Sheffield University’s £10m new heart set for the go-ahead

The Heartspace scheme will connect the Grade II listed Mappin Building, on Mappin Street, with the 1855 Central Wing, and is part of the wider revamp of the university’s engineering faculty.

The project involves creating a four-storey glass atrium, which will offer new laboratories, offices and a café, as well as providing a ‘collaboration space’ for students and staff.

A new entrance will lead from Portobello Street into the Heartspace, which is intended to help the university to boost its research output, as well as catering for an increase in student numbers.

The Mappin Building and Central Wing will also undergo a complete refurbishment under the plans, which are recommended for approval by Sheffield Council at a meeting on Tuesday.

Despite supporting the scheme in principle, the Victorian Society has lodged an objection over the demolition of a caretaker’s house.

But planning officers said that while losing the house was ‘undesirable’, it would not cause ‘substantial harm’.

“The benefits that will be derived from the university’s continued investment in the Faculty of Engineering are considered to be significant,” officers said.