NEWS ARTICLE: Steeled to look sharper
(Gwenda Brophy, The Telegraph, 18 January 2007,www.telegraph.co.uk)
Massive redevelopment will radically improve city living but will Sheffield win your votes as the best in the North? Gwenda Brophy reports
Arriving at Sheffield's Central station one of the first sights for any visitor is the looming bulk of Park Hill, the huge 'streets in the sky' post-war housing estate inspired by Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation. The city, whose wealth was based on steel, was an obvious target for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Their onslaught mercilessly laid waste to vast swathes of the city, necessitating subsequent rebuilding. Much of the resulting 1960s architecture is as drab as it is depressing.
However this is all set to change as a new 21st century landmark - a 32-storey building that will be the tallest in Sheffield - rises from the central St Pauls area. City Lofts' St Pauls has been designed to act as an iconic marker for the city centre, and will incorporate some 22,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space - a joint venture with CTP St James - as well as the 300-plus studio, one and two-bed apartments, all set in two interlinking towers.
Designed by Conran & Partners, the development is a foil to, and complements, the adjacent Grade I listed Town Hall and Winter Gardens. When complete, as well as drawing the eye to the civic, cultural and retail focus of Sheffield it will also act as a symbolic focal point for a multi-million pound regeneration.
Paul Zara, of Conran & Partners sees developments in the centre as "bringing new heart to the city. The changes in the city are getting people living and working there. Sheffield has lagged when it comes to city-centre living, now we are seeing greater opportunities to find somewhere stylish to live where you can also walk into work". Andy Hurst, sales and marketing director for City Lofts Group says: "We were looking to create a landmark building, and while some cities can be negative about such ventures, talking to the planners in Sheffield it was a meeting of minds."
The city's objectives are ambitious, and Sheffield has in place several government-backed initiatives that include urban regeneration company Sheffield One, inward-investment agency Sheffield First, and regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, amongst others, working to regenerate the area, tackle complex city centre issues, and establish a new role for Sheffield. It is no easy task. The city's traditional heavy industries have long been in decline. However, its economy is establishing a broader base - and taking steps to attract and stimulate the local high-tech, knowledge-based economy that has been at the root of other cities' success. A commercial partnership has been set up between the City Council and the two city universities, while Boeing is setting up a new aerospace research centre and an IT equipment marketer has announced it is to establish its European HQ in Sheffield.
The banking sector is represented by Abbey National, Halifax and HSBC, and there are still star players maintaining the city's world-wide reputation for finished metal goods, in the specialist areas of cutlery, tool-making and precision engineering.
A critical element in Sheffield's renaissance is that it is adopting a joined-up approach. Major investment in the rail station, a multi-million pound refurbishment of City Hall and the development of the surrounding public realm combine to create a mixed-use area linking the Devonshire Quarter with its bars and restaurants to the Heart of the City, Tudor Square and the New Retail Quarter (NRQ).
The NRQ itself is a £500million scheme that includes a new site for John Lewis, hundreds of new shops, health clubs and leisure facilities, with developer Hammersons behind the venture, while RREEF (Deutsche Bank) is behind The Moor, another major new retail-led development.
Meanwhile at Leopold Square, the refurbishment of the Grade II listed buildings on West Street will bring about 100,000 square feet of boutique hotel, bars/restaurants and new public square in 2007, while a 650,000 square feet of office development has been designed to cater for the city's burgeoning digital and media sector.
In drawing in companies to the centre, Sheffield is reversing a trend of the past few decades when there was a drift to the outskirts. Now offices, shops and watering-holes mean the time is ripe to adopt city-centre living.
The concept is relatively new in Sheffield - just 2,600 units were completed in the since 2000. Manchester city centre in contrast saw the same number of units completed in 2004 and 2005 alone.
Already, several pioneers of city-centre living have demonstrated a growing demand. According to agents Knight Frank, one and two-bed flats with parking are in strong demand, especially among professionals in their 20s and 30s, with prices on average around £165,000 for a two-bed apartment and from £110,000 for a one-bed property. Investors form 65 per cent of new home purchasers.
Amongst the Northern cities, Sheffield's capital values remain relatively low, some 15-20 per cent lower than those in - the most expensive city - Manchester.
The city has a large student population to tap into, but City Lofts' St Pauls has raised the game and is providing high-spec apartments not seen before.
A diverse batch of developments have been completed, or will be in the next few months - from Wicker Riverside, and Velocity phase II to Opal's scheme at St Georges Close, No 2 North Bank, and phase II of Ward's Brewery.
Throughout the city there is a sense of emerging areas, from Riverside to the university-focused St Vincents Quarter, and from the Cultural Industries Quarter with its developments like AG1 and J F Finnegan's Butcher Works under construction, to the Cathedral Quarter whose street pattern reflects the city's medieval origins. Even the modernist Park Hill flats are part of Sheffield's next chapter, as Urban Splash initiates a massive refurbishment to create more than 900 apartments.
For more information please contact Paul Zara, Director, Conran & Partners: cp@conranandpartners.com
January 2007
