The key objective of Sevenstone is to re-establish Sheffield as a leading regional shopping destination, bringing a new spirit of activity and opportunity to the heart of the city. The masterplan outlines the vision for how this will be achieved and establishes the parameters for the design of the buildings and public spaces.
An important aim of the masterplan is to steer away from creating a traditional shopping centre environment. Instead it defines a retail-led mixed use development with a network of open streets, public spaces and covered urban areas.
The scheme has been designed to incorporate integrated servicing by way
of a central underground service yard.
Click on the map for information on
each block.
Sevenstone will be designed by a number of leading architects, ensuring that the best in design quality and architectural excellence is brought to Sheffield.
Architects that have been appointed to
work on the scheme include ACME, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Building Design Partnership, Foreign Office Architects, Hawkins\Brown, O’Donnell + Tuomey, Pick Everard and Stiff+Trevillion.
Click on the blocks on the map for information on each architect.
Building Design Partnership (BDP) was responsible for designing the Sevenstone masterplan. BDP is an interdisciplinary practice of architects, designers and engineers established in 1961, to provide comprehensive, integrated design services for the built environment. Its mission is to be collaborative, working in partnership with customers, colleagues in construction and communities, aiming to be ethical and responsible to all stakeholders. It believes that good design can create substantial economic and social value. BDP has expertise in almost all building types and has more than 1,000 people in 10 offices in the UK and Ireland, working across the EU
and beyond.
ACME space is an young London based architectural design practice. The experience and work of the office is multi-faceted in scale and program, encompassing large urban masterplanning schemes, commercial and residential developments as well as one-off houses. The company prides itself on its innovative design approach and its ability to find sustainable and intelligent solutions across scales and disciplines.
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris was founded in 1989 by partners Simon Allford, Jonathan Hall, Paul Monaghan and Peter Morris, who had studied together at the Bartlett School of Architecture. The practice has completed numerous award winning projects, including 1) North Croydon Medical Centre: RIBA Award 1999, Civic Trust Award 2001; 2) Walsall Bus Station: RIBA Award 2001, Civic Trust Commendation and 3) Great Notley Primary School: Civic Trust Award 2001.
Stiff + Trevillion has been established for more than twenty years as a design led practice working primarily in the commercial sector. New build, fit outs and refurbishment projects for developers and end users comprise the main body of its workload, in both office and residential sectors. Its clients include Hammerson, Derwent London, Glebe Holdings, Siemens and BAE.
Hawkins\Brown has been at the forefront of British architecture for 19 years, producing buildings of a consistently high quality for a wide variety of clients. Hawkins\Brown has never limited its architecture to particular markets or scales and has won critical acclaim for its diverse strengths - in particular an innovative approach and a determination to 'think outside the box’ and deliver best value to the client. The company is committed to the regeneration of Sheffield and in addition to Sevenstone is working on the Park Hill development.
Foreign Office Architects (FOA) is a London-based international practice founded in 1995, for the purpose of providing full services of masterplanning, architecture and interior design for both the public and the private sectors. FOA’s built work includes projects such as the award-winning Yokohama Ferry Terminal in Japan, the South East Coastal Park in Barcelona and the John Lewis Anchor Store and Cineplex for the new Highcross scheme in Leicester.
Building Design Partnership (BDP) was responsible for designing the Sevenstone masterplan. BDP is an interdisciplinary practice of architects, designers and engineers established in 1961, to provide comprehensive, integrated design services for the built environment. Its mission is to be collaborative, working in partnership with customers, colleagues in construction and communities, aiming to be ethical and responsible to all stakeholders. It believes that good design can create substantial economic and social value. BDP has expertise in almost all building types and has more than1,000 people in 10 offices in the UK and Ireland, working across the EU
and beyond.
O’Donnell + Tuomey are the designers for the prestigious new John Lewis department store within Sevenstone. Winners of more than 40 international awards, the 12-strong firm has developed a reputation for innovation and diversity in 18 years of practice from its Dublin base. It was shortlisted for the 2005 RIBA Stirling Prize - also known as the 'Oscar of British Architecture’ - for its design of the Lewis Glucksman Gallery in Cork.
Established in Leicester in 1866, Pick Everard is one of the UK's leading independent, multi-professional design practices. With more than 300 architects, consulting engineers, surveyors and project managers, it has offices throughout the UK and in Ireland. The firm is renowned for its architectural and engineering expertise, as well as its environmental management, building, land and quantity surveying and annually design projects with a construction value totalling in excess of £450m.
To be confirmed
Block one will be to the south of Barkers Pool, opposite the City Hall between Cambridge Street and New Burgess Street. The design gives the building a single and unique identity, responding to the scale and materials of the existing buildings to the north and west. This is achieved by a composition of interlocking modular elements.
