Sheffield Retail Quarter
| Published: 22nd August 2006 21:28 |
New Retail Quarter gets the go-ahead
Project overview
The £500m New Retail Quarter will create a superb shopping and leisure environment in the heart of the city with a mixture of uses, including a 25,000m2 John Lewis department store, around 100 new shops, up to 200 residential apartments, a health club and leisure facilities.
Located to the west of Pinstone Street, between Barkers Pool and Moorhead, the New Retail Quarter will cover a 20-acre site in the heart of Sheffield and will involve major re-design of this part of the city.
A new curved street will be created, running from Barkers Pool to Moorhead, provisionally named New Burgess Street. For this and other new parts of the city, architects from around the world will create striking, high quality streetscapes and buildings that set new standards in European retailing.
John Lewis Partnership will be relocated to the corner of Carver Street and Wellington Street. This will be next to a dramatic new covered square, which will link through to Cross Burgess Street and the Peace Gardens.
The design for the New Retail Quarter has already received a prestigious accolade. The architects for the scheme, Building Design Partnership (BDP), were awarded The Architectural Review Future Project: Mixed Use, Regeneration and Retail Award at MIPIM, the property industry's leading international conference and exhibition.
Timings
The NRQ is a long term project, with a considerable amount of planning, research and investigation already achieved in the last few years. This has been needed to ensure a retail area that meets the needs of Sheffield and its wider community.
This work has already included the refining of design proposals, with an outline planning application submitted in October 2005. The intended start on site in mid 2007 will include the relocation of the Wellington Street fire station to Eyre Street. The first retail buildings, including the new John Lewis store are due for completion at the end of 2010.
Access for all
The New Retail Quarter will help to improve access to the city centre by all methods of transport. Shopmobility and other means of disabled support form an integral part of the proposals.
A new high quality multi-storey car park is included as part of the proposals, located next to the new John Lewis store.
The proposals also tie in with the city's new transport initiatives.
A new midi-interchange will be built for buses on Charter Row, ensuring easy access into the city centre by public transport.
Wide roads such as Furnival Gate and Charter Row will be reduced in width and traffic will be restricted to provide an improved pedestrian environment.
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