Park Hill Flats - Sheffield - May '08

so i was up in sunny (but windy) sheffield and recalled seing some brilliant reports on quite a dwelling, no picture can prepare you for the vastness of these all interlinked with concrete walkways

wind whistling down the hallways/landings doors banging and bumped into 2 small kids taking photo's

seems some of it is still lived in and the ground floor day nursery is still active but its amazing well worth a visit if your in the area im sure some of the flats and the roofs are accesible if your feeling athletic but the wind was putting me off big time

i know theres alot of pictures and the exterior looks rather bland and identical but i love it















a fair bit of it is heavily guarded off i presume to stop drug nests forming and squatters, was quite suprised how easy accesible the bits i went to were although some appear to be lived in



youve been warned



lights are on up here



bit of a panoramic of about HALF of the complex





the wind was literaly blowing me backwards along here



as you can see there are still some residents



back on the floor



the walkways



a park



the clubhouse





liked these angular walkway thingys on each individual flat

thats a huge site mr sam
know what you mean about windy on the roof !!!

It looks a cool place mate

looking at another report ive somehow missed about 80% of the complex its blooming huuuge

Whenever I go through/to Sheffield i'm always amazed by this amazing example of Brutalist architecture. Good job its Grade II listed.

Isn't it being restored and turned into luxury apartments?

This place used ot have THE best lifts of any block of flats anywhere. They were more or less normal metal council estate lifts that smelt of wee, but with the back wall glazed so you could see out.

They're quite high flats anyway, but also on top of a big hill, so the views out of the lift as it went up were simply stunning to the point of scary. It must have been hell living there for anyone with a fear of heights!

Derek

Great report I've been meaning to go up there myself.

I've been fascinated by those flats; there's almost something Soviet about them (Sheffield council architects must of been closet communists). One of those buildings that has to be protected, not because they're anything nice, but because they're a fairly rare find.

Wow, what a place to spend a day... or three! lol!
Can't believe people still live there, must be a bit grim!
Would love to see some shots from the roof, bet the views are fab!!!

The_Revolution said:

Great report I've been meaning to go up there myself.

I've been fascinated by those flats; there's almost something Soviet about them (Sheffield council architects must of been closet communists). One of those buildings that has to be protected, not because they're anything nice, but because they're a fairly rare find.

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Funny you mention that Rev because i'm sure it was nicknamed 'The Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire' during the Thatcher period, i'm sure the Sheffield members on here would be more informed then I am. It was inspired by a French block, called the Unite D'habitation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit%C3%A9_d%27Habitation

Urban Splash are restoring this, and have a good reputation when it comes to restoring buildings, not just 19th century mills but also 1960s buildings such as this and the Rotunda in Birmingham.

http://www.urbansplash.co.uk/

Derek said:

This place used ot have THE best lifts of any block of flats anywhere. They were more or less normal metal council estate lifts that smelt of wee, but with the back wall glazed so you could see out.

They're quite high flats anyway, but also on top of a big hill, so the views out of the lift as it went up were simply stunning to the point of scary. It must have been hell living there for anyone with a fear of heights!

Derek

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i didnt think to even see if the doors would budge









random google image to give an indication of how little of it ive covered! and to think if it wasnt boarded and secured you could go in one end walk god knows how far and get to the other side as there all interlinked, also read somewhere milkfloats used to deliver up there

Park Hill, Sheffield
The estate, dubbed 'San Quentin' by residents after the notorious jail, has grade II* listed status.

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thats nice!!! (lifted from the Guardian online)

thompski said:

Urban Splash are restoring this, and have a good reputation when it comes to restoring buildings, not just 19th century mills but also 1960s buildings such as this and the Rotunda in Birmingham.

Click to expand...

I think they'll get their fingers burnt on this project!

Hi.
I used to live in one of these flats back in 1992. Your pictures of the place have really brought back some memories of the place. Under the flats makes a good explore too, all the blocks are connected by heating / utility tunnels with laddered ducts going all the way to the white louvred cabinets on the roof. I found out about these when I needed to sneakily get my CB antenna up there
Next time I'm in Sheffield I'm definitely going to have a explore round there.

wow!!! thanks for sharing that, popped in here on the way back from high royds today





watched 2 young chavs launching bricks at windows, and discovered the lifts still worked!

Mr Sam said:

wow!!! thanks for sharing that, popped in here on the way back from high royds today

watched 2 young chavs launching bricks at windows, and discovered the lifts still worked!

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Them photos are AWESOME!!!!

The place is so utterly grim its fantastic lol. Really wanna go back and spend some time getting some decent shots!

Yeah being as you where to buisy argueing with your other half yoiu couldnt get any decent shots!!!! Lol

was a good day out! thanks again Mr Sam!

Wow, great shots, and on my doorstep. I think this could be my first expore....nice and easy one first.

Whos up for a group trip here

Is this worth visiting?

looks a rough area and is alot of it accessible?
x

theres a fair bit you can just walk in but beware of kids chucking bricks at windows etc

Hello first post
there is a great difference now all insides have been ripped out looks like a big mouth organ i will try to get some pics this week