Brutalist Sheffield: The
Rebirth of Park Hill – Now & Beyond
Without doubt; modern Sheffield
is lively and vibrant…a great place to both work and live. It has a steely
determination about it; a city that has, like the proverbial phoenix, risen
from out of the ashes of it’s heavily industrial past to be a beacon of
optimism in the North of England.
Having gone to Leeds Uni, married a “Yorkshire lass” and had
our first child born in Leeds, we have an affinity for this part of the world,
and after experiencing the hope that is the new “Park Hill” first hand I can
say that if I had the money to buy a “pied a terre” in the City I wouldn't hesitate to buy an apartment here.
Starting at just £90,000 with options also available to
part-buy and rent, to someone that lives on the M4 corridor, they are an
absolute bargain. I dare not think what such an apartment would cost in the
South East! Indeed if this development was transported south it would no doubt
be gobbled up by an army of property investors looking for a better return than
money on deposit and a safe haven from the Euro.
You get the feeling that if you moved in here tomorrow you’d
once again be living a part of history that the original development also was.
You’d also be taking a bit of a gamble; that planning and maintenance lessons
really have been learned and that Urban Splash, the developer, can remain
solvent to see their vision through. Even with a small boost to the economy and
the successful habitation of all the apartments, only a small part of the
overall project will have been realised by the end of 2014.
Urban Splash has gone on record as saying: “we want to
create a world class landscape, inside and outside its walls”. “The team are
working to bring love; life and pride back to this iconic project and make it a
genuinely vibrant and sustainable community for the 21st Century.” I personally
have no doubt that they, SCC and their partners (Transform South Yorkshire,
Homes and Communities Agency, English Heritage and Great Places) believe in
what they are doing and are committed to seeing it through.
They have ambitious plans for the landscaping of the
development and as in the original intention to bring “a real mix in the
ingredients of a proper place for residents and visitors alike: a 'high street'
of local services - butchers, newsagents, greengrocers, chippy- a doctor's and
dentist's, a new home for the fantastic Grace Owen children's nursery, some
great bars, pubs and cafes”. Their intention seems to be able to finally
realise the notion of a “village” with a village hall and a village green
complete with oak tree, plus new workspace for businesses, artists or students,
as well as dedicated secure provision for car parking”.
If (and I genuinely hope…When), they pull this off the first
buyers will be sitting pretty in an investment that will have risen in value as
the dream unfolds. No doubt the final single bedroom apartment sold will
proportionately cost considerably more than the first £90,000 one!
The apartments themselves are described as “spacious one and
two bedroom, duplex, dual aspect apartments with floor to ceiling glazing”. The
original “box” concept has been maintained while certain inner curtain walls
have been removed to give a feeling of greater light and space. The use of the
term “spacious” doesn’t really stack up on paper; a typical entry level one bed
is just 547 sq ft and a two bed 767 sq ft. However with floor to ceiling glass
running the full length of either aspect of the apartment, minimalist
detailing, copious wooden flooring, white kitchen fittings and paint the “feeling” certainly has
however been achieved.
There are nice touches; such as the inner lobby connecting
doors which fold back flush into the walls, and with the doors in such an
orientation the apartment “opens up” stretching from one wall of glass in the
living area, through the lobby to the wall of glass in the adjacent bedroom.
Much use has been made of bare concrete (which was fully plastered over in the
original dwellings) which has been so well treated and sealed that it is
impossible to rub your hand over any exposed surface and create even the
smallest particle of dust.
The inner stairwells are given the steel and glass treatment
with copious under stairs storage space. On the issue of storage space there is
very little built in and free standing units would eat into the small rooms.
That being said if you’re a hoarder; this really isn't a building for you. It
demands a lifestyle to complement it. People who themselves are minimalist in
all that they do: People who want to live out in the surrounding City, who want
to be engaged in the community, not sat at home stuffing more and more needless
“stuff” into ever decreasing spaces. It’s an environment for those who wish to
be free of consumerism, for those who want to be people again.
One severe criticism of the “Streets in the sky” was that
people didn't keep their front doors open as they had done in the terraces
while the children played outside and the locals nattered and kept an eye on their
community. Consequently crime and antisocial behaviour took a foothold,
because the façades of the flats were flat, so that it wasn't possible to look
out of the window and see up and down the street. The architects have rectified
this elegantly by building an oriole window into the fabric of the façade to
the side of the entrance to each apartment. It’s easy from the safety provided
by a very substantial external door to peer through it in all directions out
and along “the street”.
So Park Hill: I believe that you are a success in the
making. However economic times are generally tough and Urban Splash struggle
for profit so there are risks. That said; anything worth having is going to
take some risk to achieve. My main concern isn't the development itself but the
integration with the rest of the City and it’s acceptance as an alternative
lifestyle venue as cafes, restaurants and shops open. Here the responsibility
must rest with SCC.
There has already been friction with Network Rail, who
wanted to close the public rail line crossing from its city entrance side over
the rails to the Park Hill side as part of the stations “upgrade”. Luckily
there was mass protest and the link looks safe. The tram way infrastructure
provides a foot link over the bypass and it’s Goliath of a roundabout across to
Park Hill, but there is not yet a Park Hill tram stop. This needs to happen not
only as a practical measure but also as a way of clearly demonstrating the
Corporation's commitment to its intentions and commercial partners.
I look forward to going back over the next few years and
watching the story unfold further.
All images and text copyright Andrew Hill 2013
It’s a place where people from all walks of life and social classes rub shoulders among over 100 stalls selling a vast array of foods from traditional fruit & veg and butchery through to artisan produces; cheeses, breads, sweetmeats and charcuterie to name but a few.
