3.2 Urban Form and City Skyline

Landmarks

Landmarks aid in legibility, serving as visual references within a city or from external vantage points. Landmarks may act as focal points, terminating significant vistas or punctuating a sequence of spaces or movement corridors. Usually they will signify an important building, space or focus of activity.

Key landmarks in Sheffield are identified on the map on the preceding page:

• The spires and towers of the Town Hall, St. Marie’s Church, Victoria Hall are principal landmarks within the city centre.
  
• The Town Hall clocktower is an important focal point for a number of streets including Pinestone Street, Division Street, Leopold Street, the Moor and Fargate.
  
• The old Courthouse clock tower is a landmark within the Castlegate Quarter, and on the city skyline when viewed from the north.
  
• The spire of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul is a landmark structure within the Cathedral Quarter and on the Sheffield skyline.
  
• St. George’s Church tower is a landmark within the Sheffield University area and is the focal point for the vista along Portobello Street.
  
• The Sheffield University Arts Tower and Parkhill Flats are distinct modern landmarks;
  
• St. Vincent’s Church is principal landmark with the quarter.

These landmarks must be retained and enhanced. Careful attention must be paid to the siting and design of new development, particularly tall or large scale structures in close proximity to these landmarks, so that these important visual and spatial references are preserved.

New buildings should be sited and scaled so that they do not impede views to landmarks nor detract from the visual prominence of landmarks.

The visibility of landmarks on the skyline and as viewed from within the city must be taken into consideration.

Tall or large scale buildings must be carefully sited in relation to other landmarks to create a stimulating urban composition.

New landmarks can be created in strategic locations throughout the city centre to signify:

• gateway sites;
  
• focal points such as road junctions;
  
• activity nodes, such as the proposed tower in the New Retail Quarter;
  
• important buildings or spaces.

New landmarks can take many forms:

• a tall building;
  
• a highly contemporary or striking piece of architecture;
  
• a spire or tower;
  
• a major public artwork;
  
• an important building or space which is a focus of civic, community or commercial activity.

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