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Catherine Fletcher @ Park Hill, Sheffield

Meet Catherine Fletcher, one of the first residents to move into the refurbished Park Hill

“When I first started looking at Park Hill it reminded me of a building I had seen in France many years ago and I spent quite a lot of time online looking at the history of the building and finding out as much as I could.

“I think these flats are a really exciting project from a historical and social perspective but also they are a great space for living in. It is pretty rare to find flats with dual aspect and two floors but these flats manage that and they offer some great views of Sheffield.

“I’ve set my office room up to face out across the city and it is wonderful to have such an impressive view to look out over while I sit working away on my laptop. A lot of my colleagues from the University where I work have been extremely interested in me moving to Park Hill because, of course, they know so much about the history of the place and its reputation. I can’t wait to invite them round to show them what the new apartments are like and how Park Hill will be in the future.”

Homes at Park Hill are available to buy from £90,000. Get in touch with our sales team to arrange a viewing and find out more.

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James & Emma @ Park Hill, Sheffield

Meet James Mills and Emma Stobbs, one of the first couples to move into Park Hill. We love what they’ve done with their apartment!

James: “I remember seeing Park Hill for the first time when I came to Sheffield on business a few years ago and although I was impressed by the building, I never once imagined or thought that I would live here.”

“Emma and I saw that Urban Splash were involved in the redevelopment and as an architect I was aware of their previous work and with that in mind we decide to take a look at the show flats. They were pretty much everything we expected them to be from Urban Splash and I think we quickly realised that it was the place for us.”

Emma: “We have had a bit of a mad few weeks since moving in and the flat is now starting to look how we want it to. We couldn’t wait to move in and we’d even drawn up detailed plans of all the rooms and how we wanted to decorate them. They are starting to look pretty close to the drawings we did and it’s very exciting to actually be living at Park Hill.”

James: “We are getting married later this year so Park Hill will be our first home as a married couple. It is a really exciting time in our lives and we are thrilled to be one of the first residents at Park Hill. We can’t wait to meet our neighbours and to see how they have kitted out their apartments and we really hope to be part of a thriving new community here in the first block.”

Homes at Park Hill are available to buy from £90,000. Get in touch with our sales team to arrange a viewing and find out more.

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Ideology at Park Hill

January 28th, 2013 [ No comments ] [ Add comment ]
by India Hobson

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As I’ve lived in Sheffield all my life the brutalist structure of Park Hill has been what you see when you look out of the city with it’s yellowing concrete facade and chunky blocks fading into the hillside behind the train station. When I first took an interest in photography I went through the ‘urban environment’ phase and my Dad would take me up to the flats to gather images of cracked walls, graphic compositions and that all-too-familiar ‘gentlemen’ lettering on blue tiles.

As a photographer I’ve become even more familiar with Park Hill in the last few years; it’s been used as a backdrop for so many points in popular culture such as The Arctic Monkey’s ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ video, it inspired ‘The I Love You Bridge’ lyrics by The Crookes and of course held photoshoot after photoshoot - including a few of my own.

Now when you look across to the East from the city centre it appears as though it’s on fire - a colourful gradient from red to yellow rises from the ground, punctuated by a stunning spiral of shiny polished steel and if you get a little closer the graffiti is brought to life in neon lights.  I shoot primarily on location, and as soon as I saw the bare concrete walls and natural textures that sit next to them I knew I’d have to take advantage. Max at Ideology (Devonshire Street) wanted something simple & strong with a subtle link to Sheffield in there - we knew we’d be using creatives that are based here & we wanted to push that a little further.

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Altogether we photographed 24 looks (that’s a lot in one day!) using an empty show flat as our main backdrop and used entirely natural light. The light in a room is the first thing I look for/notice because I think it makes so much difference to how you experience a place - obviously in a living space the more natural light you have the better and Park Hill is full of it. Inside you feel a sense of rawness and that you’re a part of something bigger, but with a comfortability that allows a sense of ownership & means you can make your mark too.

The view is quite possibly the best bit; you look over the best city in the world with a whole load of sky above it and pick out the other key Sheffield landmarks and feel absolutely at home.

