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[43560] Park Hill
Park Hill, Sheffield, 1957-61.
By Ivor Smith & Jack Lynn under the auspices of John Lewis Womersley (1910-1989), chief architect for Sheffield City Council.
Flats and maisonettes for Sheffield Corporation.
Grade ll* listed.
Park Hill was the largest-scale application of the approach known as New Brutalism, characterised by an emphasis on massive scale, the use of unpainted concrete, and a concern for social cohesion in mass housing. By the 1990s its 985 flats and “streets in the sky” had become known as a failure. Like so many others, it was equated by many with ugliness, social decay, drug use and family breakdown. Its almost-certain demolition was avoided when English Heritage controversially placed a Grade II* listing on the entire estate in 1998. A long and tortuous process of regeneration began, led by developer Urban Splash, to whom the estate was transferred for free in 2004.
The renovations started with the tallest block of the estate: its 13-storey concrete frame restored and new apartments fronted by brightly coloured panels. It is Urban Splash’s plan to redevelop the entire estate, most of which still stands abandoned.
Originally there were 985 dwellings, 31 shops, 4 pubs, 13 eight-person lifts, 3 goods lifts, a police station, a laundry, a Garchey refuse station and garages. The Board School of 1875 was retained but later replaced.
[43560] Park Hill
Park Hill, Sheffield, 1957-61.
By Ivor Smith & Jack Lynn under the auspices of John Lewis Womersley (1910-1989), chief architect for Sheffield City Council.
Flats and maisonettes for Sheffield Corporation.
Grade ll* listed.
Park Hill was the largest-scale application of the approach known as New Brutalism, characterised by an emphasis on massive scale, the use of unpainted concrete, and a concern for social cohesion in mass housing. By the 1990s its 985 flats and “streets in the sky” had become known as a failure. Like so many others, it was equated by many with ugliness, social decay, drug use and family breakdown. Its almost-certain demolition was avoided when English Heritage controversially placed a Grade II* listing on the entire estate in 1998. A long and tortuous process of regeneration began, led by developer Urban Splash, to whom the estate was transferred for free in 2004.
The renovations started with the tallest block of the estate: its 13-storey concrete frame restored and new apartments fronted by brightly coloured panels. It is Urban Splash’s plan to redevelop the entire estate, most of which still stands abandoned.
Originally there were 985 dwellings, 31 shops, 4 pubs, 13 eight-person lifts, 3 goods lifts, a police station, a laundry, a Garchey refuse station and garages. The Board School of 1875 was retained but later replaced.