Provincial House Grade II listed - to apartments?

[jackip 10]

It was February last year that Provincial House (currently a business centre but previously St Vincent's Presbytery) on Solly Street became a Grade II listed building. An article in The Star newspaper referred to the fact that there were plans to convert the building to apartments. Tenants have been concerned about this for the past year; the owners of the building have not been open or transparent about their plans for the building. Last week tenants received a letter giving notice that Provincial House will be closed on 31st July 2015.

 

A pre-planning application had been lodged previously - now a more detailed planning application has been submitted. This proposes conversion of Provincial House to apartments and further developments around it. This would involve the demolition of 90 Garden Street which was the original landmark of a house where two Vincentian priests arrived in Sheffield c 1850 and started their work with the poor. This has been well documented by Vincent Hale.

 

I hope that people who feel passionately about local history and heritage will go on the Sheffield Council website and lodge comments/objections about this proposal. Is there not enough student accommodation in this area already? Provincial House although a business centre still has its original features and is full of character. It would be such a shame to lose any of these features and for the building to be surrounded by yet more modern accommodation.

[MJ01 439]

Stick it where the sun don't shine, people need houses

[Alcoblog 10]

Stick it where the sun don't shine, people need houses

Yeah ... knock everything down with any architectural heritage, I say. Who needs history? ... look at the sort of people who they're aiming for.

More 'Urban Splash' multicoloured plastic fronted Park Hill flats please. Just the thing to show the world how Sheffield's spearheading modern architecture. If in doubt, stick bright bits of plastic on everything. It's a cancer.

[smiggs 10]

While I sympathise with businesses having to relocate, this is pretty difficult to object to. 90 Garden Street appears to be nothing special just a two story 20th Century building from what you've said there was once a historical building there and looking at the documents on the councils planning application site the applicant is proposing full archaeological survey of the site. Seems like everyone apart from the current tenants win here.

[Apprentice89 10]

I work here and it would make a great set of apartments. The stairs within the building is also listed so that has to stay. I'd love to live in there

[AndrewC 306]

Am I not understanding these plans and jackip's post correctly?

 

90 Garden Street appears to be a fairly ordinary looking brick cube behind Provincial House, doesn't look much more then 50 years old, and apprently unoccupied at the moment (I can only assume that last bit based on google streetview - could be out of date)?

 

If any original building that housed priests in 1850 has long since gone, I don't see how the actual construction of these flats will affect that?

 

As for the listed building being converted to flats, there is a two-pronged reason why this is not wholly unexpected;

 

1. Flats, particularly student flats are in demand in the city centre as a whole and in particular, that area of the CC.

2. Office to residential conversions are becoming quite common place recently (particularly if there's a chance to convert attractive buildings like Provincial House), although admittedly, most of the recent ones in Sheffield have focused on already empty blocks of offices.