India

India Hobson is a photographic artist based in Sheffield - find out more about her work at indiahobson.co.uk and indiahobsonweddings.co.uk

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Park Hill: rebirth of unloved brutalist estate

January 10th, 2013 [ No comments ] [ Add comment ]
by Tom Bloxham MBE

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Park Hill: rebirth of unloved brutalist estate highlights 50 years of change
Eight-year renovation aiming at broad social mix transforms despised flats in Sheffield

We were recently featured in The Guardian newspaper who wrote an article about our transformation of Park Hill - Europe’s largest listed building. You can read some highlights from the article below, or read the full piece on The Guardian website.

A pioneering and initially popular post-war development famed for its “streets in the sky” network of wide, sloping walkways, Park Hill charted a common trajectory for such estates: optimism giving way to dilapidation, social decline and then notoriety. For most the end point was demolition. Park Hill was saved because its innovative design gained a Grade II* listing in 1997.

Renovation was handed to a private developer, Urban Splash. Now… the first few dozen occupants of the renovated blocks are about to move in.

The event itself, a week or so into the new year, will involve little fuss, simply a few households moving into refurbished flats. But the symbolism is momentous: a rebirth for one of Britain’s most infamous housing estates and a half-century of turbulent social history coming full circle.

Peter Walker
The Guardian, Sunday 30 December 2012

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2012: A round up of the year

December 19th, 2012 [ No comments ] [ Add comment ]
by Tom Bloxham MBE

Another year of hard work has come to an end… Here’s a run through of some of the things we’ve been upto this year!

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Lakeshore, our first Bristol scheme, is now home to residents. The Grade II listed Cor-Ten structure has been refurbished into design-led apartment available to buy and rent. With strong sustainable credentials, the scheme recently won a What House? Award for Sustainable Development.

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Human, an exciting Sheffield-based creative agency, has become the first commercial tenants to sign up for space at Park Hill. They’ll open their new office there in the new year.

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This year Royal William Yard came into its own; River Cottage, the Royal William Bakery, Seco Lounge and Le Vignoble are already open, with Las Iguanas, Wagamama, Bistrot Pierre and more signed up ready to open next year. With the monthly Good Food Market - another new addition for 2012 - the Yard has become Plymouth’s newest gourmet hotspot.

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Winner of this year’s best conversion Northern Design Award, Saxton is a real success story and now home to hundreds of people who benefit from the location near Leeds city centre life, as well as the onsite allotment and gym!

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We’re pretty proud of our trophy cabinet which was bolstered this year with 16 more awards!

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It’s been a great year for new joint venture schemes including; Springfield Lane in Salford, Bewsey Old Hall in Warrington and Anston House in Brighton, watch this space for more details!

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With the first tenants moving into Pattern House, we have now completed our Stalybridge scheme. With 100 apartments, Longlands also offers exciting commercial space right in the heart of Stalybridge, just a few minutes on the train from central Manchester.

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The British Council of Offices Award judges decided that no one could ‘tame the Birmingham Beast‘, praising our transformation of a neglected monolith into a thriving commercial hub. They gave a special mention to our ability to emphasise the building’s industrial past.

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Our flexible approach as a landlord, with short form leases, monthly licenses and a great rapport with tenants, has helped us grow the commercial portfolio even more this year; with 90% of our 2 million sq ft of office, retail, leisure and light industrial space now let.

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Yep, among our 16 awards in 2012 were FOUR coveted Sunday Times British Homes Awards including a commendation for the Best Developer Award! Three other awards went to Lakeshore, Saxton and Park Hill.

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We’ve transferred the success of the commercial portfolio to the residential side of the business too. 95% of homes are let and this year we grew it to more than 700 homes.

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One of the most notable successes of the commercial portfolio is Fort Dunlop which is now 96% let and home to a great mix of tenants including Trinity Mirror and Elmfield.

Here’s looking forward to another great year!

Filed under: Affordable homes, Birmingham, Bristol, Chips, Fort Dunlop, Lakeshore, Leeds, Longlands, Manchester, Mills Bakery, New Islington, Park Hill, Plymouth, Royal William Yard, Saxton, Sheffield, Stalybridge, Tom Bloxham MBE, Urban Splash No comments

Following on from their recent brochure shoot at our iconic Sheffield development Park Hill, Nest.co.uk’s Marketing & Communications Manager Toni is guest blogging for us this week. Find out what she has to say about investing in design.

