Sheffield Park Hill Redevelopment

When I first went to Sheffield in September 2012, I was led out of the back of the Railway Station and confronted by this very run down estate, otherwise known as the Park Hill Estate. Small areas of redevelopment work had already begun, however in my opinion it didn't think that this estate had any sense of life left within. Nevertheless, nearly 18 months has passed and I couldn't disagree more with my first impression.

Built in the late 50’s and opening its doors in 1961, concrete flat like this where very popular in the mid 50’s and this estate was no exception. 13 storeys tall, this brutalist-styled monolith designed by Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith sat on one of the seven hills of Sheffield, which at the time when it was seen as popular was given the name of ‘Streets in the Sky’ (UrbanSplash, 2014). The estate itself consisted over nearly 1000’s homes and shops which combined to establish a community within. Built on one of the largest hills in Sheffield, the architects tried to keep the roof heights low so the estate didn’t stick out of the hills outline, however the estate still dominates the hill and overlooks the city below (BBC, 2009).

Park Hill Estate Facades (Bagnall, 2014)

Like most brutalist flats and estates built across the country in the 50’s, the 80’s brought about a new view on these once loved structures. The accommodation aspect seemed poor to the newer properties available, and with estates and flats seeing vast increases in crime within the community people left, one by one, until no one wanted to live in them. By the early 90’s, Park Hill had become a rundown estate which the majority wanted to knock down. However since then the estate has seen it become Grade II listed (1998) and now the redevelopment to create it into a modern, and again loved accommodation. The new refurbishment included providing more spacious and modern accommodation (which was achieved by stripping the building down to its bones and rebuilding) and the use of coloured polycarbonate sheets on the facades to provide dynamic colour and attraction against the flat concrete (Townsend, 2013).

Interior of New Accommodation (Bennett, 2013)

With seeing how the redevelopment of this project has brought back new life into this one named ‘Old Lady’, it shows how even the most run down building can be brought new life and provide for the newer and ever growing generation. Even though in previous blogs I have said how pleased I am to see the Lenton Tower Blocks being knocked down, the question can now be asked of whether a smart mind could have transformed them into the modern/futuristic housing that everybody wants in the present day. 

Bibliography 

BBC News, (2014). Stirling Prize: Park Hill Phase 1. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24054185 [Accessed 10 Feb. 2014].

BBC, (2014). BBC - Community living: Park Hill's history. [online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sheffield/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8207000/8207206.stm [Accessed 10 Feb. 2014].

Peter Bennett, (2014). Interior Of New Accommadation. [image] Available at: http://ribastirlingprize.architecture.com/riba-stirling-shortlist-2013-park-hill-sheffield/ [Accessed 10 Feb. 2014].

Splash, U. (2014). Park Hill, Sheffield - project information | Urban Splash. [online] Urbansplash.co.uk. Available at: http://www.urbansplash.co.uk/residential/park-hill [Accessed 10 Feb. 2014].