Fargate: timeline revealed for Events Central live music venue and exhibition space

A vacant five-storey building at 20-26 Fargate will be repaired, refurbished and re-clad for a new site called Events Central.

The hub – comprising a music venue, exhibition space, tourist information point and co-working spaces – would be let to businesses and split evenly for commercial and community uses.

A spokesperson for the council said the £15.8 million project is due to start construction by spring 2023 with the aim of opening in 2024.

Funding was provided by the government’s Future High Streets Fund following a bid supported by the University of Sheffield.

According to the council’s planning portal, the project is still awaiting planning permission.

What are the plans?

It would comprise a new 200 person standing music venue in the basement with other uses including an exhibition area, a bookshop, a juice bar, a tourist information point as well as co-working and makers’ spaces on other levels.

In a statement provided with the plans, HLM Architects, on behalf of the council, said: “Sheffield Council wishes to develop an exciting, community cultural hub building which also supports and offers additional opportunities to utilise the external events space.

“The intention is to provide a part community, part commercial offering that will act as a blueprint and catalyst for further regeneration of Fargate.

“The proposals contained within this report are currently being developed with Sheffield Council and ARUP with the aim of delivering high quality events, leisure and co-working space.”

The council said it could replace infrastructure that supports Fargate events such as the Christmas Market as the daily cost is currently “exorbitant”.

It would be built with sustainability and the climate crisis in mind – proposals so far include being an electric only building with solar panels on the roof – and the project is on track to receive an excellent status by BREEAM standards, HLM Architects said.

The council acquired the building, built in the late 1800s, in 2021 as it was standing empty “along with many others” along Fargate in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions on businesses.

Although not a listed site, HLM Architects said the strategy is to refresh the building with minimal impact to the existing stone fabric and largely maintain the facade except at the ground and first floor levels which will be replaced with new triple glazed windows.

It added: “Initial informal conversations with the planning department took place on 04/10/21, where the scheme was praised for bringing back some of the lost grandeur to the facade. It was also noted at this meeting that the existing canopy is doing little to improve the street scene.”

MORE PLANNING: Plans for huge shipping container complex with big screen on Sheffield's Fargate faces problem over flooding fears

Regeneration of Fargate

The council has a number of projects on the go to breathe life back into the city centre.

The University of Sheffield said its schemes for Fargate are expected to attract 110,680 visitors every year, of which 50 percent are assumed to be additional.