Sheffield Public Notices: Developers submit plans for historic Mappins Coffee House they tried to demolish
Developers have submitted plans to convert a historic coffee shop two years after attempting to demolish it.
Mappins Coffee House on London Road could be converted into commercial space and flats under a proposal from owners Keetons Management Services Ltd.
In March 2023, the firm caused upset when it applied to demolish the disused building and replace it with shops and flats.
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Protesters said it was an important part of the city’s working class history and Sheffield City Council’s ‘heritage champion’ Coun Janet Ridler stepped in to block the move.
At the time, the owners said the disused building was “in a poor state of repair” and was not viable to be renovated.
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Now it has come back with plans to retain the facade and erect a six-storey building, with commercial use on the ground floor and flats above.
The three-storey building was originally called Highfield Cocoa and Coffee House. It was built in 1877 by cutlery and steel magnate Sir Frederick Thorpe Mappin to keep working-class men out of pubs. It includes severn modernist concrete friezes installed in 1967.
Keetons Management Services also wants to convert a disused office building to the rear into flats with a self-storage business in the basement.
The information is listed on the Public Notices Portal which carries statutory public notices published in local newspapers and is ‘the fastest and most effective way of finding out what is happening in YOUR neighbourhood’.
The new scheme has already attracted comments.
On the city council’s planning website, one objector states that although part of the façade would remain, the character of the building would be destroyed and it would no longer the major landmark it is today, but overwhelmed by the proposed six-storey tower.
A supporter said the site was an eyesore and walking past ‘often feels unsafe’.
They add: ‘The city is facing a well-documented housing shortage. This development offers an opportunity not only to address an urgent housing need but also to regenerate a neglected part of the city’.
Public notices for your area can be found online here.