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Posts tagged ‘Park Hill’

20 years of Warp records (a very SoYo affair)

Monday, October 5th, 2009

The long gone, industrial haze that descended on the city of Sheffield for many decades provided not only the impetus to build high rise ’streets in the sky’, but also a proverbial shield from mainstream mediocrity. Independent artistic movements flourished.

The resulting impact on modern culture has influenced the worlds of architecture, design, film and music. The latter of which has one dominant Sheffield connection – the Warp record label. Born out of a converted cutlery shop in the Devonshire Quarter, it has sold millions of records worldwide.

Last weekend marked 20 years since Warp Records was born. An amazing chain of birthday events were chosen, held at locations synonymous with Sheffield - an industrial warehouse party, an open air cinema at Park Hill flats and a gargantuan rave in a converted steel mill.

Park Hill was perfect; its curving elevations provided an amphitheatre for a very atmospheric open air presentation of Warp films throughout the years. Its graphical references of Russian Constructivism in the early (Designers Republic) promotional material contrasting against the Brutalist backdrop.

Well attended by families, residents, scenesters and ravers from ‘back in t’day’ alike. Later in the evening the bar dried up and all scooted off to the next event.

What an amazing weekend party, now, can someone fill in the gaps in my memory?

If you missed the event but want to know what’s next at Park Hill, register your interest here.

Filed under: Park Hill, Sheffield, Urban Splash - tags: Park Hill, Sheffield, warp records
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A career in the spotlight at Park Hill, Sheffield

Monday, August 24th, 2009

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We’re currently on the hunt for a new QS to join our Yorkshire team, a great opportunity as the person in question will be working on Park Hill in Sheffield – the largest grade II* Listed building in Europe, and one of the most significant developments in post war Britain.

The building is key to the development and history of architecture - so much so that if you’re an architect it’s a compulsory study topic! It was inspired by the legendry Swiss-French Architect Le Corbusier but the current redevelopment has been designed by Studio Egret West, Hawkins Brown and Grant Associates.

Its status means that it attracts attention from all over the world, and in recent years our work in redeveloping Park Hill has been very much in the spotlight, with the BBC and local paper the Sheffield Star just two of the recent commentators on the scheme’s transformation (it’s also going to be on BBC2 on Monday 31st August!). So if you want exposure on a national level and huge career satisfaction this is the place to be.

We’re also really proud to be able to tell our story and continue the building’s development, something that’s been greatly helped by our relationships with public partners such as the Homes and Communities Agency. This means that we can move on and fulfil our plans of delivering almost 1000 new apartments for Sheffield over the next ten years – something that our new QS can play a major part in!

I spend a lot of my days working in Sheffield at the scheme and can honestly say that the building consumes you from the moment you arrive. Working here means that you’ll bore your nearest and dearest with every detail; no two days are ever the same.

So if you are a suitably qualified QS and want to join our team and make Park Hill happen then visit our Urban Splash jobs page. Have a look around the site too and you’ll see that our passion for listed buildings and this kind of architecture goes beyond Park Hill – we’re also working on the Grade I listed Royal William Yard in Plymouth (as link), the Grade II listed Lister Mills in Bradford and the Grade II Matchworks in Garston near Liverpool.

Filed under: Park Hill, Sheffield, Urban Splash - tags: jobs, Park Hill, Sheffield
2 comments

2 comments to A career in the spotlight at Park Hill, Sheffield

Tom Lawrence, Development Manager, Urban Splash says:

September 16, 2009 at 10:20 am

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your comment on our Park Hill post.

With regard to station closure, we are very strongly opposed to the ticket barriers at the station along with the Council and bipartisan support from all the political parties.

We have written a letter to the Department for Transport and are fully supportive of the Residents Against Station Closure (RASC) who are the action group.

This was shown on the BBC2 documentary ‘Romancing the Stone’ where together with Richard Caborn we brought it to the attention of Simon Thurley (CEO of English Heritage) and the film covered it for nearly two minutes.

