West Bar Final Report Complete

Student Number: 130195535

Site Location

The proposed site for development lies on the northern

edge of Sheffield City Centre, which is bounded by Bridge

Street, Plum Street, West Bar Road and intersected by Love

Street, a minor road used infrequently (figure 1). With the

city centre less than a 10 minute walk away, the site pre-

sents a strong spatial location and offers huge promise.

Site Context

The site has an area of 2.3 acres (0.93 hectares) and ac-

counts for 30% of the triangular shaped West Bar develop-

ment area outlined under the West Bar Interim Planning

Guidance.

Currently the site is split up into 3 sections (figure 2). The

Southern section compromises of an area of grassy waste-

land and a carpark, this section of the site is closest to the

City Centre, therefore its spatial location must be taken in-

to account when designing. The main area within the site

contains a disused factory in a poor state of repair, a car

tyre shop and a small office building (Figure 2), to the west

lies another small carpark.

As for the surroundings, the area to the east of the site

comprises of high rise offices and Sheffield Law Courts to

the South (figure 3). Whilst industry, mostly derelict sur-

rounds the Western and Northern edges of the site, alt-

hough under the West Bar IPG (2006) these areas are also

proposed for redevelopment forecasting a promising fu-

ture for the area. The lack of retail and food and drink es-

tablishments along with high amount of offices and resi-

dential dwellings within the vicinity, shows great potential

for the development. Figure1: The proposed area of development within the West Bar area (Base Map: West Bar IPG, 2006).

Figure

2: Th

e curren

t con

text of th

e site. A m

ixture o

f car parks, d

is-

used

factories an

d an

offi

ce (Au

tho

r 20

15

).

A1 Retail

A3 Food and Drink

B1 Business

C1 Dwellings

D1 Non-residential institution

Sui Generis

Figure 3: Land use surrounding West Bar (Author, 2015).

Strengths

The site is extremely accessible due to its close proximity to the

City Centre. It is also highly accessible outside of the Sheffield

region due to its close proximity to the A61 ring road, con-

necting the site to the Sheffield Expressway (A57) and the M1,

making the site very desirable for development.

Redeveloping the site does not produce an issue as the site has

a level topography and is brownfield land, which is favoured up-

on development by the NPPF over greenfield development.

While the existing office development to the East of Bridge

Street would allow for an easy integration of the development.

There is already a strong provision of car parking within the sur-

rounding the site.

Weaknesses

The site is in a poor state of repair, in particular the factory.

Hawley’s Car Garage is the only reminder that the site is actually

in use, whilst pavements and surrounding infrastructure is poor-

ly maintained.

As a result there is little to attract people into the area due to a

lack of public space, nodes and active frontages.

The disused buildings are a wasted space and are also unaes-

thetically pleasing. Whilst the area is not very legible, seg-

mented into separate disjointed sites by overuse of wooden

and security fencing. This has created a run down and unwel-

coming feel within the area.

Opportunities

The area is designated as a transition zone and one that is in

need of reinvention by the Urban Design Compendium. West

Bar has been identified as a prime site for the expansion of

Sheffield City Centre. The West Bar IPG proposes office devel-

opment (B1) as a primary use for the area.

Other acceptable uses include residential (C3), retail (A1), lei-

sure (D2), drinking establishments (A4) and food & drink out-

lets (A3). This presents a unique opportunity to create a vi-

brant mixed use development.

The surrounding area lacks shops, restaurants and cafes. How-

ever, there is a demand for these services due to the adjacent

office developments and high density residential develop-

ments such as Kelham Island and Saint Vincent’s.

Half of the site is already effectively derelict, therefore al-

ready suitable for redevelopment and complete regeneration.

Threats

There is already a surplus of office developments within the sur-

rounding area, therefore there is a risk of oversupply.

The proposed development should provide a strong accessible

link to the City Centre via the junction of Bridge Street and West

Bar Road. This will prevent the site from feeling isolated and pro-

vide effective integration towards the City Centre.

When the offices are not in use the area feels unsafe at night,

although a mixed use development would prevent this and

attract more people into the area.

As the site is brownfield, demolition will be needed, as well pos-

sible decontamination from previous industrial uses.

