Ten Sheffield beautiful buildings

[taxman]

Globe Works on Penistone Road, Butcher Works on Arundel Street, Eye Witness Works on Milton Street…these are great buildings and unique to Sheffield.

I also like the Arts Tower. And, not a building as such but the grand stone houses climbing up and down the hills in areas like Brincliffe, Nether Edge, Broomhill are lovely.

 

I like the Arts Tower as well. Poorly designed (ever tried walking between it and the library when it's windy?) but iconic and dramatic...and it has a paternoster.

[greeni]

ha, yes that is true, i was once blown off my bike there!

[AndrewC]

The wind tunnel effect is a problem, but it's a beautiful building viewed from a distance, especially since it got it's external overhaul and especially if viewing the slimmer side, from the Lower Don Valley.

[Guest]

...By the way, OP, are you still deciding which ten you would choose? ...

Stuff, plus the bank holiday long weekend, intervened before I had a chance to have much of a think about my list.

 

In no particular order:

 

Central library

The Lyceum

The City Hall

The Town Hall

Cutlers' Hall

The glasshouses in the Botanical Gardens

Weston Park Museum and Mappin Art Gallery

Fitzalan Square post office building

These buildings

This building

 

ETA: And the Mappin Building should be on that list too.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Guest

[blowfealt]

The most beautiful for me is, without a doubt, the mosque at Heeley Bottom. And before anyone asks or comments, no I don't worship at that or any other mosque as I'm Catholic.

 

I agree - totally, hagardriley . No matter what religion, craftsmanship/Artistic ability should be universally appreciated.

 

Look closely at the work that has gone into the mosque - the columns are particularly impressive, the way the bricks have been laid to spiral upwards is reminiscent of Victorian architecture - a skill I thought had been lost forever.

 

The whole thing has been carefully designed and built to complement its surroundings and immediate community - something that cannot be said for most of the monstrosities that have sprung forth from the city of late. How so many of them have gained local authority approval beggars belief, it really does.

[andingmen]

I have found it really interesting comparing this thread with the thread about the ugliest building in Sheffield:-

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1420608

 

and the thread in the History/Expats section about now-demolished buildings that you'd like to see rebuilt:-

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1421345

 

It just goes to prove the old saying about "beauty is in the eye....etc"

 

I can't help wondering though that some of the ugliest building people have quoted might not, in later years, be looked back on with rather more affection than is now the case.

I'm thinking, for example, of the Grosvenor Hotel which I think is a classic example of sixties architecture and even the "Eggbox" which, has to be admitted was a unique and striking design.

Each to their own, I guess.

[AndrewC]

The whole thing has been carefully designed and built to complement its surroundings and immediate community - something that cannot be said for most of the monstrosities that have sprung forth from the city of late. How so many of them have gained local authority approval beggars belief, it really does.

 

Two things spring to mind:

 

Money: Developers build for profit. Most non-civic buildings have almost always historically been built for profit, but I think now more than ever developers want to squeeze as much as they can out of their prjects, and one of the first cost savings is the quality of the aesthetic design. Obviously some design quality has to remain - few people will pay any decent money to live in a complete monster - but generally speaking I think without control, developers will chuck up anything regardless of how it looks. Which brings me on to point 2:

 

Planning Control: I don't necessarily even think it's that SCC's planners aren't good at their jobs (remember planning is a red-tape nightmare, dictation on the rules comes from above their heads), but SCC as a whole has a weak reputation amongst developers, and more to the point, Sheffield is a city with an economy which does not attract really high-end developments, and it's very much a case of beggars can't be choosers. Some stronger economies (Manchester, Leeds etc.) can tell developers to go and have a rethink with more certainty and financial stability than perhaps Sheffield can. SCC would be right to think that sending a developer away might lead to them not coming back, rather than improving their proposal.

 

 

That's not always a guarantee of quality though; Leeds for example, despite it's economic strength has several absolutely beastly buildings on it's skyline, but it also benefits from some beautiful and innovative new buildings too.

[soft ayperth]

I'd have to go with the Cathedral and the old court house (shame it's not being preserved)

[Detetcive]

Great review of Sheffield's buildings here.

 

The glazed brick buildings (Bachelor's factory?) at the top of the Wicker are included here and are sublime...the Royal Exchange Buildings

[blowfealt]

Another ten, if I may ( see post #10 for my previous thoughts):-

 

By the way, OP, are you still deciding which ten you would choose?

 

Hi andingmen, I have decided on three so far - the Green mosque on Wolseley Rd. the substation near where Lancaster Europa used to be, and the old Grosvenor hotel. All very different, yet equally beautiful. Seven more to come - soon.

 

Out of curiosity, andingmen - how did you know my initials are OP?