Intrigued by the enormous concrete-framed flats which were inspired by modernist architecture, this research report explores the past and future of Park Hill which was created by Ivor Smith and Jack Lynn. This report will be presenting in-depth research on the history and context of the ‘streets in the sky’. (Collie & Levitt 2012).
Also based on evidence, this report will be investigating the problems and solutions that had arisen in the time that the building has been created, occupied and redeveloped. This will help establish a greater understanding of the space; therefore it can aid designers to develop proposals for the available spaces within the apartments.
Park Hill is located in Sheffield within one of the seven hills of the city. Due to it being placed on a hillside (Saint, 1996) that gives the people living in the building the view to overlook the entire city which is one of the reasons the estate is famously called the ‘streets in the sky’.
Throughout the years, Sheffield has slowly changed which is presented through figure 4 and 5. Especially the outer landscape of Park Hill which has been filled with astonishing landscaped gardens which were designed for the people living within Park Hill as a way of encouraging them to enjoy the outside space (Urban Splash, 2018). Park Hill has been closely situated to the City Centre, therefore, residents have easy access to the benefits of the city.
Park Hill obtains 985 flats but so far within the redevelopments of the building, only 260 homes are completed and occupied (Hawkinsbrown,2018) This proposal was created by architects as a way of benefitting the needs of the communities of Sheffield who required affordable social housing during the 1950’s economic crisis (Smith,2008) and also to diminish the slum conditions within the city (Blundell Jones, 2011).
Construction of Park Hill began in 1956 and was then completed in 1961. It was deemed the most ambitious inner-city development’ project (Frearson,2014) in its time. The architects designed back to back housing within the two-story building. It was created post World War when employment was full and affordable housing was necessary. Furthermore, it became successful in slum clearance and provided a safer community for the locals.
Ivor Smith and Jack Lynn were partly influenced by Le Corbusier’s ideas, specifically Unité d’Habitation in Marseille. This was constructed a decade earlier and was famous for its innovative, brutalist construction which redefined social housing by creating a sense of community within the 18-storey concrete structure. This caused them to respond to Le Corbusier’s idea of a utopia by designing Park Hill.
Le Corbusier vision was to create a utopian city which is ‘An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.’ (Oxford Dictionaries, 2018). However, he received a lot of criticism for his decline in public spaces which resulted in his buildings becoming sensitive to poverty and crime at high levels.
The architects of Park Hill strongly believed that their architecture had the capability to ‘solve society’s problems’ (Saint,1996). They installed a community spirit by re-housing families and encouraged small independent businesses to be formed in the proximity, for example, newsagents and ‘fish and chip’ shops.
Unfortunately, due to the devasting collapse of the steel industry in the seventies which provided employment for many working-class families, the idea of a utopia came to end due to lack money which caused the same effects as it did in Le Corbusier’s designs like anti-social behaviour and crime. Also because of the inflation crisis, this forced many residents to move away.
The style of architecture is Brutalism which became a movement due to the impact Le Corbusier’s designs had made. The Estate consisted of 4 to 13 storey blocks of back to back housing made of concrete frames that were infilled with yellow, orange and red brick. (Dobraszczyk,2015) The architects managed to keep all floors flat, despite the buildings being located on an extremely steep gradient. Their concept of urban architecture was to avoid taking up too much land compared to streets of homes. Therefore, the concept of ‘streets in the sky’ allowed them to create more residential spaces within an urban area.
The purpose of Park Hill was to recreate a communal area and have a social aspect to it like terraced houses. Smith and Lynn wanted to create space where people can interact and socialise with their neighbours within those ‘internal walkways’ as a replacement from Sheffield’s old, terraced slums. They also used cobbles to pave the pathways around the flats to replicate the style terraced houses and reused old street names (Hatherley 2011). The 3.5 metres wide walkways game the opportunity for children to play outdoors and allowed enough room for milk floats (BBC, 2009).
The time when Park Hill became extremely unpopular, it was listed Grade 2 in 1998 and then in 2004, Urban Splash gained rights as the developers of the building with the help of HawkinsBrown and studio Egret as the leading architects. Due to it being Grade 2 listed gives it a limit on how much it can be changed therefore when redeveloping everything was removed apart from the concrete frames.
The main material used as the structure of the building was concrete. The concrete was sourced from Sheffield. Whereas Urban Splash also sourced the concrete from local areas. When redeveloping phase 1 of the estate, 5,500 different areas of the building needed concrete to restored. Now with Park Hill’s new improvements is formed into a very bright and colourful building. With its yellow, orange and red coloured anodised, aluminium panels which purpose is to replicate the originals buildings brick tomes of the façade (Moore 2011).
Furthermore, Urban Splash has left the concrete exposed to remind people of the historical concrete structure. Many of the link bridges remain and the apartments still interlock.
Although Park Hill was once a sink estate, now that phase 1 of the blocks has been renovated it's now filled with vibrancy. Also, bars and cafes have been created on the ground floor to create a new ‘high street’ (Urban Splash, 2018). There still remains aspects of the old building, for example, there were the words ‘I love you will u marry me?’ graffitied on a concrete bridge which they have overwritten in neon lights as a symbol of the regeneration of the Park Hill Estate. It’s been speculated that 350 homes will be created for student accommodation as they want to add more to the community spirit of Park Hill. Urban Splash received planning permission for phase 2 of the redevelopment of Park Hill. (Mairs, 2018)
I conducted a survey with 30 responses shown in figure x,y,z to found out people’s thoughts in Sheffield of Park Hill. Overall many people prefer the redevelopment of Park Hill as they found it to aesthetically pleasing and do believe it’s a big part of the history of Sheffield. However, many were unsure as to whether Park Hill is a place where they would live.
In conclusion, Park Hill has faced many highs and lows but now It’s considered an ‘iconic landmark’ (Parnell,2009) after the regeneration. The research shows that Park Hill is no longer an estate which was known for being filled with crime. It’s evident that Park Hill is trying to regain the community spirit which Ivor Smith and Jack Lynn aimed for the building. Park Hill remains a strong part of the history of architecture in Sheffield due to the impact it has caused for many residents. The estate is very unique from its materials and construction to its concept and form which is why its deemed important to so many. Park Hill is expected to have a brighter future due to further developments being made to create a new sense of community.