As a triangular shaped block, each side will respond to differing built environments. To the north, facing over Barkers Pool there are plans for restaurants and cafes. On New Burgess Street, there will be retail on two levels, with further retail accessible from one level off Cambridge Street.
Block two forms the new gateway building to Sevenstone, New Burgess Street and the new corner to Barkers Pool. It has been designed to complement City Hall, but is intended to be a visual beacon visible
from Fargate.
The exterior cladding of the block has been inspired by Sheffield's rich tradition of precision manufacturing. It is designed as a metal fabric of changing appearance, sometimes a mysterious veil, at other points a shading device or an oversized shop window into the store within. Lighting within the façade will give the appearance of movement and the building will seem
to ‘glow’.
Block three will be a mixed retail and residential building, bordered by Pinstone Street, Cross Burgess Street, New Burgess Street and Barkers Pool. The block will
bring together conserved, historic and contemporary buildings all wrapped in a façade of bronzed metal. Along the streets there will be covered walkways creating a colonnade that will not only protect walkers from the elements, but create spaces for people to meet, eat and watch the world
go by.
On top of the new retail elements, there will be an exclusive residential enclave of bespoke two and three bedroom apartments with private gardens. With its elevated position, many of these new apartments will have wide-ranging views across the city.
Block four, including blocks D and E, will form part of the central core of Sevenstone, bordered by Cross Burgess Street, Pinstone Street and Cambridge Street. Laycock House and the façade of the Edwardian bank will be incorporated within the new building and it has been a vital element of planning for this block that the history of the existing buildings has to be retained, while still being a contemporary solution.
Current plans for the building include elements of Victorian architecture combined with contemporary black styling, a biodiversity garden on the roof and a
feeling that the building should be 'made in Sheffield'.
Block five is at the southern end of Sevenstone, between Cambridge Street, Charter Square and New Burgess Street. This position means the block has to interact with a wide range of contrasting urban conditions.
As one of the largest blocks in the scheme, it is vital to avoid creating a monolithic structure that does not match the variety around it. The architectural concept of the block is therefore to create a continuous shopping experience, but with the feel of a cluster of smaller elements, much like coalescing soap bubbles. To create this effect, block five will be highly varied on the outside, with proposed bridges, walkways, rain covers and an exterior that will look like 'draped fabric'.
Block five will also include a residential tower and again, the aim is to create a varied space with a series of clusters and bay windows. The exterior of the tower will be designed to soften its silhouette, capture light and shadow to create a shimmering visual effect.
Block six will be located between Carver Street and Cambridge Street, to the north
of Cross Burgess Street and to the south of Backfields. Together with blocks five and seven, a new two level, partially covered space will be created, as an extension of Cross Burgess Street. There will be retail
on two levels, with a colonnade walkway providing access to the retail on the
upper level.
The design concept expresses the building as two distinct and contrasting forms, which interlock as a composition. The southern part of the building will be clad in reconstituted stone and appear to rise up from the rock of Sheffield. Windows have been designed to represent the erosion of rock by the elements. The northern part of the building will be a softer undulating form, which will respond to the scale and materials of the existing buildings to the north. These two will appear to merge, with
the underside of the soft form visible along the top of
the colonnade.
Block C is to the north of block six, fronting onto Cambridge Street. Within this area is Leah's Yard, a grade 2* listed building, one of the few such examples remaining. The yard will be stylishly restored and put back to commercial operation - though current usage plans have yet to be finalised. It will incorporate and active frontage onto a mews which will be landscaped to be sympathetic to and enhance the setting of St Matthew's Church to the north.
Block seven will be the landmark building of Sevenstone - the new John Lewis store. Situated at the western end of the scheme,
it will be visible from the Peace Gardens, Moorhead and Charter Square. This new building fills an entire city block in the sloping urban landscape of the Devonshire grid pattern of Sheffield.
Internally, the store is quite complex
with four floors of shopping, storage, administration, catering and car parking.
The architectural concept is to envelope this complexity with an external wrap of sculpted fins that goes around the building. These fins will vary in frequency and rhythm giving glimpses into the various activities behind.
Block eight will be the new multi-storey car park that will be built to follow the different levels of the varying streetscapes of Wellington Street, Rockingham Street and the more sensitive Trafalgar Street and Devonshire Lane.
The car park will be clad primarily in an engineered stainless steel mesh and is designed to create a light, airy and safe internal environment. At its centre will be a linear lightwell that will allow natural daylight to flood into the circulation area of the parking decks. Safe parking zones will be located on key levels to provide bays for the disabled and families with young children. There will be a full shop mobility service on the ground floor.
A dramatic glazed lift core will link all levels of the car park at the corner of Rockingham and Wellington Street. Also, from here there will be a bridge spanning the street to link the car park with the new John Lewis store.
Copy pending.