Part of our series on Sheffield’s best neighbourhoods, which started when Time Out named Crookes one of the UK’s coolest.
Step out of Sheffield station, look up the hill, and there it is: Park Hill, the long concrete deck-access estate that has watched over the city since the early 1960s. It is one of the most recognisable buildings in Britain, Grade II* listed, and after years of redevelopment it is turning into one of the most interesting corners of Sheffield.
Streets in the sky
Park Hill was built with wide decks, or “streets in the sky”, so that neighbours could still meet outside their front doors. Milk floats once ran along them. The estate’s story, from its optimistic beginnings through decline and renewal, became the musical Standing at the Sky’s Edge, set to Richard Hawley’s songs, which started at the Crucible and went on to the National Theatre and the West End, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical.
Look out for the famous “I love you will u marry me” graffiti on one of the bridges, now picked out in neon and one of the most photographed messages in the city.
A short history
Park Hill was designed by the young architects Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith for Sheffield City Council and completed in 1961, replacing crowded back-to-back housing on the slope above the station. It was hugely ambitious: around a thousand homes, with shops, pubs and a school, linked by the decks. By the 1980s and 1990s the estate had declined badly, but in 1998 it was listed at Grade II*, making it one of the largest listed buildings in Europe. Redevelopment by Urban Splash began in the 2000s, stripping the blocks back to their concrete frame and refilling them with bright coloured panels, and the first refurbished block was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in 2013.
Art, food and the view
The redeveloped blocks now mix flats with workspaces, studios and food. S1 Artspace is making its new home on the estate, and the walk up from the station through the Sheaf Square fountains and up the hill rewards you with one of the best views back over the city centre. Sheffield is a city of hills and views, and this is the one most visitors see first.
Even if you are only passing through on the train, it is worth ten minutes. Walk up, look back, and you can see most of the city laid out below: the station, the Cutting Edge steel sculpture in Sheaf Square, the universities on the far hill and the moors beyond. It explains Sheffield better than any map.
Park Hill today
The estate is a mix of old and new. Some blocks are fully refurbished and others are still being worked on, with council tenants, private owners, students and businesses sharing the same decks. Walking the streets in the sky now, you get a sense of what the architects hoped for: kids on bikes, neighbours chatting, and a view at every turn. It is not finished, and the debate about who the new Park Hill is for still goes on, but it is one of the most fascinating places to visit in the city.
What is on in Park Hill
Coming up in Park Hill
Nothing here yet – check back soon.
Getting there
Park Hill is directly above Sheffield railway station and the Sheffield Station tram stop, so it is the easiest neighbourhood in this series to reach. Walk up from the station along the path to the estate, or ride the tram one stop to Park Grange Croft. Area details are on the Park Hill area page.