So The Liberal Democrats’ recent ‘success’ in securing a review of the listing of the CO-OP building illustrates an ongoing lack of foresight for the architectural development of this city we name Sheffield, not only from them but The former Labour administration, it also reminds us there is nothing in between both the former Labour and Liberal Democrats administration and is us the people of Sheffield that are the losers in such power struggles:
Their suggestion that retention of the CO-OP building will prove a barrier for regeneration is beyond frustrating it crass – including individual buildings of varied architectural styles and periods in a regeneration scheme can make a clear and confident stamen t about both the history and revival of any city – a note of acknowledgement to our past , encompassed by plans for our future
By demanding higher design criteria for regeneration of the immediate area and recognising that present day solutions are (often) highly unlikely to match the quality and specification in buildings like the CO-OP, and countels others lost or simply just left to ruin, the council could achieve a new benchmark by reviving this notable building and not simply taking the easy route to a potentially bland and uninspirational end result, but we need only look towards West One, none of what was promised in the formal planing application has been forthcoming and we are now left with a substandard, block of apartments much the same is going on across the city, if the administration of the Liberal Democrats are serious in there intent they why is planing been given for more of the same?
We are undergoing arguably the second largest regeneration process in our history and whilst we agree as anarchist some 21st century aspirations are crucial,(building for after the revolution) some acknowledgement of how revolutionary foreword look was the likes of Roy Hattersley has been a socialist and Labour supporter from his youth, electioneering at the age of 12 for his local MP and city councillors, beginning in 1945. His own mother, Enid Hattersley, was a city councillor, and later, Lord Mayor of Sheffield . He was one of the predecessors in rebuilding the city in the 50’s and 60’s will illustrate Sheffield’s appetite to be a leader in creative architectural solutions, and for a while they worked it was only The former Labour administration that failed these projects, and the people of Sheffield.
Look towards the wonderful monalitic architecture of Park Hill named Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement, The former CO-OP falling into this form.
The English Architects Alison and Peter Smithson coined the term in 1954, from the French béton brut, or “raw concrete”, a phrase used by Le Corbusier to describe his choice of material. The term gained currency when the British architectural critic Reyner Banham used it in the title of his 1966 book, “The New Brutalism“, to identify the emerging style..
We should not, as in so many cities across the UK, be prepared to happily abandon buildings of architectural and cultural merit in a desperate bid to attract profit driven new build development solutions but work harder to achieve a unique and innovative compromise, using our widely recognised design history as a starting point, not a drawback. Imagination and creativity have not proved strong points of this council, it is high time they developed some enthusiasm in the potential of our city and took positive steps to generate excitement about utilising the past as part of the future of Sheffield..
We need only look over the road from The CO-OP at that Crown Court that stands derelict on Waingate in central Sheffield, opposite Castle Market. under there lie the ruins of Sheffield Castle constructed at the confluence of the River Sheaf and the River Don, possibly on the site of a former Anglo-Saxon long house, and dominating the early town. The remaining stone foundations date from a stone castle begun in 1270, the oldest part of the building is the Fish and Vegetable Market, constructed in the inter-war period. The remainder of the building was constructed by J. L. Womersley and Andrew Darbyshire between 1960 and 1965. It has two main floors, both including small shops and stalls, and each accessible from street level. Other stores face on to the surrounding streets, while a gallery found a storey above the main part of the market contains several more shops, and access to an office building surmounting the structure. The gallery is linked by bridges across Exchange Street to further above-ground shopping areas..
The whole Castle markets area has been the subject of redevelopment proposals since the 1980s, with part of the adjacent area being redeveloped with a Hotel, multi-story car park and several new office blocks in a development known as “The Square” by Carillon. The original scheme to replace the markets fell victim to the 1990s recession. A new markets building is due to start construct as part of The Moor (Sheffield) scheme which is part a partnership between the council and private developers . The MSCP for the scheme has been built on Eyre street. Part of the councils current plans is to demolish the existing complex and open up a pedestrian route from the city centre to the Victoria Docks area and the new Riverside Quarter now that the ring road has been diverted..
The Old Town Hall was built in 1807–8 by Charles Watson, and was designed to house not only the Town Trustees but also the Petty and Quarter Sessions. The initial building was a five-bay structure fronting Castle Street, but it was extended in 1833 and again in 1866 by William Flockton (1804-1864) of Sheffield and his partner for the project, Abbott; the most prominent feature was the new central clock tower over a new main entrance that reoriented the building to Waingate. At the same time, the building’s courtrooms were linked by underground passages to the neighbouring Sheffield Police Offices.
Up the road is Fitzalan Square was created in 1881 when Market Street and its buildings were demolished, the early square had a substantial cab stand and clock. However, this was demolished in 1913 to make way for a bronze statue of King Edward VII by Alfred Drury (1857-1944). This was unveiled by the Duke of Norfolk on 27 October 1913, and stands to this day..
The Grand Old Lady of Sheffield’s Head Post Office lays empty going derelict operated in the square for almost ninety years. Built in 1910 as an addition to the 1897 post office building on Flat Street, it closed in 1999, with the main post office moving to new premises within the CO-OP store on Angel Street. The Grade II listed Post Office building was up for sale for a considerable time before finally being sold for development in early 2005..
Following more failed plans and schemes, The freehold of the 73,600 sq ft Fitzalan Square site has was sold 13 Jun 2005 to a London based developer, Saturn Facilities, which put forward a planning application for a redevelopment to breathe new life into this unique and historic site. following part demolition 2008 nothing has happened to The Grade II listed Post Office building.
