Case Study
The Client: Sheffield Hallam University
Voted one of the top 5 universities in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2026 and rated gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework for the outstanding quality of our teaching and graduate outcomes, Sheffield Hallam University is one of the UK's largest and most diverse universities: a community of approximately 31,000 students, nearly 4,000 staff and 345,000 alumni around the world.
Educating and shaping the future of that many students requires excellent facilities, which is why, when their strength and conditioning gym needed an upgrade, they came to Pullum.
What Were Their Goals?
By offering an MSc in strength and conditioning coaching, the university's S&C gym must perform at a professional level. Additionally, the strength and conditioning suite is a shared space among sports clubs, bringing together athletes from various disciplines, making it even more important for the equipment to be practical and robust.
For this upgrade, the team wanted to take a new direction, moving away from free weights to a more controlled environment, supported by cables and machines. They also wanted to consider practicality and save space, to ensure that the gym remained efficient and the new equipment didn't impact the overall flow.
What Did We Deliver?
Pullum Pro-D Hack Squat/Leg Press Combination
A compact, space-saving solution that offers both hack squat and leg press exercises in one machine.
Engineered specifically for this university gym project, the redesigned machine makes switching between hack squat and leg press configurations quicker and more intuitive. Two locating prongs on the rear of the back pad slot into dedicated mounting holes, allowing the pad to be repositioned between the upper and lower mounting points. This simple mechanism enables a fast changeover, with the upper back plate folding down to serve as the footplate in leg press mode.
Sheffield Hallam went with black steel and rosehip upholstery to match their brand colours and their existing equipment. The result is a machine that looks like it has always been a part of the Sheffield Hallam strength and conditioning suite.
Pullum Combi Rack/Dual HILO/Smith Machine
Another compact and hard-wearing machine with multiple uses thoughtfully built into the design.
By combining a Smith machine, power rack and dual Hi-Lo cable system, the unit offers a complete training solution for lower-body, upper-body and functional strength exercises while minimising floor space requirements.
Sheffield Hallam also chose to equip the rack with our optional roller catch cups and plug-in safety bars. Designed with both athlete and equipment protection in mind, the safety bars support the lifter during a failed lift while intentionally bending under extreme loads to absorb impact energy and minimise damage to Olympic barbells.
Custom Pullum Pro-Dumbbell Rack
As dumbbell collections vary in size, each of our dumbbell racks is custom-built to suit the customer's requirements. This particular rack was designed to accommodate 21 pairs of dumbbells.
Everything Built to Order, Installed by Experts
No two facilities train the same way, which is why no two Pullum installations are exactly alike. Designing and manufacturing everything in-house gives us complete control over every detail, allowing us to create bespoke equipment and layouts that meet each client's training goals, available space and long-term requirements.
While no two Pullum installations are the same, they are all completed by our experienced fitting team, who know our equipment inside and out. From positioning and assembly to final checks, they ensure every piece is installed safely, correctly and ready for use. This gives clients complete peace of mind while saving them the time, effort and disruption of assembling heavy commercial equipment themselves.
