first time in the Friar Gate Goods Yard in Derby

Pictures show the progress of the work to transform a historic freight farm on the edge of the city center from Derby into houses and commercial space.

The restoration has unveiled the original railway rails and wooden paving stones that were softer on the hooves of horses, pulling the carriages.

James Dickens, Managing Director of Wavensmere Homes, said: “It will be something special. This building has a soul and an identity. Local people have a real connection, which is why it has to be a public building.”

“I want people to maintain this connection so that they pass the test of the time in the future,” added Dickens.

The plans for the site include 276 houses and a four -story residential building with 49 apartments.

The bound warehouse becomes a mixed public space, including a gym, cafés and a restaurant.

Mr. Dickens said it was important that the history of the bound warehouse is preserved.

Mr. Dickens added: “That's why I wanted the website. It was not for the houses around them, it was for the warehouse itself. I really believe that this is one of the three top sights of the city.

“We are all quite invested in IT, and some of my website team really took the project to heart, which is why we selected it for the project.

“We find pretty much every day. We uncovered the original rails that came here. There were two train tracks that came into the building and four who approached the building themselves. We are obviously making a feature of them.

“There are wooden paving stones because horses pulled the carriages in, and it was obviously softer on their hooves. There are all sorts of strange and wonderful things that we find while going through.

“We have a water tank that we originally thought of the building, but in fact it should feed the header of the engines.”

The first 63 terrace houses can be occupied in the summer of 2026.

Tony Austin, 46, deputy manager of the project, said: “It will be absolutely astonishing. People will want to get into the bound warehouse.

“The only challenge was the curved houses that correspond to the corner of the bound warehouse. We wanted to do it a little quirky, something that stands out. Not just the house, but something they look at and remember.”

The entire 80 million pound project is expected to be completed at the end of 2028.