Cole Brothers Sheffield: Grade II listing of former John Lewis slammed as 'ludicrous decision'

The Cole Brothers store in Sheffield has been Grade II listed - giving it special protection from the wrecking ball.
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​​​Historic England praised the Barker’s Pool building as ‘a rare surviving example of high modernism in a department store’.

It has been listed for its architectural interest including a bold visual simplicity, strict geometry and contribution to the ‘varied historic buildings’ in the city centre.

Who applied to have it listed?

David Allford, a Sheffield native and graduate, was the lead architect.David Allford, a Sheffield native and graduate, was the lead architect.
David Allford, a Sheffield native and graduate, was the lead architect.
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The move was celebrated by Hallamshire Historic Buildings which, with the Twentieth Century Society, applied for the designation which includes the crumbling car park.

It tweeted: ‘The former Cole Brothers in Sheffield became a Grade II listed building today. Listing is a celebration of special architectural and historic interest. The building is now recognised as of national importance. HHB are proud to have supported this process’.

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But Adam Friend responded saying: ‘That building has none of those qualities. Ludicrous decision’.

It has been listed for its architectural interest including a bold visual simplicity, strict geometry and contribution to the ‘varied historic buildings’ in the city centre.It has been listed for its architectural interest including a bold visual simplicity, strict geometry and contribution to the ‘varied historic buildings’ in the city centre.
It has been listed for its architectural interest including a bold visual simplicity, strict geometry and contribution to the ‘varied historic buildings’ in the city centre.

PLAT in Sheffield wrote: ‘So we're listing bland concrete boxes now?’

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And Scobienz said: ‘Even worse, this makes it harder to make major changes, reducing its attractiveness to new tenants and thus ensuring the city centre remains in terminal decline’.

The move is a blow for building owner Sheffield City Council which had applied for ‘immunity’ from listing.

Historic England praised the Barker’s Pool building as ‘a rare surviving example of high modernism in a department store’.Historic England praised the Barker’s Pool building as ‘a rare surviving example of high modernism in a department store’.
Historic England praised the Barker’s Pool building as ‘a rare surviving example of high modernism in a department store’.

The authority is currently selling the landmark building on a 250-year lease.

Coun Mazher Iqbal said there had been ‘15 or 16’ ‘credible and exciting’ bids for the Barker’s Pool site, which means it will not stand empty.

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He previously said: “We now know for definite we will have something on that site.”

His first choice was to keep the building to help the city meet its net zero ambitions but to demolish the car park which was ‘not safe’.

Listing makes that process more difficult but not impossible.

What happened to a previous bid to have it listed?

A Historic England report reveals the building had been considered for listing in 2001 but rejected with the statement it ‘does not quite come up to the very high standard required for the listing of post-war buildings'.

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It was subsequently issued with a Certificate of Immunity in 2002 which lapsed in 2007.

It adds: ‘This assessment was undertaken before much of English Heritage’s extensive research into the development of retail architecture and without the benefit of two decades of research by Historic England and others into post-war architecture more generally. We now have a much better understanding of the architectural context nationally into which the former Cole Brothers’ store in Sheffield sits’.

And: ‘Recent research has improved our understanding of the building type, and it is now demonstrated that the former Cole Brothers' Store stands out amongst its contemporaries as a building of particular interest. It satisfies the criteria for designation, and should be listed at Grade II’.

The department store was designed by architects Yorke Rosenberg Mardell in 1961.

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Historic England states David Allford, a Sheffield native and graduate, was 'very much the lead architect' and Cole Brothers was one of the projects the firm saw as being significant. It was also highlighted in the architectural press around the time of its construction and has been subsequently described in Harman and Pevsner (2017) ‘Buildings of England’ as ‘innovative for its date’ and ‘coolly confident’.

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