PARK HILL HOUSING ESTATE | Sheffield | postwar concrete postscript

LOCATION: Rhodes St Sheffield, South Yorkshire S2 5SB, UK
ARCHITECT: Jack Lynn & Ivor Smith // Hawkins/Brown
DATES: 1957-1961 // 2010-current
NOTES: Grade II Listed Building Status granted 1998 // Renovation work was shortlisted for the 2013 Stirling Prize

Site Visits: Mon Jun 30, Tues Jul 1 2014

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Perhaps my hopes had been higher than merited, perhaps it’s unfair to evaluate a project in a still fairly nascent phase, but regardless I found myself rather disappointed upon visiting Park Hill. Each walk through the complex made me feel increasingly more melancholy.

Surely the general atmosphere of abandonment that pervades over most of the site contributed. But the unique condition of the site given its phased redevelopment provided the very valuable opportunity to see the before-after first hand.

And while the original units have clearly seen better days, there is something quite sterile and flat–even flimsy–about the newly renovated portion. The concrete has been painted-stripping it of its warmth and depth of texture, sealing it in a cold, gray state. And the brickwork, so carefully selected and installed to lend the buildings their subtle vertical gradient, has been entirely removed and replaced instead with flat panels, monochrome and shallow in their garish color palette.

But any sour notes aside, I am cheered nonetheless to see the enthusiasm with which this once-worn project is being undertaken. Given that all the units in the initial Phase 1 have been sold, it seems fair to be hopeful that this project will serve as a strong testament to the embedded value of these oft over-looked concrete giants.

A view from one of the Streets in the Sky. Today perforated metal gates barricade access to many of the emptied tower blocks. When in active use in earlier years these 3 meter-wide decks really did serve as analogs for the former streets of the slums this complex replaced. Social hubs, they were wide enough to accommodate milk-delivery carts and their vast network connected the sprawling series of towers.

Infill bricks in a slim range of colors were specifically placed to create the subtle but elegant vertical gradient which animates the rise of the tall tower blocks. Today, as a vast number of the apartments have been vacated and boarded up, the plywood panels covering many of the windows echo an ochre shade of brown.

The erie quietness of the largely vacant housing estate is broken (perhaps even more eerily) by children’s laughter. While most of the community amenities–shops, bars, social clubs, ground floor restrooms–have been long closed and boarded over, a children’s day care center remains open, presumably serving some of the last few families that stay on despite the construction cranes slowly laboring within adjacent tower blocks of this sprawling estate.

A boarded up pub sits vacant next to a similarly closed men’s room. Throughout the estate one can find numerous examples of these former elements of everyday life now quietly awaiting their next phase.

Some of the concrete has suffered from spalling and chipping over the years, though a fair amount of this can likely be blamed on poor maintenance–a sadly common theme in so many projects of this generation. Even so, a survey by the Urban Splash developers of the complex’s concrete found it in remarkable condition. Most of the repairs have been cosmetic.

Old and new sit side-by-side encircling an overgrown field. While the essential massing and organization of the project have been preserved, arguably a fair amount has been lost amidst all the sleek new finishes.

A lone resident arrives at the new entry complex for Phase 1 of Urban Splash’s regeneration project. All units have reportedly been sold but it seems few have been fully completely and occupied as over multiple visits on multiple days the general vibe was very ghost-town. Here’s hoping for a return to the vibrant community that Park Hill once was.

Chemically exposed aggregate over-painted to make for the “splashy” new super graphic entry sign. It seems large-scale branding is very de rigor these days.