It may be difficult to acquire the whole site due to multiple land

owners who may need compensation, therefore this could be a

complex and slow process.

Possible limitations from planning guidelines such as building

height restrictions in the West Bar IPG stating buildings cannot

exceed 5-6 storeys.

40% of the sites land use is car parking, accommodating for over

150 cars. Car parking isn't a primary land use, therefore provid-

ing these entire car parking spots may be a challenge, vertical

development may be the solution.

Figure4: Inactive frontages (Author, 2015). Figure 5: “Green space” with West Bar (Author, 2015). Figure 6: Derelict warehouses (Author, 2015). Figure 7: Car parking space ready to develop (Author, 2015).

Site Vision: “The site will become a focus of office and residential land use with retail and leisure facilities

integrated into ground floor units to create active frontages at all times of day and late in the evening. Im-

proved connectivity to the city will make the area accessible for use by workers and residents in and around

the site and for visitors to the city. The site will offer a variety of uses which will vary to the times of the day.

The integration of a mix of uses centred around a high quality public realm will make the area a distinguish-

able part of the city centre. Key features will include high quality public realm, active ground floor uses and

good connectivity to the River Don, City Centre and Kelham Island.”

Figure 10

: Glass facad

es at Bro

ck

Street, Lon

do

n (C

BR

E, 20

14

).

Figure 13

: High

qu

ality urb

an d

esign

at Med

ia City, Salfo

rd. (A

uth

or, 2

01

3)

Figure 12

: Inn

ovati

ve facades an

d a m

ixed u

se develo

pm

ent

at St Pau

ls mu

lti sto

ry carpark, Sh

effield

(Au

tho

r, 20

14

)

Figu

re 8

: G

lass

fac

ades

in R

ott

erd

am, H

olla

nd

pro

vid

ing

self

su

rvei

llan

ce (

Au

tho

r, 2

01

5).

Figu

re 9

: Si

mp

le y

et e

ffec

tive

fac

ades

at

Ro

ck-

ingh

am S

tree

t Q

par

k, S

heffi

eld

(A

uth

or,

20

15

). Design Principles

Public Space: Aelbrecht (2009) states how public spaces have become only places to

move in, and not to be in, a problem of modern society. By incorporating high quali-

ty public space within the development will allow for a greater mix of social interac-

tion within many social groups. Carmona (2010) states how a permeable design will

also allow for a greater social interaction, therefore offering long term sustainability

to the development.

Mixed Use: B1 office space will be the main use, although the remaining 50% of floor space will feature a rich

mix of residential (C3), restaurants and cafes (A3), retail, (A1) and leisure (D2), providing a vibrant atmosphere.

Active Frontages: To avoid privatisation, ground floors shall offer active frontages to engage with the user and

provide a positive and non exclusive experience. This shall provide a self surveillance of the area, strengthened

via a mixed use development active upon late at night. Frontages shall also be set back from the road side to

provide a relaxed and loose atmosphere (Franck, 2007), whilst also allowing for café culture to flourish in good

weather.

Accessibility: The site is a key pedestrian route between Kelham Island and the City Centre, there any develop-

ment should provide a inviting permeable layout and meet Lynch’s (1960) key principle of legibility.

Landmark: The southern tip of the site is set out as a land mark and a gateway to the City Centre in the West

Bar IPG (2006). The development should seek to maintain and enhance this, as a result extending the City Cen-

tre Core.

Innovative Urban Design: Innovative design will help to enhance the southern tip of the site as a landmark. To

achieve this, the proposed design possesses a uniqueness such as figure 10. Using glass allows for natural light

to dominate, something with great important with climate change. Although the surroundings must be taken

into account and the design scale, massing and rhythm should be appropriate.

IPG Key Principals

Extending City Centre Core

Urban Character & density

Mixed Use

Integrated Development

Design Quality

Sustainable

Evolution

From the earliest stage of this development, accessibility has been

a key design principle. Therefore all design options have revolved

around the shape in figure 14, which portrays the most accessible

and permeable land use pattern from the junction of Bridge Street

and West Bar Road, the gateway to the city centre.

