Brutalism in Sheffield

The remaining five towers, named Bankwood, Handbank, Newfield, Parkfield and Pemberton, each have thirteen floors, containing 48 one-bedroom apartments and rising to heights of 41 m (135 ft).

The Gleadless Valley blocks were completed between 1955 and 1962[4] by a consortium consisting of H. Dernie Construction and direct municipal labour groups belonging to what was then the Sheffield County Borough Council.

Following the completion of the Gleadless Valley development, which also included surrounding low-rise housing, the buildings were described as state-of-the-art and the jewel in the crown of the local council for their unusual construction.

This resulted in the unveiling of a local master plan in late 2018, which received £500,000 in central government funding for the refurbishment of the Gleadless Valley blocks of flats in early 2019.

The maisonettes surrounding Hanover House were refurbished around the same time, with external concrete panels being repainted blue, green, orange, red, maroon, lilac or terracotta to differentiate each block.

Replacement cladding, identical in visual design but now passing fire safety tests, was applied to the building from April 2019 onwards, restoring Hanover House to its pre-Grenfell appearance by the start of 2020.

[9] When built, there were three towers on this site, named Leighton, Morland and Raeburn and receiving the nickname The Three Sisters due to their prominent location on a hill overlooking the city.

Morland was subsequently extended in height to 55 m (180 ft) by virtue of the placement of a rooftop radio antenna, becoming the second-tallest building in Sheffield when completed in 1959; as of June 2020, it is now the tenth-tallest, and the only remaining brutalist tower block in this article within the top 10.

The remaining twin towers were leased from the council to Places for People as private housing and subsequently refurbished in 1998, after suffering from decades of damp and draught problems due to poor construction.

Much of the Hyde Park estate fell into deprivation in the 1980s following the collapse of the local steel and coal industries and subsequent economic downturn and population flight from Sheffield.

The three towers are named Gregory, Keating and Wiggen, each consisting of sixteen storeys, containing 56 two-bedroom apartments each and rising to a total height of 43 m (141 ft).

Construction of the four tower blocks at Netherthorpe was carried out directly by Sheffield City Council municipal labour organisations, commencing in 1960 and completing in 1962.

Developer Urban Splash subsequently purchased the Park Hill flats from Sheffield City Council in 2006, and started an ambitious refurbishment project in 2009.

Subsequently, the three towers were extensively refurbished by Sheffield City Council between 1988 and 1990, gaining their present red-brick cladding covering the previous concrete structure.

[17][18] Construction of the complex at Upperthorpe commenced in 1958 through building contractor Tersons Ltd., who later became part of the British Insulated Callender's Cables company, on behalf of Sheffield City Council.

There are seven identical tower blocks at Upperthorpe, sited in a line on the south side of Martin Street and demarcating the northern edge of the Ponderosa park.

In terms of design, the development at Broomhall can be thought of as a condensed version of the Park Hill estate, as they were both built to the same streets in the sky philosophy with deck access to properties.

The Claywood complex was a set of three tall tower blocks located on the hillside rising to the immediate east of Sheffield City Centre, at the northern edge of the Park Grange suburb.

The Jordanthorpe estate, including surrounding low-rise housing and maisonette blocks, was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s on land acquired by Sheffield City Council by compulsory purchase from neighbouring Derbyshire, and subsequently annexed into the territory of the West Riding of Yorkshire.

The three towers at Jordanthorpe were built by Wimpey Homes of an identical design to those at Pye Bank, now also demolished, and Stannington, which still exist albeit now in a heavily refurbished state.

Very soon after completion, as with the Wimpey-built towers at Pye Bank and Stannington, problems with heating, draughts and damp became evident due to the wide-scale use of Wimpey no-fines concrete in their construction.

The condition of the towers eventually deteriorated until Ramsey and Rhodes were condemned at the turn of the 21st century, before being demolished in October 2001 by controlled explosion as part of the council's stock reduction plan.

[24] Construction of the two thirteen-storey blocks at Kelvin, containing a total of 948 dwellings, was carried out by the direct municipal labour groups of Sheffield City Council and was completed in 1967.

[24] The Kelvin complex became one of the most deprived areas of the city by the mid-1980s, following the decline of the local steel and coal industries, economic collapse and subsequent population flight away from Sheffield.

The area where the high-rises once stood is now occupied by Philadelphia Gardens, a late 1990s low-rise detached housing estate; one of the new streets is named Portland Court, after one of the former walks at Kelvin.

[25] The three towers at Lowedges were constructed between 1958 and 1959 on behalf of Sheffield City Council by Tersons Ltd., who later became part of the British Insulated Callender's Cables company.

The towers were generally located in clusters of two or three at a time, placed sporadically on the hillside rising southeast from the city centre and surrounded by contemporary low-rise housing; many of them were served by their own cul-de-sacs branching short distances away from Park Grange Road, the main thoroughfare.

[31] As they were all constructed directly by the council, the single Middlewood tower was most similar in basic layout and design to those at Netherthorpe, which still exist, albeit now in a heavily refurbished state.

The Pye Bank estate was designed by city architect J. L. Womersley and constructed by Wimpey Homes in the late 1950s and early 1960s, consisting of a mixture of low, mid and high-rise housing.

Just thirteen residences of the unique low-rise multi-dome terrace design remain standing as of June 2020: seven on Fox Street (in two blocks of four and three) and six in a single row on Pye Bank Road.