Sheffield Uni wants to build new five-storey teaching laboratory building and a pocket park

Sheffield City Council’s planning committee will discuss the plans submitted by the university for works on a site adjacent to Hounsfield Road, Leavygreave Road and Upper Hanover Street.

According to a document uploaded onto the council’s website, the site is roughly 0.5 ha in size and includes a larger plot of land generally triangular in shape to the south of Leavygreave Road [LGR] (the southern land parcel) and a smaller plot of land rectangular in shape to the north of LGR (the northern land parcel).

The northern land parcel is cleared and it includes several retained trees around the site boundary (six Ash, two Cypress, a Sycamore, and an Oak).

The southern plot has a complex set of buildings on it.

Part of the proposal is, essentially, to clear existing buildings and construct a large new university building primarily designed to provide combined laboratory space to serve all science disciplines as well as medical teaching space.

The 26-metre tall, five storey high building will provide 7,862 sqm of floorspace and accommodate two 300-person laboratories, teaching spaces, study spaces, and more.

Additionally, the northern land parcel is also proposed to be landscaped to form a new “pocket park”, including hard and soft landscaping, pathways and a cycle store.

The local authority has received 14 letters of objection.

The objectors have raised issues with the loss of trees, including a ‘London plane tree’ on the site, the design and characteristic of the building, sustainability, traffic, noise, air quality, and more.

Members of the planning committee will make a decision after a debate at 2pm next Tuesday (January 14) at Sheffield Town Hall.