CODE Co-Living has recently been granted permission for a development of three buildings, one of 12 storeys, a second of 17 storeys, and a 38-storey tower, at the junction of Wellington Street, Rockingham Street and Trafalgar Street, in Sheffield city centre. The building comprises 1,230 residential units with ancillary amenities including gymnasium, cinema, common rooms and raised external deck, associated cycle and bin storage and ground floor retail unit. The proposal will make use of a sustainably located brownfield site in the city centre.
The application comprises co-living accommodation a form of build to rent scheme. ‘Co-living’ accommodation is a relatively new concept which has no formal definition but refers to purpose-built, managed developments that include a combination of personal and shared amenity spaces. Co-living accommodation is gaining popularity in the UK, particularly in major UK cities, for example in Manchester and London, as high-quality living accommodation specifically aimed at students, graduates and young professionals. The plans include 1065 studios (86%), 140 one bed flats (11%) and 25 two bed flats (2%). In terms of floor space this equates to 75% studios, and 25% one and two bed flats. The mix of unit sizes, along with the provision of 10% of residential floor space for affordable rent will help to create some variety of offer.
The proposal represents a very dense form of development that will provide a significant contribution towards the City’s housing land supply targets as well as providing 10% of residential floor space for affordable rent. The Council is in the process of updating its 5-year housing land supply position and in light of the recently changed assessment regime further detailed work is required. The Council cannot currently demonstrate a five-year supply at this time. The proposed development will help to meet the Council’s Housing land supply and boost housing delivery as advocated in the NPPF, and therefore was offered significant weight in the balance of planning considerations.
Harry Capstick, Graduate Planner, Planning & Design Practice Ltd
Recent weeks saw Sheffield more closely resembling Hollywood as parts of the city were taken over by film crews, as shooting got underway on a new series to air on Netflix. Teen skating drama “Zero Chill” employed city streets, with catering trucks appearing on Norfolk Road and filming taking place in the adjacent Cholera Monument Grounds and Clay Wood. As is only to be expected for an ice skating drama Pad Two at iceSheffield was transformed into the fictional Hammerstrom Ice Hockey Academy for the show, which Netflix says features a fully skating cast and is being shot in a ‘fluid camera style’ to make the audience feel like they are actually sharing the ice with the characters.
With filming expected to continue until late March, and the production involving a 100 locally based supporting artists, extras as well and cast and crew who are being housed in local hotels and apartments, the production represents a significant investment into the city.
But this is far from the first time that Sheffield and its distinctive architecture and landmark buildings have been used in blockbusting productions. In fact Sheffield prides itself on being a film friendly city, with Sheffield City Council actively promoting the area as a film-friendly destination, a heritage and culture-rich location, working with partners such as Screen Yorkshire and South Yorkshire Filmmakers Network to attract film makers.
Built on seven hills, and one of the greenest places in the UK Sheffield provides film makers with a showcase for the Peak District National Park together with a vibrant and evolving urban centre that includes award winning public spaces, brutalist architecture, heritage landmarks and innovative modern buildings.
The latest incarnation of the iconic traveller in space and time, Doctor Who swapped London and Cardiff for the Steel City, with the Grade II* listed Park Hill Estate just one of the city’s landmarks being used as a filming location. The building was also a significant location in the award winning productions “This is England 88” and “This is England 90”, spin offs from gritty British drama “This is England” (2006).
Sheffield has doubled for Belfast in thriller “’71” (2014) starring Jack O’Connell, who didn’t have to travel far from his home town of Derby, and Croydon in “How to Talk to Girls at Parties“ (2017) which starred Hollywood royalty Nicole Kidman.
The film version of Alan Bennett’s play “The History Boys” (2006) was set and filmed in Sheffield, as was satirical comedy “Four Lions” (2010) and “When Saturday Comes” (1996) features one of the city’s most famous sons Sean Bean, who portrays a drunken Sheffield brewery worker who gets picked up for a local non-league football team before being scouted by Sheffield United.
