Park Hill Sheffield: Famous flats win global recognition as transformation nears completion

Sheffield's most famous flats have won a global award as one of the city's biggest regeneration projects nears completion.

Park Hill has undergone a remarkable transformation from a run-down estate plagued by crime and anti-social behaviour to one of Sheffield's most desirable places to live and home to trendy cafes, shops and a new upmarket pub.

Three out of five phases of the mammoth regeneration scheme are now finished, with the fourth already having secured planning permission and the whole project scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2027.

Park Hill revamp sets 'important precedent'

The second phase, which was designed by architects Mikhail Riches, has been named sustainable project of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2023.

Judges declared that it sets 'an important precedent for how the UK should deal with its ageing housing stock'.

They added: "This project takes an icon of post-war British housing and infuses it with new life."

As well as housing, phase two has a range of offices, workspaces and business units. A new bar called Pearl - created by Jack Wakelin and Tom ‘Ronnie’ Aronica, the duo behind the award-winning Bench bar in Nether Edge - has proved a big hit since opening there in September.

Park Hill was built in 1961, replacing slum housing on the slopes above the station, overlooking the city centre.

What next for Park Hill redevelopment?

It had 998 flats, complete with a range of shops and pubs, and its wide walkways designed to foster the sense of community were famously dubbed the 'streets in the sky' as it was showered with acclaim.

But the brutalist concrete structure fell out of favour and could easily have been demolished had it not been awarded Grade II* status in 1998, making it the largest listed structure in Europe

Mikhail Riches has also designed phase four at Park Hill, comprising 125 apartments and more commercial space on the ground floor.

The fifth and final phase will have around 100 homes.

Steve Thomas, development manager at Park Hill, said everyone involved remained 'committed to bringing it back to life, nurturing a new community and giving the city a new place in which to live, work and play'.

Urban Splash, the firm behind Park Hill's revamp, was recently appointed to take on another Sheffield landmark which was somewhat controversially awarded listed status.

It has announced plans to transform the old John Lewis and Cole Brothers department store at Barker's Pool. It will be called Cole Store and will contain a mixture of shops, bars, restaurants and cafes, with offices and a gym on the upper floors and a new pocket park.