Park Hill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire

A case study for Historic England's Enhanced Advisory Services

Park Hill was Britain's first complete post-war slum clearance and is considered to be the most ambitious contemporary inner-city development. The flats were designed by Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith for Sheffield Corporation City Architect's Department, built between 1957 and 1960.

Park Hill offered an innovative solution to the post-war housing shortage. Architects Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith wanted to replicate the community spirit of traditional terraced housing, so they designed Park Hill with wide ‘streets in the sky’ where neighbours could meet. These streets could even accommodate the local milk float.

Park Hill is one of Europe’s largest Grade II* listed structures, somewhere that is now enjoying a new lease of life and filled with well-designed new homes of varying tenures, spaces for independent, local businesses, as well as green space and community amenities.

Park Hill’s transformation is the culmination of ours and our partners’ shared passion for bringing historic structures back into use – and we are grateful to Historic England for their support in Park Hill’s journey, working together to celebrate the heritage of one of the 20th century’s most talked about Brutalist icons, while sensitively updating it to create an entirely new community.

Steve Thomas, Development Manager Urban Splash

Initially, Park Hill was popular with residents and viewed as an exemplar of social housing around the world. By the 1980s, Park Hill had become dilapidated and was no longer a popular place to live.

Developer Urban Splash, along with their joint venture partners Places for People, are currently undertaking a regeneration project to transform the estate into safe and vibrant housing and workspaces. Historic England provided a £500,000 grant for repair works to the reinforced concrete frames forming the structure of the flats. We have provided long-running pre-application advice to Urban Splash throughout the regeneration scheme, from outline through to detailed application, in order to ensure the key elements of significance are retained and enhanced while facilitating the improvements needed to make Park Hill an attractive place to live and work.

Gallery

Please click on the gallery images to enlarge.

Two women walking away from camera on a path in front of a colourful domestic tower block A man walking through the exterior walkway of a domestic tower block, with the concrete bars casting shadows on the floor. A photo of a small interior wooden staircase, with a low ceiling above and a concrete wall in the background A man walking down an internal staircase surrounded by black railings and a bare concrete wall A photo of a modern living space in a flat, with a blue sofa, chairs and tables by a window, and a kitchen area in the background. A photo of the sitting area of a modern flat, with a blue sofa, coffee table, and a bare concrete wall in the background.

Also of interest

Royal William Yard, Plymouth, Devon
Voysey House, Chiswick, London
Buxton Crescent, Buxton, Derbyshire