And last but not least, Sheffield itself is as much of a character as Gaz, Dave or Lomper in the hugely successful and much loved “The Full Monty” (1997), so much so that the premiere was quite rightly hosted in the city.
So the next time you’re visiting your local multiplex or indulging in the latest binge watch, keep your eyes peeled, the Steel City may well play a supporting role.
As we have written about previously, work on the Sheffield Local Plan has picked up again and the Council are currently undertaking their call for sites. This opened on 16 December 2019 and will run until 31 January 2020. The last call for sites took place in 2014 as part of the Citywide Options for Growth consultation and this is a good opportunity to put new sites forward to the Council for consideration.
If your site was submitted to the Council as part of the 2014 consultation we advise resubmitting it as part of the current call for sites to ensure the Council fully consider it as part of the Local Plan.
If you have a site that hasn’t been submitted to the Council before and would like to know if it is suitable for inclusion in the Local plan the please do get in touch.
The call for sites is one of the early stages of identifying the how and where the city will grow. Whilst there is a strong emphasis on providing housing for the city, the call for sites isn’t limited to housing sites. The Council will be looking at development in Sheffield as a whole and therefore, in addition to housing, the call for sites is relevant to areas for the following development;
employment
retail
leisure
health
waste
gypsies and travellers
travelling showpeople
community and recreational use
As planning consultants based in Sheffield, we work closely with Sheffield City Council Planning Department and can advise on the suitability of sites for inclusion within the Local Plan. If you want to talk about submitting a site to the Council for consideration, please contact Michael Bamford via email on Michael.bamford@planningdesign.co.uk or call the office on 0114 221 0618.
A new plan to transform the site of Sheffield’s medieval castle proposes the creation of a landmark attraction for the North of England combining reconstructed, illuminated ruins with bars, restaurants, a hotel, a riverside park and a large outdoor arts venue.
The blueprint suggests the castle’s gatehouse could be rebuilt, forming a focal point for an area displaying the best of the fortress’ remains.
An elevated walkway would be put up across the site, giving visitors the chance to peer at ruins that are below the current ground level, while a heritage visitor centre would tell the story of the lost castle and Sheffield’s beginnings.
Offices and homes are also envisaged along the site’s boundaries, as well as cafés and craft shops, all with the aim of attracting more people.
The plan has been drawn up by the Friends of Sheffield Castle voluntary group, and links with the council’s ambitions to regenerate the wider Castlegate district
Surrounding roads would be brightened up with plants, flowers and grasses as part of the Grey to Green project led by the council, which also wants to open up the River Sheaf to create a ‘pocket park’ called Sheaf Field at the spot where Sheffield got its name. The Kollider tech hub and Kommune food hall in the former Co-op department store on Angel Street are both popular, workspaces for artists are in high demand at Exchange Place Studios and a planning application has been lodged to revive the long-disused Old Town Hall on Waingate.
The Friends’ proposals follow a two-month archaeological dig that took place last summer on the vast space cleared when the city centre’s indoor market closed and moved to The Moor in 2015. This was paid for through a £786,000 package of ‘Castlegate Kickstart’ funding from Sheffield Council.
Many finds, including medieval pottery and tiles, were recovered from 11 deep trenches, while boreholes were created to take samples from the earth. Experts believe they have found evidence of around 1,000 years of constant activity, and the site’s ‘motte and bailey phase’ – these were fortifications that stood on top of a raised earthwork, representing the first proper castles to be built in Britain.
Sheffield Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned for more than a decade, fell during the Civil War when it came under siege from 1,200 Parliamentary troops. This stronghold was preceded by a late 12th century castle, which would have followed the ‘motte and bailey’.
Martin Gorman, chair of the Friends group, said: “With the excavations last year, people got the chance to look at the whole site and the main question is what happens next. We canvassed our members, and combined with the views of the committee we’ve put this document together.”
Inspiration has been taken from the Acropolis Museum in Greece, the castle at Carcassonne in France and artist Edoardo Tresoldi’s efforts to recreate an early Christian church in Siponto, southern Italy, using wire mesh.
