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.

It was great to have original Park Hill architect Ivor Smith in Sheffield for an after party and talk around the 2011 RIBA Stirling Prize Awards.

Ivor’s said some great things about Park Hill, one of my favourites being: “Park Hill has not just been repaired ,its been reinvented, Its wonderful.”

I asked about the difference between today and when he was working, he explained it was confidence. Back then we were coming out the war the space race was on. People thought science and progress could solve all society’s problems, architecture was there to improve peoples’ lives and things could only get better.

This contrasts rather sadly with today’s anxiety, gloom and fear of a double dip depression. Let’s hope the reinvention of Park Hill is a sign things can only get better.

Ivor certainly seemed to enjoy the party and his talk at the ‘Morning After Parkie’ - you can see pictures of both here.

We’ve been delighted with the interest shown so far for Park Hill - before people have even had the chance to see it up close. We’ve had around 1000 people register their interest with around 200 of these getting in touch since we released the starting prices, the majority of these from the Sheffield City Region.

It’s especially pleasing as we’re receiving lots of positive feedback from people of all ages and backgrounds. We’re looking forward to speaking to people and being able to show them the apartments when we open the doors to Park Hill on the 8 October. This is an opportunity for people to buy into part of a Grade II* listed building and at very competitive prices and interest has been significant so far.

Interest is also high in the 40,000 sq ft of commercial space, which are suitable for office, retail and restaurant uses. Although the units haven’t officially been launched yet talks are already ongoing with a number of potential occupiers keen on making Park Hill the new home for their business.

People wishing to register their interest in living at Park Hill can do so at www.urbansplash.co.uk/park-hill

With old buildings it is not often that you’re able to get feedback from the original designer but last week I had the great privilege of not only meeting Ivor Smith the original architect for Park Hill but also of showing him and his daughter (and grandson) around Park Hill as it is now - 50 years on.

Seeing the building today it is easy to forget how visionary it was when it was first conceived and how transformational it was for the communities that it re-housed. Ivor recollected the squalid conditions that the building replaced – the decrepit victorian courtyard houses that were unbearably overcrowded (reputedly housing an incredible 1,000 people per hectare) with nothing but communal latrines and standpipes by way of sanitation and absolutely no open space to speak of.

Understandably then Park Hill transformed lives and was an incredibly popular place to live but sadly by the 1980’s these feelings had started to change, the building had become dilapidated and stigmatised and had begun an inexorable spiral of physical and social decline. When we got involved we had to not only understand the strengths of the building but also what was causing it to fail.

We have just finished our phase I enveloping works which includes a new parkland setting for the building leading to a dramatic new entrance that has glass lifts and a sculptural spiral stair cut through the original gridded structure with 4 show flats on the top floor overlooking the city. Our approach has been to try and reinvent in the modernist spirit of the original so I was keen to hear whether Ivor thought we had succeeded – here’s what he had to say ……..

“The care you have taken to repair a derelict structure is impressive. The concrete frame looks well with the new balustrades, and the timber top rail is better to touch. Although the coloured panels at first seem a bit bright, I can understand that it is important to express something new, and it is good that they continue to indicate the different deck levels.

The new entrance is a splendid monumental space. Some shops will add life, and the glazed two-storey offices and studios give an effective base to the building. The journey up the glass lifts is a delight, and the shiny spiral stair set within the frame is very clever. At night especially, these will provide a great view from the city and a welcome to the entrance. The arrival at deck level is similarly spacious. The access still has the qualities of the deck, and the encroachment onto it not only gives useful space within the dwellings but also provides a significant threshold to each group of four. The plan of the different units is now very spacious with views right through and light coming from both sides. My reservations about vertigo are overcome by the depth of structure that keeps you back a little from the edge. As I mentioned I do have some concerns about overheating and adequate ventilation, but I hope I will be proved wrong. The change to the elevations when the window panels are open is a witty device! The choice of materials, the quality of detail and workmanship shows great care; this is apparent in the entrance doors, the stairs, the windows, and the design of the kitchens and bathrooms. It is refreshing at this time that the whole design is free from gimmicks, and there is a consistency and inevitability to each part.

I think this scheme gives real meaning to the word “regeneration”; it represents a new beginning, a new vitality. I sense in those who have been involved the same enthusiasm and excitement that Jack Lynn and I enjoyed half a century ago. It will be a great place to live!” Ivor Smith

Before meeting Ivor I really had no idea what his take would be but I know that in his time he approached the project with all the passion and energy that we feel now so it is very satisfying to hear this endorsement and I know that his approval is much appreciated by the whole project team.