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When I was asked to guest blog for Urban Splash I was very honoured. I’ve admired their work for lovingly nurturing derelict and neglected buildings and bringing them back to life for a long time now.

Being born and bred in Sheffield I have a personal affinity with the Park Hill development. In fact my grandfather (on my Dad’s side) worked on the original build as a bricky in one of the ‘top teams’ and my grandparents (on my mother’s side) opened their very first hair salon in the Park Hill development in the 50s - which reminds me I really must hunt down the pictures!

So, you can see my routes are deep in Sheffield’s heritage and ‘love it or hate it’ I have a keen interest in preserving Europe’s largest grade II listed building. Anyway – I digress. I’m here to discuss the benefits of great furniture design so here goes!

We all know that times are hard right now and it can be all too easy to choose the cheaper option but please take a moment to pause and think.

There are many copies out there and these cheaper alternatives are made from poor quality materials that are much weaker, poorly executed and of inferior quality.

Check out this video showing the strength and durability of a real versus a fake Series 7 Chair – shocking isn’t it?

You may think you’ve found a bargain but it will be short lived. If you have a passion for design and you want to keep the item to pass down for generations to come, a copy is definitely not for you.

Authorised versions of design classics such as the Eames Lounge Chair are made by highly trained, dedicated craftsmen with the highest quality materials and will last a lifetime not just a few seasons. So, if you want to invest in design it may well be worth saving for.

Which leads me back to Park Hill…

You too can now invest in history and design and buy at Park Hill with the brand new shared ownership scheme. So, when your ready to take the plunge and that next big step to home ownership - remember to pause before buying your furniture and lighting and ask yourself ‘will it last?’.

Oh and by the way, if you’ve not guessed already… I love Park Hill!

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Awards aplenty!

July 5th, 2012 [ No comments ] [ Add comment ]
by Tom Bloxham MBE

Industry awards are always a privilege to receive and I’m particularly happy this month as we have added four more awards to our collection – taking our total to 316!

Last month our scheme in Leeds, Saxton, won a brace of awards in one night. As well as a winner of RIBA Regional Sustainability Award 2012, Saxton also picked up a Housing Design Award for completed scheme.

This video, created to celebrate Saxton’s success by the Housing Design Awards, really highlights what’s really special about the place. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Last week Park Hill, Sheffield, and Lakeshore, Bristol, won gold and bronze awards at the Green Apple Award 2012 for Built Environment and Architectural Heritage.

All these awards are extremely prestigious, and we are as pleased as punch about each and every one. It’s a testament to the dedication of everyone who worked to make these schemes happen, and the enthusiasm of the people of Leeds, Sheffield and Bristol for the projects. Thank you!

Filed under: Bristol, Lakeshore, Leeds, Park Hill, Saxton, Sheffield, Tom Bloxham MBE, Urban Splash No comments

Park Hill: 1000 Rooms with a View

June 28th, 2012 [ No comments ] [ Add comment ]
by David Bickle

David Bickle and Christophe Egret at CIVA (c) Sally Spencer-Davies / Maid in Barnet

Anyone who has an interest in post war architecture will know that Park Hill is Europe’s largest listed structure. But did you know how celebrated and critically acclaimed it was when first built? Town planners, architects, sociologists and politicians from all over Europe flocked to visit when it first opened to marvel at its innovative design, replete with many desirable features and benefits for the residents. So much so that the original brochure was translated into French and Russian to respond to the constant demand for information from visiting delegates.

Just as 50 years ago, Park Hill is now attracting international attention. It takes centre stage in 1000 Rooms with a View, a new exhibition in Belgium about the past, present and future of large scale public housing. CIVA - Centre International Pour La Ville, l’Architecture Et Le Paysage (that’s International Centre for The City, Architecture and Landscape) - in Brussels is an incredibly well respected architecture centre. After a great deal of research they’ve created an interesting and informative exhibition by displaying and discussing Park Hill alongside a similar Flemish building – the leder Zijn Huis.

Designed by architect and furniture designer, Willy Van Der Meeren, the leder Zijn Huis is as a public housing scheme built at the same time as Park Hill. The similarities between the two post war housing projects are many, clearly sharing the same influence – Le Corbusier. In fact, from the exhibition, we learnt that the original architects of both projects, as well as ourselves, visited Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation in Marseilles during the evolution of the design. Though not connected in any way other than sharing a similar architectural DNA, it’s interesting to ‘compare and contrast‘ the two projects. Conceived, delivered and regenerated at similar times it’s a great opportunity to understand approaches, social and political context, economic structure, construction and aesthetics - then and now.

