September 20 2004

A shortlist of developers and registered social landlords has been announced to regenerate the notorious Park Hill housing estate in Sheffield. The developers, chosen by Sheffield City Council and English Partnerships, are Manchester based Urban Splash, AMEC, George Wimpey and Lovells. The RSLs are Derwent Living, Manchester Methodist Housing Group and Riverside Housing.
Park Hill, which was designed by young Modernist architects Ivor Smith and Jack Lynn and built in the late 1950s and early 60s, is the largest Grade II listed building in Britain, containing almost a thousand flats and maisonettes within snake-like blocks. The estate is famous for its \'streets in the sky\', based on the Smithsons\' Golden Lane Housing plan of 1952, but problems such as crime quickly began to arise and Park Hill became known for all the wrong reasons.
The regeneration scheme will include permanent repairs to the exterior structure and details, and the refurbishment of the interior. The intention is to create a mixed-use sustainable development to include owner-occupied housing and social rented properties, managed by the chosen RSL, alongside business and community uses.
Shortlisted developers have now been asked to make detailed submissions so that they can be assessed against criteria including delivery and track record, experience of projects of comparable size; understanding of a wider regeneration impact, design excellence and funding proposals. RSLs will be judged on different criteria, including opportunities for social enterprise, a strategy for involving the community, quality of service provision and financial arrangements. A developer and RSL will be appointed this November, and work should begin on site in early 2006.

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