2024-11-15T11:00:04-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/17782651/all-that-shimmers-in-sheffield Nam Henderson 2011-08-22T15:21:12-04:00 >2011-08-23T10:55:03-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/ph/phunwjkhkpg3jcvh.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>There is one &ndash; large &ndash; detail. Two-thirds of the original 1,000 council flats will, with the help of public subsidy to the development, now be for private sale. The council says that it's better to have a mixture of tenures than to remake a "ghetto" of council tenants. This follows the current orthodoxy and might be entirely reasonable if the homes were being replaced elsewhere in the city.</p></em><br /><br /><p> Rowan Moore reviews Urban Splash's renovation of the 1,000-flat Park Hill estate in Sheffield, the largest listed building in Europe. The&nbsp;renovation of which, has even won the approval of the estate's original architects. However, Mr. Moore finds that the larger cause for concern is not the upgraded buildings new "<strong>shimmer</strong>" or "<strong>refreshing</strong>" brightness, but rather the&nbsp;current orthodoxy of mixed use/income redevelopment and a problem the size of Sheffield. Namely, the "<strong>demolition derby of council flats</strong>" and the resulting dearth of well-designed, affordable housing.</p>