Hawkins Brown’s involvement in the exhibition goes back almost 2 years when we were asked to contribute material to an exhibition that would describe and chart Park Hill’s noble past, its sorry decline and its current optimistic regeneration. So it was fantastic that a small group of us made the journey to the Private View last week. The event was extremely well attended with more than 300 guests… in spite of the torrential rain, that we were accused of bringing with us! We were warmly welcomed by our kind hosts Christophe, Marcelle, Marcelline and Veronique. Good friends and co-collaborators Christophe Egret from Studio Egret West, Claire and Rumina from Claire Curtice PR, Sally Spencer Davies aka The Maid in Barnet and Christian from AMODELS made up the Park Hill contingent.

1000 Rooms with a View features drawings, sketches, film footage, models, historic material and new ephemera, and is an immersive gold mine of information and artifacts for anyone interested in its subject. The architects working for Origin, the practice appointed to bring new life to leder Zijn Huis, were keen to learn more about Park Hill, its history, the constraints, the opportunities and even its acoustic detailing! And for our part, we are keen to learn from our Belgian counterparts; furthering the cultural connections we have made both personally and professionally.

We are hoping to bring the exhibition back ‘home’ to Park Hill for 2013 but if you are in Brussels between now and 14 October 2012 then please drop in - you won’t be disappointed either by the exhibition or the warmth of the reception.

David Bickle is a partner in the architectural practice Hawkins Brown, and has been working with Urban Splash on the redevelopment of Park Hill, Sheffield.

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British Modern Remade at a British Modern Icon

May 9th, 2012 [ 2 comments ] [ Add comment ]
by Tom Bloxham MBE

Robert Adams, Collage (1953). Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London, © the artist's estate. Photo by Will Simpson. Robert Adams, Collage (1953). Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London, © the artist’s estate. Photo by Will Simpson.

It was great to attend the British Modern Remade exhibition launch at Park Hill last week.

We have to thank Anish Kapoor for the show… Anish invited me to a dinner where I sat next to Caroline Douglas who runs the Arts Council collections. She was telling me about plans they had to showcase some amazing modernist works and were looking for suitable locations… Obviously it was Park Hill that came straight to my mind.

Park Hill - two of the show apartments to be specific - was ultimately chosen as the exhibition location and then the lovely Helen Kaplinsky won a competition to curate the show. She has selected some amazing works which look fantastic in a domestic apartment setting.

British Modern Remade is a fantastic opportunity to see some great British Modernism in one of Britain’s great Modernist buildings. The exhibition will run until 16th June and is free to view. Details of the public programme of tours and talks can be found on the Arts Council collection website.

Some tweets from the evening:

Read more about British Modern Remade:

- Design Week

- Sheffield Telegraph

- Yorkshire Post

Filed under: Park Hill, Tom Bloxham MBE, Urban Splash 2 comments

2 comments to British Modern Remade at a British Modern Icon

  1. Ella Wredenfors says:

    Hi Andrew - sorry about the slow reply.

    The exhibition is open Tuesday- Saturday, 1pm - 5pm until the 16th June.

    Our show apartments are open our Park Hill Sales office opening hours, which you can find here: http://www.urbansplash.co.uk/contact-us/residential-sales-and-rentals/park-hill

  2. Andrew says:

    So can I just turn up and look (when are you open?) or do I need to book on to a tour?

A great start at Park Hill

October 26th, 2011 [ No comments ] [ Add comment ]
by Simon Gawthorpe

Really great to see so much early interest in Park Hill following our launch day at the scheme just a couple of weeks ago (pictures of which you can see here).

Since we launched we’ve had 1,000 people through the doors and taken several reservations. Its Europe’s largest listed building and in the past couple of years we’ve been working hard to redevelop the first phase of the building into a mix of workspaces and 1, 2 and 3 bedroom homes. You can read what the press had to say about this here.

Our show apartments are open 10am to 5.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday each week. Prices start from £90,000 and if you’re interested you can call us for details on 0114 303 0375.

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