We reached a special milestone at Park Hill in Sheffield recently, as the building celebrates its 50th birthday!

It was half a century ago on 16th June 1961 when a proud group of Sheffielders - city councillors, architects, builders and the local public - gathered to watch as the brand new complex was officially opened.

And now, to mark the 50th birthday, we celebrated by installing a new neon version of the infamous graffiti high up on one of the link bridges which spells out the message ‘I LOVE YOU WILL U MARRY ME’. The identity of the author and whether or not the answer was ‘Yes’ are the stuff of urban legend now, and a BBC Radio 4 documentary due to air later this year will try to get to the bottom of the mystery. Its cult status was further enhanced when Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys wore it on a t-shirt at a gig in LA.

For Urban Splash, it’s not just an iconic piece of graffiti, it’s our invitation to the city and to the world to fall in love again with Park Hill, to start a new romance with this amazing building and the utopian hopes it represents of a better future.

Throughout its development we’ve kept as much of the original design as possible, retaining that passion that’s been present throughout. At the forefront of our redesign is a strong sense of community, something that lingers from the initial occupants who lived their days at Park Hill’s four(!) pubs, shops, nursery and social centre. The ‘streets in the sky’ held a fundamental design principle; to make occupants interact and it was important that this part too was retained.

And now, on its fiftieth birthday, that vision is becoming a reality as we put the finishing touches to the first phase of our ambitious plans to give the building a new lease of life. We will soon be opening up our four showflats and two new office studio spaces, and inviting everyone in to have a look and buy or rent their own little bit of this controversial modernist icon, the largest listed building in Europe.

These homes will bring Park Hill back to life and make it a happy, healthy buzzing place again. Urban Splash, the Homes & Communities Agency, Sheffield City Council, Great Places Housing Group, English Heritage and our team of designers - are all aiming to recapture that community. It has all the right ingredients to make it a roaring success - a wonderful location right next to the city centre set in tranquil green space, with fabulous views, generous flats and all-new modern mod-cons. Now we just need the people. So roll up, roll up, we need you… register here if you’re interested.

50 years ago, the world took notice of Park Hill - Sheffield became a destination for designers and housing officials from around the globe seeking inspiration as they grappled with their own urban housing problems. It became talked about, studied, revered, loathed and loved and still divides opinion. It is a unique, internationally-renowned design classic - there is no other Park Hill in the world. We’re proud to be helping write a new chapter in its history and I’m hope I’m still around to see its centenary.

Happy 50th Birthday Park Hill, and many happy returns.

Last week I went to a very special launch in Sheffield. Unlike the usual lunchtime networking bashes I’m used to this one was attended by lots of school children!

We’d all gathered at the newly refurbished Crucible Bar in the centre of the City, ready to watch the unveiling of a new banner that’s been hung on Park Hill as part of Sheffield Children’s Festival’s ‘Up Close Project’. The banner features photographs of more than 500 local children and have each been placed to make a huge mosaic that depict one particular school girl named Sherelle Parker. Her teachers had put her forward as she was deemed one of the most hardworking pupils in the City (quite fitting given all the hard work going on onsite too!)

The banner featuring Sherelle, her classmates and other school children is now in place at Park Hill throughout the summer. Its 25 metres long and 18 metres wide so whether you’re driving through the City or strolling through the centre, you’re bound to see it! Let us know what you think.

Anyone with an interest in Park Hill has probably had their say this week on the very colourful new additions to the building.

The original building, which was developed in the 1960s, featured distinctive brickwork. Constructed in four bright colours, each row of brick represented a ’street in the sky’ and ranged from plum, terracotta, beige and ivory. As the largest Grade II* Listed building in Europe it was really important that the redeveloped Park Hill retained this distinct element so that’s why we feel incredibly proud to have delivered something that emulates the original form.

Something we’ve also done is to flip the proportions around, changing the windows from two-thirds brick and one-third window in the original building to two thirds glazing and one third solid panel in the modern version, thus flooding the apartments with natural light. These panels are anodised aluminium, a fantastic material, that offers a fabulous sparkle and lustre, which alters in appearance depending on the light levels and the angle they are viewed from.

The most exciting achievement though is that for the first time people can see how the regenerated Park Hill will appear in the future – bright, bold and beautiful! Let us know what you think about the panels below or alternatively register your interest to find out more as the scheme progresses!