3.2 Urban Form and City Skyline

Recommendations on Tall Buildings for Sheffield

The recommendations for tall buildings in Sheffield address the location and design of new tall buildings, as well as the removal or re-use of existing tall buildings. These recommendations have been informed by the detailed urban design analysis of Sheffield undertaken for the Compendium and the CABE and English Heritage Guidance on Tall Buildings.

City wide considerations

• Proposals for tall buildings must be considered on a city-wide basis. This will require assessment in terms of the impact that may result upon the city centre as a whole, as well as individual site conditions.
  
  
• Additional tall buildings in Sheffield must be introduced selectively. This will maximise opportunities to create new landmark structures and make a positive contribution to the city’s urban form and image.
  
  
• The advantages of tall buildings, such as concentrating activity within a specific area, need to be considered against broader regeneration objectives for the city centre. Refurbishing and reusing the existing vacant space could enable the positive flow-on effects of regeneration to be spread more evenly throughout the city centre.
  
  
• Detailed urban design analysis must be undertaken for each proposal or development site which is under consideration for a tall building. This must include a thorough analysis of the siting and design of the building, and its potential impacts in both the immediate and broader contexts. Architectural models and three dimensional drawings should be used to gain an accurate understanding of:
  - how the building will appear in the streetscape;
  - how it will relate to other structures and landmarks;
  - how the building will shape the city’s skyline;
  - whether it will impede any important views from, to or within the city centre.
  
  
• The appropriate height and location for tall buildings in Sheffield will ultimately depend upon how each proposal satisfies overall the design standards and land use planning considerations, as set out below.

Location

• The detailed urban design analysis of the preceding sections has identified appropriate locations for tall buildings in Sheffield, which are indicated on the map opposite. These sites have been selected as they fulfil one or several of the following functions:
  - define gateway sites;
  - mark an area or site of civic importance;
  - mark a principle activity node within the city centre, such as the NRQ;
  - form the focal points of vistas.
  
  
• This map also identifies important local landmarks and the areas surrounding them which are considered to be more sensitive to proposals for tall buildings. Within these areas, tall buildings should possibly be avoided.

Tall buildings as landmarks

• Tall buildings can play a positive part in the design of the city centre by marking places of civic, commercial or cultural importance, or focal points of activity such as major gateways to the city centre.
  
  
• The Sheffield skyline could be redefined by a number of landmark tall buildings, over 15 storeys in height, such as the proposed tower of the New Retail Quarter. Such buildings must be striking in their form and design and serve to distinguish the skyline as unique to Sheffield.
  
  
• Tall buildings will fail to perform a landmark function if their use is indiscriminate or too widespread.

Click on the plan to enlarge it.

The wider context

• The impact of a tall building upon the skyline, and the overall composition of built form within the city, should be analysed and assessed through the use of architectural montages.
  
  
• Given the flattening effect that tall buildings have had on Sheffield’s skyline, tall buildings should be clustered in higher parts of the city, above the 75m contour level.
  
  
• Tall buildings should only be permitted at a limited number of strategic sites in lower lying areas, such as Sheaf Square or Park Hill roundabout.
  
  
• Tall buildings should be located so that internal vistas to important focal points or views out to the surrounding countryside are not impeded.
  
  
• The location and design of tall or larger scale buildings will potentially have an impact upon the visibility of landmarks. Within areas of closed proximity to landmarks, as identified on the map opposite, the effect that a tall building may have upon the prominence or visibility of a landmark will be a consideration.
  
  
• Tall buildings have the potential to irrevocably change the urban grain of a part of the city.

Tall buildings located on a hill will accentuate the topography

Tall buildings located in the valley will tend to flatten the topography

The local environment

• A tall building must make a positive contribution to the appearance and activity of the streetscape and not detract from the pedestrian experience at their base.
  
  
• At ground level, the detailed design and function of a tall building must be in scale with its immediate environment and contribute to the ‘sense of place’.
  
  
• It is important that the ground floor uses of tall buildings are compatible with the activity of the street and the locale.
  
  
• Tall buildings should aid in the permeability of their context by allowing through-block pedestrian connections.
  
  
• Tall buildings can better integrate with their surrounds by providing internal or external spaces for public access such as parks, cafes, shops, thoroughfares etc.
  
  
• Particular attention must be paid to the impact a tall building may have upon adjacent heritage sites or areas of special urban character.
  
  
• Additionally, the impact that a tall building may have upon natural features, such as waterways or landscapes, or public spaces is also an important consideration.
  
  
• Microclimate impacts such as the creation of wind tunnels or overshadowing must also be considered.

Architectural Quality

• Of importance in the design of tall buildings is the form, profile and massing of the building, particularly in the roof line, as these elements will create its silhouette on the city’s skyline.
  
• The design of tall buildings should be striking and distinctive so that they become identifiable landmarks on the skyline.
  
• It is recommended that tall buildings are slender in form and proportion having a vertical emphasis to its overall mass. Tall buildings, which are slab like in form and proportion, will not be acceptable.
  
• If a tall building is part of a larger complex then it is important to have sufficient contrast between adjacent building heights to maintain emphasis on the taller element.
  
• Also important are the treatment of facades and the colour and reflectivity of building materials.

Sustainability

• Environmentally sustainable design techniques should be incorporated in the site layout and orientation of the building, as well as the material specification.
  
  
• Tall buildings should be designed with adequate flexibility so that the structure can be converted to an alternative use in the future, should the need arise.

Transport

• Tall buildings should be located near, or have good connections to, transport nodes.
  
  
• Parking for tall buildings should be provided in such a way that conflict does not occur between pedestrians and vehicles at street level. It should be designed so that it doesn’t detract from the building’s streetscape appearance.

Existing Tall Buildings

In applying the above recommendations to existing tall buildings in Sheffield it is evident that there are many which do not meet the current standards of location, design or function. The urban design analysis of the city centre has clearly shown that many tall buildings in Sheffield significantly detract from the quality of the city’s urban environment.

Where a building has reached the end of its life span, or is no longer a functionally or economically viable asset, an opportunity is presented to remove the structure or to remodel it. This is an issue which will be facing many of the buildings in Sheffield which were constructed during the 1960s and 1970s.

A tall building which is to be removed can be replaced with a building which better responds to the immediate and wider context. The recommendations for tall buildings will indicate whether replacement with a building of a similar height is appropriate, or whether a smaller scale structure would be a more appropriate response.

Buildings can be given a new lease of life through remodelling and relatively simple measures such as:

• recladding with a material of a more contemporary appearance, a different colour or reflectivity;
  
• addition of upper floors to change the profile of a building;
  
• removal or obscuring of unsightly services;
  
• introducing active uses at the ground floor to create a connection with the streetscape;
  
• landscaping of the grounds to improve streetscape appearance;
  
• internal conversion to allow a change of use, for example from office to residential.

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