Figure 15 shows the stages of evolution increasing permeability in

accordance to figure 14. Three design options were then finalised

which all underwent financial appraisal testing to determine their

profit margins and subsequently their financial viability.

All three design options possessed a high profit above 34% and

had their own unique design qualities. The use of a basic 3D dia-

gram, as seen to the left, presents a representation of the scale

and massing of the designs options.

All three design options orientate around a central courtyard which

is highly visible from the focal point at the south of the site. In all

designs there is a strong presence of greenspace, something which

vertical development has allowed

over lateral development.

It was decided that option 3 was the

preferred design, although certain

aspects of options 1 and 2 would be

combined into the final design, this

can be seen in figure 16.

Figure 15: Design Evolution to increase permeability within the courtyard and Northern dwelling via the ground floor with predicted footfall patterns.

Initial Design Options

1 2 3

Figure 16: Design options 1-3 with key strengths and weaknesses. (Author, 2015).

Figure 14: Key design principle.

L shape dwelling provides space infront.

High sense of enclosure in courtyard.

Southern focal point/landmark.

Lack of public space in courtyard.

Innovative landmark Northern dwelling.

Dense southern dwelling, enclosure.

After a detailed financial appraisal and multiple stages of

design evolution, a final design proposal has been estab-

lished.

The final proposal has been designed to enhance the sites

strengths, tackle the key issues identified and respond to

the design principles. The final design proposal can be seen

within the design sheets, in the next section of the report.

Justification

Mixed Use: Office floor space accounts for 54% of the de-

velopments total gross floorspace which meets the criteria

set out by the West Bar IPG. A breakdown of floorspace can

been seen in figure 18.

Active Frontages: The ground floor has been allocated to

retail, leisure and restaurants & cafes to create a positive

and active frontage. Apartments have been allocated to the

top floor, being the most private land use, whilst offices are

Site Area and Proposed

Uses

Gross Floorspace (sq m) Percentage

Option 2 %

Site Area 8,643

Apartments 2,580 13%

Offices 10,690 54%

Restaurants and Cafes 2,500 12%

Retail 1,510 8%

Leisure 510 3%

Multi-story Carpark 2,370 10%

Total Gross Floorspace 19,660

Absolute Profit £11,596,207

Percentage on Costs 39.69%

Figure 17: Anatomical analysis (Author, 2015). Figure 18: Break down of floor space use (Author, 2015). located on floors 1,2, and 3 to meet the 50% guidelines set

out via the West Bar IPG.

Landmark: The proposed design possesses stepped levels

within the Eastern and Western facades, as seen in figure

19. This allows natural light to prevail. As well as fundamen-

tally creating a landmark within the site, whilst extending

the City Centre Core as set out via Sheffield City Council

(2006) in the West Bar IPG.

Innovative Facades: Although the prominence of this land-

mark has also benefited from innovative facades. The strong

steel presence portrays Sheffield’s heritage, while the glass

facades represent a high quality office development, whilst

also providing a large degree of self surveillance within the

surrounding realm. These are consistent and match the sur-

rounding office development to the East of Bridge Street.

Legibility: The Southern green corridor running to the well

landscaped courtyard increases the degree of legibility with-

in the site. Trees, benches and water features have been

strategically placed to guide the user through the site, which

lead to the centre of the courtyard (focal point), allowing

unplanned social activities to flourish (Jacob’s, 1961).

Public Space: The well landscaped U-shape courtyard pro-

vides a semi-enclosed area, preventing noise population

from Bridge Street. Love Street has also been semi-

pedestrianised adapted into a one way street, acting as a

entrance to the multi storey carpark and preventing the

road being used as a rat run. The ground floor facades offer

soft edges (figure **) with high spatial porosity allowing

cafes gardens within the courtyard (Thwaites, 2013).

Accessibility: Bentley et al state the need for a “number of

alternative routes through the environment “ (1985, p.10) in

developments. Figure 15 on page 5 shows the evolution of

the courtyards permeability. By adding the three cut-

throughs into the ground floor, the permeability and ac-

cessibility of the courtyard is increased dramatically, with

four separate dwellings on the ground floor built upon

above, the U-shaped courtyard remains.

