Former city centre clothes shop set to become entrance lobby as premium Sheffield street switches focus
A former shop on one of Sheffield’s top retail streets is to be turned into a lobby, possibly for new apartments.
The old Topman entrance on Fargate will become the entrance to stairs and a lift in the five storey building.
It is next door to the new Superdrug, which took up the site of the adjoining Topshop store. Both units form part of the same project, funded by the Medical Research Council pension fund.
Sheffield interior design firm OVO Spaces is fitting out the unit, at 35 Fargate.
Empty floors in Fargate buildings could be turned into flats as part of £15m revamp plans drawn up by Sheffield City Council, if a bid to the government’s Future High Streets Fund is successful. It hopes to hear ‘from autumn’.
Haskoll architects in London drew up the scheme. Its planning application states: ‘Topshop’s lease has come to an end and they are moving to alternative premises in Sheffield city centre, meaning the landlord needs to renovate the building for new tenants.
‘The building has approximately 5220sqft of floor space on each floor. The building is too large for most retailers’ needs, and modern retailers no longer tend to
trade over multiple floors.
‘Modern retailers’ needs, along with the declining retail market, mean that it is not feasible to let the entire building to a single retail
tenant. Therefore the landlord is looking to split the building into multiple tenancies. A lease has been agreed for the ground floor space with a new retailer,
and the landlord is considering alternative uses for the upper floors.’