The Grade II* listed Park Hill estate is a landmark on the Sheffield skyline. Set in an extensive landscaped setting, it is the largest listed structure in Europe.
Specialist student accommodation developer Alumno commissioned the transformation of Park Hill by adding student housing to the site, a concept designed by local practice Whittam Cox Architects. The proposals were developed through extensive consultation with local stakeholders, Heritage England and students from Sheffield Hallam University (SHU).
Project Name: BÉTON House
Studio Name: Ben Kelly + Brinkworth
Interior design firms Ben Kelly Design and Brinkworth with Graphic Thought Facility collaborated to create a 13,956 sq m student accommodation facility. With ready-made accommodation units upstairs, a vast (but derelict) volume on the ground floor got transformed into a 650 sq m communal area, including a gym, cinema, private dining room, and study room.
The starting point for the design was the primary ‘Polychromie’ colour palette used by Le Corbusier, which was also found in a mosaic on the walls of the former Parkway Tavern pub. The team used it to offer a historical context: burnt orange, bottle green, scarlet, and mustard. These colours also help divide the open-plan spaces into zones (reception, lounges, seating booths, and study areas), bringing in a bit of Ben Kelly’s trademark palette while allowing the original concrete to sing.
This colour palette extends into the accommodation upstairs. Each room has a unique colour combination to provide a sense of individuality. Tatham Studio oversaw the design process of this element and designed specially commissioned, bespoke furniture and sourced some original Scandinavian pieces.
Renamed Béton House the project is the latest phase in the ongoing redevelopment of one of the UK’s most iconic post-war developments. It was completed in September 2020 and won Alumno the Developer of the Year 2020 title at the Property Week Student Accommodation Awards in December 2020.
London and Sheffield, 20 May 2019 – The transformation of Park Hill has taken another significant step forward. Specialist student accommodation developer Alumno has commenced work on Phase 3 of the redevelopment programme.
Alumno’s proposals comprise 74 unique townhouse style units to accommodate 356 new student residents, alongside further new commercial space for use by residents and the local community.
The proposals were developed in collaboration with local practice Whittam Cox Architects, and offer a range of living space in a format new to the student accommodation sector, that offers a wide range of choice and options. Alumno has engaged respected interior designer Ben Kelly Design (BKD) along with Brinkworth Design to deliver the shared community space for students.
The proposals were developed through extensive consultation with local stakeholders, Heritage England and students from Sheffield Hallam University (SHU).
Alumno is undertaking a thorough and sensitive refurbishment approach to ensure the historic character of the building is respected, including restoring the numerous bespoke mosaic panels across the block. The proposals will add a distinct yet complementary new neighbourhood to Sheffield, and will build on the work Urban Splash and Places for People has already achieved in reinvigorating Park Hill and making it a benchmark in regeneration and urban renewal.
Park Hill, set in an extensive landscaped setting, benefits from a fantastic location close to Sheffield City Centre and station. Students studying at SHU’s City Centre Campus will be the closest – just 5 minutes’ walk – whilst students from University of Sheffield (UoS) will enjoy direct tram services from Sheffield Hallam Station stop to the UoS main campus.
Sheffield’s iconic Brutalist development is the largest listed structure in Europe and a landmark on the Sheffield skyline. David Campbell, Managing Director of Alumno, said “This is a one-off and a blueprint project, and students interested in architecture and design are particularly excited about the prospect of living in a world-renowned architectural icon.”
Eighteen months in the making, Béton House is the latest phase in the ongoing redevelopment of one of the UK’s most iconic post-war developments, the Grade II* listed Park Hill estate in Sheffield. Developers Alumno has collaborated with interior design firms Ben Kelly Design and Brinkworth with Graphic Thought Facility to create a 13,956 sq m student accommodation facility due for completion in September 2020. The addition of student housing to the site is a concept that has been designed by local practice Whittam Cox Architects. The project will rekindle the original social intentions of Park Hill, give a new lease of life to an abandoned part of the development and reinvigorate the student-housing sector for the 21st century.
With ready-made accommodation units upstairs and a vast (but derelict) volume on the ground floor – ideal for creating an open-plan space for students to congregate in to hang out, socialise, eat and study – the building lent itself to the transformation.
Alumno brought in Ben Kelly of BK Design and Brinkworth to transform this 650 sq m of communal area, including a gym, cinema, private dining room, and study room. Tatham Studio worked on the accommodation on the floors above and Graphic Thought Facility’s Andrew Stevens to develop the signage. A Yorkshire native, Kelly first made his name designing the iconic Manchester nightclub, The Haçienda, in the early 1980s. Stevens was born in Sheffield and today teaches at Sheffield Hallam University. To work on such an essential architectural icon of the north of England was a privilege and a passion. “The whole development sits up there on the hill looking out over Sheffield and is quite an extraordinary thing,” says Kelly.
“I’ve known Park Hill estate since visits to Sheffield in the early 1990s and have sadly watched it deteriorate over time, so it was a real honour for me to be so involved with the resuscitation of this beautiful brute,” concurs Kevin Brennan, partner at Brinkworth. “Along with a stellar cast of architects, designers and, of course, working with David Campbell and his passion for modernism.”
Listed as the ‘northern capital of cool’ by The Times and the 7th most populous student city in Europe, Sheffield is a city built on learning. The ambition is that living in this icon will provide a more cultural side to student’s education. Says Ben Kelly: “If you look at it from a student’s point of view, they’re living in a very different building to the usual one. I like to think it might open their minds to society and to other ways of living – an extra part of their education”.
The starting point for the design was the primary ‘Polychromie’ colour palette used by Le Corbusier, which was also found in a mosaic on the walls of the former Parkway Tavern pub. The team used it to offer a historical context: burnt orange, bottle green, scarlet, and mustard.
These colours also help divide the open-plan spaces into zones (reception, lounges, seating booths, and study areas), bringing in a bit of Ben Kelly’s trademark palette while allowing the original concrete to sing. “To respect the integrity of the building, our approach was to tread very lightly to retain the building’s original features. Despite the difficult acoustics and thermal conditions in the common areas, we have developed a concept that pays tribute to the original vision to become a modern, functional environment”, says Brennan at Brinkworth.
This colour palette extends into the accommodation upstairs. Each room has a unique colour combination to provide a sense of individuality. Tatham Studio oversaw the design process of this element and designed specially commissioned, bespoke furniture and sourced some original Scandinavian pieces.
Graphic Thought Facility was responsible for the wayfinding of the building. The project was renamed Béton House (in respect of Béton brut, the French term for ‘raw concrete’ used in Modernism) and identified by new signs cast in ribbed and polished aggregate concretes.
