New plans drawn up for closed Sheffield city centre British Heart Foundation furniture shop
Site was previously home to huge British Heart Foundation store and once part of Rackham’s
Plans have been drawn up for a new use for part of a charity’s vast former furniture store in Sheffield city centre.
The British Heart Foundation closed its former shop on Arundel Gate, and the large building, which had a frontage which stretched along the street next to the bus stops, has been lying empty.
Before that, it was part of the TJ Hughes store, and Rackham’s.
Now a planning application has been submitted to Sheffield Council - but it would not see the site used as a shop.
The planning application by a business called Riddex Services Ltd would see it transformed into a gaming lounge.
Gaming lounges are venues where people gather to play video games. They can include modern gaming equipment where people can play e-sports, expensive equipment where people can play games by the hour, or ‘vintage’ video games like old consoles or arcade machines. But this one would also include ‘physical’ games.
There have been a number of gaming lounges in the city. Two previous ones, on Rockingham Street and Commercial Street, near Pond’s Forge, have closed.
And there are also plans for a retro gaming site on Allen Street, near Shalesmoor roundabout, and the National Video Games Museum runs from a site next to Castle Square.
Agents James Wells Planning said in a document submitted with the application: “This proposal is for a change of use of the existing commercial premises into a gaming lounge.
“The use provides leisure focused entertainment allowing access to a variety of gaming pursuits (video games and physical games). Games are rotated at the premises to provide a change in offering over time. Drinks are served as an ancillary feature of the overall use. “
The document added: “A gaming lounge will add to the leisure offering within the city centre, providing a complimentary use to the overall city centre as a destination. Within this frontage the use aligns with the adopted development plan.”
“An empty unit will be brought into a viable use and provide a modest employment offering. “
The new lounge would run from 10am until 11pm Monday to Saturday, and 11am until 9pm on Sundays.