Oh and thanks for the tip-off about the Nestle Rowntree site. We’re pretty busy at the moment with a mix of live sites and projects in development, but we’ll keep it in mind!
Mark from York says:

September 16, 2009 at 2:06 am

Hello,
First time I’ve had time to look through the site and I am amazed at the variety of projects Urban Splash take on which other developers wouldn’t touch with a bargepole !! (Didn’t the council want to knock down Park Hill and start again?)
I am just sad you aren’t in charge of a major development in York called the Chocolate Works - it’s an old disused Victorian chocolate factory in the middle of the city next to the racecourse - Oh why didn’t you take it on ?
The city council have already thrown out one set of plans for the site and I doubt if the new ones will be anywhere near the standard set by Urban Splash !!
However Nestle Rowntree are selling part of their Victorian site so if you’re interested…….
Good luck for the future and don’t lower your standards - as you say there is a flight to quality and that will tell in the end.

My take on BBCs Park Hill documentary by Tom Bloxham MBE

May 6th, 2009 [ 11 comments ] [ Add comment ]
by Tom Bloxham MBE

I came back from a bank holiday away to watch the Park Hill BBC2 “Romancing the Stone” documentary on iPlayer (I can’t believe I’ve started using the iPlayer, blogging and joining Twitter all in the same week – the 21st Century has finally has caught up with me!).

So what did I think..? No doubt it was good television. It certainly got a few laughs and raised the profile of Park Hill, giving the public a greater insight into what these projects involve! I’m not sure any of the protagonists came out particularly well – either from English Heritage or Urban Splash. And there was no mention of the people who really made this scheme happen, the HCA (maybe lucky for them!)

It’s disappointing that the programme stopped filming some weeks ago, before we finalised HCA funding and our development agreement, both of which have helped things really progress at Park Hill. It did, however, clearly illustrate the challenges and problems that beset a massive project like this. They’re never easy to deliver, even harder in today’s economic environment, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try!

Someone once told me that the definition of success is the difference between expectation and delivery… This Park Hill programme has undoubtedly done an excellent job for us in managing people’s expectations! More importantly though, it’s made me even more committed to ensuring that we deliver our vision for Park Hill.

There are plenty of sceptics about and although I’ve never made a TV programme, I think it’s probably easier to make a documentary than deliver a project like Park Hill. But we have already successfully completed several challenging schemes: Fort Dunlop in Birmingham, Royal William Yard in Plymouth, Lister Mills in Bradford, Chimney Pot Park in Salford, The Midland Hotel in Morecambe… given our track record I hope that the next Park hill documentary will be more positive.

Other reviews of the Park Hill programme can be found here: The Sheffield Star, BBC Look North, The Independent, The Sunday Times, The Guardian

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Filed under: Park Hill, Sheffield, Tom Bloxham MBE, Urban Splash - tags: BBC, Park Hill, Sheffield, Tom Bloxham MBE
11 comments

11 comments to My take on BBCs Park Hill documentary by Tom Bloxham MBE

jane marsh says:

September 27, 2010 at 1:49 pm

Having lived on Park Hill flats as a child, good and bad was experianced by everyone. However, I think the flats should have been demolished a long time ago. A lot of money has gone into these flats, and in my opinon there will always be a stigma around them from when they were left to rot. Maybe Urban Splash may succeed where others have failed.
Charlie says:

November 15, 2009 at 10:16 am

Two of the portraits are of my brother and myself, We were part of the migration from the poverty and poor housing of Pitsmoor in the late 1950s .The images that Gary Hindley used were from a BBC documentary Women And Children First broadcast in the early 1960s. Over the years clips from this program have been used in many programs involving Park Hill Flats and recently just after the death of my younger brother I made contact with English Heritage and a lovely person called Mellisa went out of her way to get me of a copy of the original documentary. In the program my family featured in a short clip in which my father spoke about his feelings about the flats as did my younger brother. Unfortunately both are no longer alive, but the video and Gary Hindleys portraits are a great comfort to my family and have given us something to remember them by.The lady in curlers? After speaking to some of the older residents that are still around It seems there are two names been suggested for this lady. I am trying to find out who she was and I am expecting more information this week in fact. I have every confidence in UrbanSplash delivering the finished article and once again the Park Hill Flats will be the outstanding building that it once was. The passion and understanding shown by Lee the site manager on the Park Hill Flats was amazing and comforting to hear, he is to be commended for his dedecation in making the Park Hill Flats once again a secure, comfortable place for many to live in. Good luck to UrbanSplash and the future of PARK HILL FLATS .
Tom Lawrence says:

October 1, 2009 at 9:03 am

Hi Denise,

The paintings are the work of Gary Hindely, a local artist who has begun painting some faces of Park Hill. We’re going to be putting a new painting up every week so keep your eye out for new ones – some are of people who featured in the 1960’s archive footage of Park Hill who we don’t know the names of, so maybe you can help us identify them?

