500 city centre apartments – but they won’t be for students

Councillors have given the go-ahead for 500 new apartments in the city centre – but they will not be for students.
The Hoyle Street apartments (courtesy of Urbana Town Planning)The Hoyle Street apartments (courtesy of Urbana Town Planning)
The Hoyle Street apartments (courtesy of Urbana Town Planning)

Councillors unanimously approved the apartments in five blocks on land at Doncaster Street, Hoyle Street, Shalesmoor and Matthew Street.

Historic England was worried a 24-storey block would obscure views of the Hoyle Street cementation furnace, which is of national importance as it’s the only intact cementation furnace surviving in Sheffield and one of the last of its type in England. It is also a scheduled monument.

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But planners said the views of the furnace are only possible because of the number of vacant sites and cleared plots around it. They say the redevelopment of the former HSBC site, where the furnace sits, will include a landscaped courtyard setting to enhance it.

Adam Murray, managing director of Urbana Town Planning, said the development would include public space.

“The scheme provides much-needed residential dwellings, adding to the growing non-student population in the area and making a very substantial contribution to the housing supply.

“From the very beginning the focus of the scheme has not just been on the buildings themselves but the spaces around the buildings, with the creation of new active frontages, new pedestrian routes through the site and genuinely excellent new public space in the area.

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“It will deliver a brilliant new development on a massively underperforming site at the gateway to the city centre from the north and will contribute to the ongoing success of this part of the city centre.”