Balm Green 1900 - On the
site of the City Hall
The City Hall under construction
Almost completed
The City Hall Looking down
to Barkers Pool - 1930
The City Hall under night
illuminations
The Grimethorpe Colliery
Band practising at the City Hall
The City Hall - 2000
City Hall / Barkers Pool
The vision for this district
is the creation of a lively, mixed-use area linking the Devonshire Quarter,
Heart of the City, Tudor Square and the new retail quarter. A transformed
public area will create a safe and attractive setting for a number of the
city's most important historic and cultural buildings. The proposals will
attract new office occupiers, residents and cultural activity, and bring
new spending power to the city centre. The high quality designs will mix
good modern architecture with the sensitive renovation of historic buildings.
City Hall Precincts and Barkers Pool
A plan for the redesign of the City Hall "precincts" - Holly Street, Bow Street, Balm Green and Barkers Pool - has been developed which will:-
Take through traffic out of the precincts and improve traffic management.
Improve pedestrian movement from the West Street Supertram and bus stops.
Create a simple and elegant paving scheme.
Provide a lighting concept for the streets and building facades.
Introduce greenery and the innovative and distinctive use of public art.
Maintain Barkers Pool
as a dignified space for public assembly around the war memorial.
Detailed proposals for the refurbishment of the magnificent City Hall have been drawn up and have secured planning and listed building permissions. The proposals are for a £12.5 million investment programme which will transform the City Hall into a state-of-the-art, regionally important cultural venue and conference centre. The project includes:-
New hi-tech, flexible conference and meeting facilities.
The sensitive restoration and total upgrading of the interior of the building.
Improved accessibility into and around the building.
Refurbishing the outside
of the building, including cleaning and new lighting.
Carver Street / Holly Street
Sheffield One, Yorkshire Forward (the Regional Development Agency) and the City Council are working with the landowners to bring forward exciting development proposals to regenerate this important site. The scheme will provide a mix of high quality offices, apartments, restaurants and leisure space, creating an animated and attractive area around City Hall. The plans have now been submitted to the local planning authority and include:-
The demolition of the
former NUM HQ and its redevelopment, along with the adjacent car park site
for two high quality office buildings, with restaurants on the ground floor
overlooking the newly upgraded City Hall precincts.
The comprehensive redevelopment
of the Carver Lane, Carver Street and West Street sites for new apartments
around a courtyard, with retail and leisure on the ground floors.
Leopold Square
The Leopold Street complex is a fine collection of Grade II listed buildings which originally housed Sheffield Boys' School and later the Council's education offices. Last year a consortium of ASK Property Developments and M J Gleeson plc was appointed as the City Council's preferred partner to refurbish the buildings as a high quality mixed-use project. Detailed design work is now substantially complete and planning and listed building applications have been submitted for:-
A stunning new public square with water features and trees.
A quality 134-bedroom hotel.
37 apartments around a private courtyard.
A comedy/live entertainment venue.
Café-bars, good restaurants and a health club.
The sensitive restoration
of these magnificent stone buildings will help to reinvigorate this part
of the city and draw in new private sector investment and jobs.
The New Retail Quarter
The new retail quarter is a vital element of the Masterplan. It will be a distinctive development with exciting new buildings, streets and public spaces. It will cover the area from Barker's Pool and the City Hall down to Moorhead, and from Trafalgar Street to Pinstone Street, helping to bind the various parts of the city centre together. Our vision is to attract high quality retailers and new shoppers back into the city centre.
To deal with the big variations in levels within the city centre, the proposed scheme will have two different levels so that pedestrians can move easily from Fargate to the Moor. A new curved street will be created, running from Barker's Pool to Moorhead. John Lewis will be relocated to the corner of Rockingham Street and Carver Street, where a brand new, flagship store will be built. This will be at the western end of a dramatic new covered square, which will link through to the Peace Gardens.
The new retail quarter will be fully accessible and well served by all methods of transport. A new interchange for buses will be created on Charter Row and multi-storey car parking will be provided next to the new John Lewis store. Oversized roads such as Furnival Gate and Charter Row will be reduced in width and turned back into city streets.
Leading European developer,
Hammerson plc, is the preferred development partner for the new retail
quarter and is working closely with Sheffield One and the Council to plan
and deliver the scheme. The next major stage in the process will be the
submission of a planning application early next year. Construction is planned
to start early in 2005 with Phase I complete at the end of 2007.