“Because a lot of the castle remains are well below the ground, it lends itself to having an elevated walkway where you can look down on those remains, and they can be lit in a certain way,” Martin said. “They could be covered up, or they could be left out in the open. The majority of us would want to see some development down there that brings something exciting for people to come and see and engage with all through the day and night, but also recognising the heritage and history of the site – bringing that back to life as well.”
Virtual reality technology is expected to play a part. This summer Sheffield University produced a 3D simulation of the castle that went on show at the National Videogame Museum, in the same building as Kollider.
After the castle fell, part of the land was used as a bowling green – effectively Sheffield’s first sports arena. A performance venue could be used for live drama or concerts, mirroring the success of outdoor stages like The Piece Hall in Halifax.
The blueprint has not been costed but a mix of private and public money is the preferred solution.
“There’s two ways this can move forward,” Martin said. “One is through a medium to major development on the site, which would fund the cost of the excavations and interpretation of the remains, or the other option is to not let any development take place. That would mean we’d have to turn to the likes of the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England and the National Trust, in which case you wouldn’t get the footfall down there for bars and restaurants. It’s trying to find a balance.”
The council is producing its own plan for the castle site, which will be put to public consultation in the New Year.
The Friends have stressed that they did not want to steal the council’s thunder.
Jon Millhouse, Director at Planning & Design, a Chartered Town Planner and a Member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation said
“Recent changes to planning policy make developments of this type possible.
The government’s overarching planning guidance document – The National Planning Policy Framework states “proposals which better reveal the significance of heritage assets should be treated favourable and that council’s should take account of the wider social, cultural and economic benefits that new development at historic areas can bring. Where there are impacts these should be weighed against public benefit.””
Jon continues “The proposals look exciting and we wish the group the best of luck. We’ll be keeping an eye of how the proposals progress.”
Top Image: Thanks to the University of Sheffield and Human VR. The CGI image shows how Sheffield Castle looked in medieval times.
Image: Martin Gorman, Dr David Clarke and Ron Clayton, Friends of Sheffield Castle are pictured. Photo: Dean Atkins, Sheffield Star
Sheffield city centre could soon be the location of Yorkshire’s tallest building after an ambitious, £100m planning application was submitted by CODE Co-Living.
Plans have been put forward to build a development comprising three buildings, one of 12 storeys, a second of 16 storeys, and the third, the tallest reaching 36 storeys.
At almost 117 metres tall, the main tower would be higher than a 114-metre tall student scheme currently under construction in Leeds – which is currently set to be the county’s tallest – and would be a full 16 metres higher than Sheffield’s current title holder, City Lofts Tower, which stands at 101 metres.
The scheme would be on a prominent site to the side of the Vita building, just off Charter Row and close to The Light Cinema complex. The land was previously occupied by South Yorkshire Housing and a Dexel car repair yard.
CODE says the development would improve the environment of a neglected corner of the city centre and deliver a huge injection of vibrancy and activity to Charter Square, The Moor and Heart of the City II.
The proposed co-living scheme would provide 1,370 private studio apartments for rent, available for both students and non-students.
Communal spaces would also be incorporated, including dining and café facilities, a 50-piece gymnasium, cinema room, private study spaces and a large first floor south-facing outdoor roof terrace. There will also be a 24-hour concierge on site.
CODE has committed to providing 10 per cent of the apartments as affordable housing, with tenants having equal access to all the facilities within the development.
Jonathan Jenkin, Managing Director of Planning & Design, who have just opened a new office based at the Workstation in Sheffield said
“We support the construction of new tall buildings in Sheffield as they show the city’s ambition and its drive to support appropriate development. A tall iconic building creates a buzz and it also helps to frame the debate of what is possible. Building in the city centre also put less pressure for edge of city development and protects the green belt.”
It is hoped that the planning application will be decided before Christmas. If approved, CODE hopes to be on site in spring 2020.
Jamie Lewis, of CODE, said: “We have been looking for a site in Sheffield for several years. From the outside, it is clear that the city is going places with Heart of the City II and developments on The Moor transforming the city centre. We want to be a part of this.”
