Archinect - News2024-11-15T10:49:47-05:00https://archinect.com/news/article/17782651/all-that-shimmers-in-sheffield
All that shimmers in Sheffield Nam Henderson2011-08-22T15:21:12-04:00>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 – large – 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 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 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>