Moorfoot building: Towering Sheffield office block boasted a tunnel and a basement squash court

The huge office block towering above Moorfoot in Sheffield seems to have been there forever but it actually opened in 1981.
By Julia Armstrong
Published 6th May 2022, 09:40 GMT
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You may know it as the MSC building or the Manpower Services mountain but the Moorfoot Building is a massive office block in the shape of a step pyramid.

The building has played host to various Government departments and was built to house workers from the Manpower Services Commission. Most recently, council staff have worked there.

The council’s latest idea is to make it into flats.

A 1970s scene showing the derelict area at the bottom of the Moor in the days before the Moorfoot buildingA 1970s scene showing the derelict area at the bottom of the Moor in the days before the Moorfoot building
A 1970s scene showing the derelict area at the bottom of the Moor in the days before the Moorfoot building
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As the before picture shows, traffic at one time could drive along the Moor to Moorfoot and straight on to London Road. Because the building blocked off that route, it was designed to have pedestrian access with a tunnel that would have allowed walkers to reach the other side more easily, However, it was never completed.

The building housed a restaurant and even a basement squash court. That strange sculpture outside? It’s based on a steel crucible.

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