Sheffield's tallest public building: What happens when you climb the 20 flights of stairs at Arts Tower

Standing at 78m tall, Sheffield University’s Arts Tower can be seen from all across the city, and for nearly 50 years was the tallest building in the city.

It still remains the tallest public building in Sheffield, decades after its construction in 1966, with 20 floors, as well as its famous paternoster lift, the biggest of its kind in the world. It’s also got a faster, more conventional lift.

So are the stairs used much? Perhaps unsurprisingly, apparently not. But despite the alternatives, it is still possible to climb a full 20 flights of stairs to get to the highest accessible point of the building. The stairs start in the basement, proceed through the ground level, and go right to the top. However the floors above the 18th floor are not generally accessible, and are used only by the maintenance team at the building.

We asked the university to let us come in to try out the stairs – and find out how hard it would be to walk up the 20 flights that are accessible – and what reward would be waiting at the top of the iconic city landmark.

So head of engineering and maintenance at the university, Matt Godber, met us at the bottom of the building – and guided us to the entrance to the stairs on the mezzanine floor. From there, we were shown the way to the bottom of the basement.

New year resolutions

Matt admitted that there were few people who used the stairs, but added the number often seemed to increase around new year, when new year fitness resolutions were made.

He added: “That often soon tails off. It is a long way from the ground floor to the top.” He said the stairs go all the way from the lower ground floor, two below ground, to floor 19.

"People have done it as a fitness thing. We’ve seen people put their sports kit on at lunchtime and go up and down the stairs. The stairs get used between floors – but not often all the way up the building.”

So we set off with our video camera quickly getting through the first couple of floors reasonably quickly. Slowing down as I got higher up, it was difficult to tell where you had reached. I had hoped there would be a view – but the stairs were a concrete chamber with no windows, winding their way to the top.

By the seventh floor I was starting to feel the pace, and was starting to pant. But each large number, painted on the wall next to the doors, was something to chalk off the tally.

View from top of Arts Tower

But arriving at the 18th floor, having passed no-one, nearly five minutes after setting off from the lower ground floor, I was greeted by the university staff who had arranged my visit – and helpfully guided to a panoramic window. So the reward for climbing 20 flights of steps was a bird’s eye view across the Sheffield skyline, all the way from the Hallamshire Hospital to City Lofts. The cars on Brook Hill roundabout looked tiny.

I think I’ll be glad to go back to the three flights at our office.