FEATURE
THE FUTURE VISION FOR
‘AN ICON OF SHEFFIELD’ Park Hill is undoubtedly an icon of Sheffield, soaring above the city atop one of its many hills. Now well underway in a mammoth regeneration and rebirth with developers Urban Splash and Places for People at the helm, unLTD’s Matt Holmes speaks to Nicky Harries, Park Hill’s senior commercial lettings manager, about the past, present and future of life in Europe’s largest listed building
We begin with Nicky giving us a brief background on the commercial history of Park Hill. When it opened in 1961, there were grocery shops, a school, a doctor’s surgery and four pubs. One of which, The Scottish Queen, keeps its name but has been an exhibition space and art studios for S1 Artspace but is now due to be a new retail outlet. Another space in Phase 3, the new student block called Beton House, is due to become a new convenience store named Park Hill Provisions, which we revealed in last month’s magazine. Since Urban Splash came on the scene in 2007, phase 1 has been completed and comprises 260 homes and 17 contemporary commercial
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units, home to a mix of businesses in the creative and digital industries, filmmakers, designers, merchandising and recruitment. A brilliant feature is the Grace Owen Nursery, although now housed in a new purpose-built space, it has been part of Park Hill since 1963! The eclectic combination of Urban Splash’s vision, architects Hawkins\Brown and urban designers Studio Egret West gained Park Hill a nomination in the coveted RIBA Stirling Prize in 2013. Phase 2 of the development sees Mikhail Riches as architects. Phase 2 will see a further 20,000 sq ft of commercial space added to Park Hill. And it appears that locating somewhere with
NICKY HARRIES
an established business community, but which is still developing itself is an attractive prospect as Urban Splash is delighted with the interest in the space despite current circumstances. So, what is it about occupying a commercial space
at Park Hill that stands out from other developments? “The location and being part of the wider community,” says Nicky. “The commercial spaces themselves at Park Hill are raw, concrete and beautifully quirky – completely open to imagination and design. A true blank canvas for our customers to really put their stamp on.” The offering at Park Hill includes small and large selfcontained shell spaces which businesses can buy or rent, meaning occupiers of all sizes can invest in their future. Not to mention, of course, that this is an Urban Splash development, and as Nicky says: “We are very much a hands-on landlord and look to exceed in the service our customers receive from the day of their first enquiry right
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