For more info see this article in the Sheffield Telegraph http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/Portraits-in-unique-frame.5631332.jp
Denise from Sheffield says:

September 30, 2009 at 4:13 pm

Hi, in the office where I work we are watching the progress of the renovations with interest and are at the moment very curious about the paintings that have appeared in the facade of the first block to be renovated. Who is the artist? Why are they there? Is the subject the same in both?????

thanks
Mark from York says:

September 16, 2009 at 3:21 am

Hello,

Just watched the programme on IPlayer (worth the licence fee on its own !!)
As I’ve just returned from a hard days shopping (and drinking) in Sheffield I had the chance to speak to a lot of people about Park Hill and your project.
Almost all seemed supportive and are glad it hasn’t been a victim of the downturn and left as a shell.
However people did comment on the decision to ‘barrier’ the railway station effectively cutting off Park Hill from the city centre - any ideas what will be done about this ?
Did you get the chance to comment on this before the decision was taken as people were saying why didn’t you try to stop this happening ?
If you think you have problems in Sheffield try to be a developer in York - everyone has an opinion on what goes up (or not) in the city centre !!
Please keep going at Park Hill as I’m sure a lot of people are waiting for you to fail but this will be a prototype for other similar buildings all over the country - better to reuse them rather than knock them down and build something ‘better’ in its place.
A Jarvis says:

May 24, 2009 at 8:17 am

I thought that the programme was the BBC at its Best. It left a profound mark on me - not much TV does that.

I studied Park Hill as a teenager at school for my Geography O’level. I remember it fancinated me then. It is very easy to belittle a project of this nature. The English Heritage series on the Park Hill Estate captured the essence of Britain in 2009, perfectly.

A Bold and forward thinking 1960’s design, revamped by a group (who had an inner reluntance to carry the idea forward) It at times seemed they were acting the part of Captain Blackadder in Blackadder 4 - those above know best.

Little was said, but the programme oozed the real lack of direction as a society/community that people now experience and the disparaging gaps between groups within our society. The hardest part to watch is how projects on this scale are compromised from the original design, to a point which bold becomes bland and pointless. Where fundamentals are forgotten, practical liveability issues become side issues for sake of money/position and status.
Liz Cook says:

May 15, 2009 at 3:22 pm

I loved the programme about Park Hill and was sad to see the project hitting hard times at the end of the programme, so I was really pleased to read that you are back on site. I went to Chimney Pot Park (ostensibly to see the Velfac windows) about 18 months ago and was amazed by what you are doing there. I just think that what you are doing is great and it is such a pity you weren’t in business when Leeds was pulling down one of its few great masterpieces, Quarry Hill Flats. And look what they have put up in its place - curse the DHSS. Yours, Liz from Leeds (sadly)
Paul Murphy says:

May 15, 2009 at 3:20 pm

It did make good TV, such a change from the usual dull property related offerings. I am amazed that Urbansplash would involve themselves in any project where English Heritage also have an interest. ‘Very brave’ is the euphemism that comes to mind.

I do hope you make a financial success of the project - hate to see you brought to your knees by this one.
Andy says:

May 15, 2009 at 12:12 am

I live near the flats and chose to invest in the area due to it’s proximity to the city and the plans for the flats. As asked by James, are there plans to invest in the surrounding streets? If not, it’s hard to see how spanking new flats would sit well and sell. That said, I haven’t seen evidence of this in the publIshed plans other than plans for the hill.

Also, as the station has now been closed as a link from the flats to the city, are there plans to work around this?

Naturally I have high hopes for the renovation and hope the build can progress to the plan and vision.

Thanks for the vision and hard work
James Aithie says:

May 7, 2009 at 8:52 pm

Thought it was a great documentary. The Urban Splash construction guy dealing with Tim Nice but Dim was great! You just know he spends time labelling things as spades. I have mixed views about this project, as I hate to see wasteful demolitions, but think more could be done with the immediate surrounding land to create a sense of community, than what was in the design plans.
tom bloxham says:

May 7, 2009 at 3:08 pm

PS I wont be giving up my day job for a career in TV just yet !