It took years to get the former Pound Street Bus Station, demolished and replaced, even the replaced one has had it problems, it was redeveloped in the 1990,s, and renamed Sheffield Interchange, on part of the sight stood The Sheaf Valley Swimming Baths contained a mural painted by Rolf Harris. The story goes that Paul Fletcher purchased it when Sheaf Valley closed, and put it up at Fletchers Bakery – which of course has burned down now. Where The former Sheaf Valley Swimming Baths was, now stands part of Sheffield Digital Campus..
The Sheaf Valley Swimming Baths had three pools – a child’s shallow pool, a main swimming pool and of course the diving pool along with the diving boards and the infamous ‘Top Splash’ which was a scarily high diving platform that the bravest used to throw themselves off , demolished when Ponds forge was built for the world student games, the 1991 Summer Universiade, also known as the XVI Summer Universiade, took place in Sheffield. In the host country it was generally referred to as the World Student Games..
At the side of Sheffield Digital Campus, is The Old Queen’s Head is a public house on Pond Hill that occupies the oldest domestic building in the city This timber framed building is thought to date from c.1475, although the earliest known written record of it is in an inventory compiled in 1582 of the estate of George Talbot, the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury that included the furnishings of this building, which was then called “The hawle at the Poandes”. As a part of the Earl’s estate, it may have been used as a banqueting hall for parties hunting wildfowl in the nearby ponds. These ponds, which formed in the area where the Porter Brook meets the River Sheaf, are now gone, but are commemorated in the local names Pond Street, Pond Hill (formerly Pond Well Hill) and Ponds Forge.
Sheffield City Council saw the World Student Games as a catalyst for urban renewal after industrial decline. It set up a company, Universiade GB Ltd, to run the games. Lack of government funding and television sponsorship meant the event was in doubt until the Council guaranteed the money itself, in the face of complaints from local ratepayers. New facilities built for the event included the centrepiece Don Valley Stadium and other arenas, while the Lyceum Theatre where Yazoo played following this gig it was renovated along with Tudor Square for the associated cultural events. The opening ceremony attracted publicity when Helen Sharman, Britain’s first astronaut, tripped and dropped the games torch..
She succeeded in lighting the gas-fuelled flame from its embers, Tudor Square is now under refurbishment as part of The Heart of the City is a major re-development site in As its name suggests the Heart of the City is located in the heart of Sheffield City Centre. Mainly developed by Sheffield One, the scheme has created a main public space, the Peace Gardens located next to the Sheffield Town Hall. A major part of the Heart of the City scheme is St. Paul’s Place which includes three major office and retail buildings fronting onto Millennium Square, a main square outside the Sheffield Winter Gardens and Millennium Galleries. Also included in the schemes is a luxury 4-star MacDonald’s hotel and St. Paul’s Tower, a 101 m residential skyscraper set to be Sheffield’s tallest..
The Former Fiesta Night Club is over the road from Tudor Square it opened in Sheffield in the 1970s and it was another venue which attracted big acts – The Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson Five, Ella Fitzgerald and The Four Tops all played there. And there were many famous home-grown names too – Cilla Black, Bruce Forsyth, Les Dawson, Tommy Cooper and Sheffield’s own Tony Christie – to name but a few. Anyone who knows Sheffield will know the big building on Arundel Gate which is now the Odeon cinema.
Next door was The mysterious New Roxy Disco home to The Hit Man and Her, yes Take That did do a PA there, since then she laid empty for the better part of this millennium but still manages to stand it’s ground. Once a pristine tiled igloo of the 1960s, the Top Rank Suite (as it was initially known) aimed to present a one-stop solution for Sheffield’s night time pleasure seekers. Health and safety deemed the venue unfit for use and effectively condemned the building in 2003. Then it shut down. .
Also home for a while for St. Thomas’ Church, former home for The Nine O’Clock Service (or NOS for short) also using, The former Limit Night Club West Street and latter Ponds Forge Rotunda, NOS was a youth-oriented alternative Christian worship service started, after a 1985 John Wimber Signs and Wonders conference in Sheffield, in 1986 at St. Thomas’ church in Crookes, Sheffield, United Kingdom by a group of Christian musicians and artists. ( now is the O2 Academy.)
It has over the years become an eyesore and block to the access to the bus station, The Sheaf Sq redevelopment has eased some of this but, once again failed thinking along with the plans of East Midlands Trains (EMT) who recently started to implement human barriers at the station, and want to install permanent barriers which will block off access through the station a staggering 94% of people taking part in a Council on-line poll remain opposed to introducing Ticket barriers at Sheffield station. Over 4,000 people have given their views on-line When faced with three possible solutions the vast majority of people rejected the options of spending public money on a second bridge or issuing electronic passes. Instead 94% of people voted in favour of keeping the existing bridge open.
This bridge links Park Hill and is a part of the plans for this now grade 2 listed structure and its future, all to often Sheffield fails to understand that the architecture of its past plays a part in it,s future, look towards The Seven Stone plans and how time again the plans have been revised, meanwhile we have lost the former Trafalgar Works on Wellington Street, The fire station only completed in 1984 now stands waiting demolition at the cost of 1 Million pounds, as the derelict shops under The Grovner House Hotel and surrounding area are bordered up waiting there fate which will be no doubt demolition.
Walk down The Moor and remember the last refurbishment of 96, now empty standing shops await yes you guessed more demolition, and more plans for office space shoping centre and car parks, instead of having the bollocks to look towards it,s rich architecture, need we remind people of George Barnsley and sons, or Warncliff works.
take now or stay the same 