Moorfoot Building To Be Flats What Peoples Thoughts?

[crookesey]

I recall the days when folk working in or close to the city centre spent good money on living a good distance away from it. The current state of the city centre is hardly likely to attract good money into this building.

[Bargepole23]

4 hours ago, crookesey said:

I recall the days when folk working in or close to the city centre spent good money on living a good distance away from it. The current state of the city centre is hardly likely to attract good money into this building.

And yet developers are still happy to build new accommodation blocks in the city centre, and convert old buildings to living accommodation.

[HeHasRisen]

Just now, Bargepole23 said:

And yet developers are still happy to build new accommodation blocks in the city centre, and convert old buildings to living accommodation.

Its as if the old farts on this forum are talking out of their rears, isnt it?

[Irene Swaine]

15 hours ago, crookesey said:

I recall the days when folk working in or close to the city centre spent good money on living a good distance away from it. The current state of the city centre is hardly likely to attract good money into this building.

In 1967, the boundaries of Sheffield were expanded and the now suburbs of Hackenthorpe, Mosborough, Halfway, High Green and Stannington became popular with families. 

 

New build estates, such as the Owlthorpe Estate in the early 2000s and the Thorncliffe Estate (Chapeltown) offered people a slice of country living with easy access to the city centre and many who were able to get mortgages moved out on to these estates from Gleadless, Birley, Parson Cross and Southey respectively.

[Jammin92]

New to the forum and really insightful to see everyone's views on the Moorfoot building.

The Moorfoot building (which my Dad still calls the 'Manpower building') has always been a key symbol of Sheffield for me. From my earliest memories, its silhouette has graced the city centre's skyline. I firmly believe it should continue to stand tall, but with a renewed purpose.

 

Doing nothing and indecisiveness is definitely not an option with the Moorfoot as the upkeep is costing Sheffield City Council hundreds of thousands!!! which could be reinvested into other services that are crying out for investment.  It is promising to see the draft plans that have been submitted to government showing positive intentions that the Moorfoot building is to be redeveloped into residential with aspects of retail/commercial. There is now more emphasis on it being the gateway building into the city centre and this should happen by re-opening the passageway that runs underneath and connecting up with Ecclesall Road/London Road. Its is quite concerning they feel that over circa 700 apartments can be created in the 297,000 Sq. Ft. building, the number is more than likely 350 to 400 apartments as they have not accounted for loss of space from conversion of older office blocks, unless they anticipate to build more rabbit hutches as student accommodation then the number would be 700+, but we probably have enough student accommodation in construction around the city centre and multiple Student HMO's within close proximity. 

 

What we really need is to revive the high street and the Moor area and this can only be done by bringing people closer to the city centre and the Moorfoot as a residential space provides a golden opportunity to increase footfall drastically. We all know that a lot of visitors are deterred to visit the city centre due to lack of parking amenities and rising costs of parking- many opt to visit Meadowhall for this purpose. However, if the high street can have their customers at their doorstep it would be a no brainer. 

 

It has been mentioned to flatten the building and build towers this is firstly not feasible without the cost of the apartments construction being so high it would mean the sale and rental values would outprice the local community. Unfortunately this is a common story like many other large new build developments in major city centres have been sold off to foreign investors or occupied by individuals with a high turnover rate losing the sense of a community.

 

Secondly, the CO2 impact from demolishing and rebuild is catastrophic to the environment this should be only carried out if the building is not structurally sound or the layout is not suitable. Fortunately the Moorfoot, looking through an aerial view, would lend itself well to conversion. The conversion element would suit our city as we are known as the greenest city in the UK, it is our opportunity to show the other Northern powerhouses like Manchester, Leeds etc. on how a landmark building can be repurposed and showcase its eco-credentials.

 

Many may think well no developer will be willing to carry this out or have the specialist experience, I say you would be surprised!😉 - plans are being drafted, concepts drawn and this building can be iconic, but this comes down to us locals from Sheffield demanding it and SCC choosing the right developer not a developer that has no connection or attachment to Sheffield and is chasing a quick buck. 

[Bargepole23]

14 minutes ago, Jammin92 said:

New to the forum and really insightful to see everyone's views on the Moorfoot building.

The Moorfoot building (which my Dad still calls the 'Manpower building') has always been a key symbol of Sheffield for me. From my earliest memories, its silhouette has graced the city centre's skyline. I firmly believe it should continue to stand tall, but with a renewed purpose.

 

Doing nothing and indecisiveness is definitely not an option with the Moorfoot as the upkeep is costing Sheffield City Council hundreds of thousands!!! which could be reinvested into other services that are crying out for investment.  It is promising to see the draft plans that have been submitted to government showing positive intentions that the Moorfoot building is to be redeveloped into residential with aspects of retail/commercial. There is now more emphasis on it being the gateway building into the city centre and this should happen by re-opening the passageway that runs underneath and connecting up with Ecclesall Road/London Road. Its is quite concerning they feel that over circa 700 apartments can be created in the 297,000 Sq. Ft. building, the number is more than likely 350 to 400 apartments as they have not accounted for loss of space from conversion of older office blocks, unless they anticipate to build more rabbit hutches as student accommodation then the number would be 700+, but we probably have enough student accommodation in construction around the city centre and multiple Student HMO's within close proximity. 