Amount: The design evolution and financial appraisals al-

lowed for the correct balance between public space and

dwellings to be identified. Without a well designed realm,

the dwellings are useless. Vertical development over lat-

eral development allows for a high gross floor space and

therefore good profits and viability, whilst providing

enough space to create a well landscaped courtyard

(Tallon, 2010). The stepped edges reduce the sense of en-

closure (figure 19) and also provide more green space in

the form of roof gardens.

Figure 19: Stepped edges reduce sense of enclosure and

provide further green space via roof gardens (Author, 2015).

45m

Entrances

Service Areas

Active Frontage

Traffic Direction

Apartments

Offices

Restaurants & Cafes

Retail

Car Parking

Green Space

Hard Landscaping

Trees

Water Fountain

Benches

Cut Through’s

1*1380m2

The Numbers annotated on the block represents the floor space.

E.g: 1*1380m2 means 1 floor at 1380m2 gross per floor.

1*1380m2

1*1

869m

2 3*2,200m

2

1*493m2

2*6

60

m2

3*790m2

Southern Dwelling Northern Dwelling

Love Street

Restaurants, Cafes and Retail.

Office

Office

Pedestrianised Walkway to Plum Street

Office

Apartments

Gym and Retail

Office

Office

Apartments

Location of Section 1

Location of Section 2

Bridge Street Courtyard

Love Street

Multi Story Carpark Northern Dwelling

Office

Office

Apartments

Restaurants, Cafes and Retail

Office

Figure 21

Section 1 - 1:500

Section 1: The Eastern façade, looking out to-

wards Bridge Street.

Section 2: Diagonal cross section of the courtyard

and multi story carpark.

Section 2 - 1:500

Figure 22: Illustration of the whole site from left to right: Water fountain

encompassed by public green space, acting as a focal point, which leads

into Northern Courtyard, whilst passing Sainsbury's Local and Pure Gym

on the ground floor.

Figure 24: The southern area provides high quality greenspace in a district where it is lacking.

Figure 25: Northern courtyard with soft edges and active frontages

surrounded by high quality urban landscaping.

Figure 23: The site is extremely accessible and legible from the Junction

of Bridge Street and West Bar Road, as set out in figure 14 on page 5.

Figure 26: Area outside southern dwelling offers

further seating, via a water feature and greenspace.

Figure 27: Looking westwards down the pedestri-

anised Love Street to the multi story carpark, with

innovative facades inspired by figure 9 on page 4.

“Creative mixed use office development integrated with apartments, retail and leisure orientated around

a mature courtyard encompassed by high urban quality green landscapes. Improved connectively to the

City Centre and Kelham Island via a innovative landmark stepped glass façade courtyard, creating a

distinguishable district within the City Centre.”

Academic References:

Bentley , L. (1985) Responsive Environments: A Manual for Designers. London: The Architectural Press Ltd.

Carmona, M. (2010) Public Place-Urban Spaces: The Dimensions of Urban Design. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd. Cullen, G. (1971) The Concise Townscape. New York: Routledge.

Franck, K. A. (2007) Loose Space: Possibility and Diversity in Urban Life. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Jacobs, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities, United Kingdom: Penguin Books.

Lynch, k. (1960) The City Image and Its Elements. The Image of the city. Massachusetts: MIT Press, pp. 46-90.

Sheffield City Council (2006) West Bar Interim Planning Guidance. Available at: <https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/planning-and-city-development/planning-documents/masterplans/city-centre

-masterplans-and-reports/west-bar-interim-planning-guidance.html> [Accessed: 25/04/2015]

Tallon, A. (2010) Urban regeneration in the UK. London: Routledge.

Thwaites, K (2013) Socially restorative Urbanism: The Theory, Process and Practice of Experiments, London: Routledge.

Figures Not By The Author:

Figure 1: West Bar Interim Planning Guidance. Available at: <https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/planning-and-city-development/planning-documents/masterplans/city-centre-masterplans-and-

reports/west-bar-interim-planning-guidance.html> [Accessed: 25/04/2015]

Figure 10: CBRE Available at: <http://www.commerciallistings.cbre.co.uk/> [Accessed: 08/05/2015]