 

What we really need is to revive the high street and the Moor area and this can only be done by bringing people closer to the city centre and the Moorfoot as a residential space provides a golden opportunity to increase footfall drastically. We all know that a lot of visitors are deterred to visit the city centre due to lack of parking amenities and rising costs of parking- many opt to visit Meadowhall for this purpose. However, if the high street can have their customers at their doorstep it would be a no brainer. 

 

It has been mentioned to flatten the building and build towers this is firstly not feasible without the cost of the apartments construction being so high it would mean the sale and rental values would outprice the local community. Unfortunately this is a common story like many other large new build developments in major city centres have been sold off to foreign investors or occupied by individuals with a high turnover rate losing the sense of a community.

 

Secondly, the CO2 impact from demolishing and rebuild is catastrophic to the environment this should be only carried out if the building is not structurally sound or the layout is not suitable. Fortunately the Moorfoot, looking through an aerial view, would lend itself well to conversion. The conversion element would suit our city as we are known as the greenest city in the UK, it is our opportunity to show the other Northern powerhouses like Manchester, Leeds etc. on how a landmark building can be repurposed and showcase its eco-credentials.

 

Many may think well no developer will be willing to carry this out or have the specialist experience, I say you would be surprised!😉 - plans are being drafted, concepts drawn and this building can be iconic, but this comes down to us locals from Sheffield demanding it and SCC choosing the right developer not a developer that has no connection or attachment to Sheffield and is chasing a quick buck. 

I would love to see this brought into residential use, and not knocked down, its an iconic Sheffield building, and if it was knocked down, what would be built in its place. Certainly the upper floors and the various roof levels look ideal for garden flats with outdoor space, and are built around an enclosed open space. 

 

The bottom floor (floors?) look to be a problem though, the floorplate is very deep, fine for offices, less fine for accommodation, having rooms far from the outside walls means no windows.

 

Thats about the limit of my architectural knowledge though, so hopefully whoever is working on this scheme, if it is a scheme, has a few tricks up their sleeve.

 

Hopefully an increase in local footfall would drive improvements to the Moorfoot area.

[Baron99]

2 hours ago, Bargepole23 said:

I would love to see this brought into residential use, and not knocked down, its an iconic Sheffield building, and if it was knocked down, what would be built in its place. Certainly the upper floors and the various roof levels look ideal for garden flats with outdoor space, and are built around an enclosed open space. 

 

The bottom floor (floors?) look to be a problem though, the floorplate is very deep, fine for offices, less fine for accommodation, having rooms far from the outside walls means no windows.

 

Thats about the limit of my architectural knowledge though, so hopefully whoever is working on this scheme, if it is a scheme, has a few tricks up their sleeve.

 

Hopefully an increase in local footfall would drive improvements to the Moorfoot area.

My bold. 

I worked in Moorfoot for a number of years.  The open space in the very middle was supposed to be an enclosed area where staff could sit outside. 

 

The only problem is that given the design, even the slightest breeze blowing over the open centre at the top of the building many floors above, resulted in a whirlwind effect down the whole length. 

 

The only thing you could see was rubbish blowing around it & the odd pigeon or seagull trying to fight their way out. 

 

The windows, which lend a bit of character to the iconic design of the building would also have to go.  They don't let in much light.  The lights were on most of the day. 

[Vrsaljko]

I worked at Moorfoot between 2005 and 2008. I'm no expert on redeveloping buildings, but I don't see how it could be turned into flats/apartments without changing the structure of the building. The floors are laid out in such a weird way and snake around the building with lots of nooks and crannies.

[Baron99]

1 minute ago, Vrsaljko said:

I worked at Moorfoot between 2005 and 2008. I'm no expert on redeveloping buildings, but I don't see how it could be turned into flats/apartments without changing the structure of the building. The floors are laid out in such a weird way and snake around the building with lots of nooks and crannies.

My bold. 

 

I think it was every even numbered floor you could walk right round & end up back where you started.  The odd numbered floors, you ended up getting stopped at a window looking at where you started about 20ft away, meaning had to retrace your steps back to your desk. 

[Vrsaljko]

1 minute ago, Baron99 said:

My bold. 

 

I think it was every even numbered floor you could walk right round & end up back where you started.  The odd numbered floors, you ended up getting stopped at a window looking at where you started about 20ft away, meaning had to retrace your steps back to your desk. 

What I mean is that it's not a square or rectangle shaped building where you have corridors with square shaped rooms off them, which would be ideal to turn into flats. When you walk around the floors there's a main path you walk on with maybe ten feet either side up to the windows. I don't see how you'd be able to keep a corridor around the floor and build new rooms either side, as each floor is quite narrow.

 

Another thing is that the building was always way too hot in summer and too cold in winter. Maybe that's changed since I left in 2008 though.