Plans in place for Sheffield’s £175m West Bar Square scheme

Plans have been submitted for a £175m mixed-use regeneration scheme at West Bar, Sheffield, to be known as West Bar Square.

The planning application, submitted by specialist regeneration and development firm Urbo, will create up to 1.4million sq.ft. of space fronting Sheffield’s inner relief road.

More than half of the scheme will be office space, providing jobs for up to 5,000 workers. The application also includes plans for apartment blocks, a four-star hotel, restaurants, retail units and landscaped public spaces.

The submission of the outline planning application for West Bar Square is a major step forward in the regeneration of Sheffield’s Riverside Business District, which already contains employers such as the Home Office and lawyers Irwin Mitchell.

The scheme comprises 10 buildings, each with self-contained parking. The plots have been conceived with flexibility in terms of use, exact scale, design and the ability to combine these areas to create larger buildings, if required.

The proposed office units will be situated around the new West Bar Square, a landscaped space comparable to Millennium Square and St Paul’s Place in scale, linking the Cathedral Quarter to the Riverside.

The new site masterplan has been designed by Urbo’s team, 5plus Architects and Urbed. Manchester-based HOW Planning provided planning and environmental advice, co-ordinating and preparing the Environmental Statement for the scheme.

The project has been developed in conjunction with partners Sheffield City Council to ensure the completed scheme will form a new extension of Sheffield City Centre. Site assembly and clearance is already underway with a view to enabling the earliest possible start on site subject to planning approval.

Peter Swallow, Urbo’s managing director, said: “We’re delighted to move West Bar Square to the next level. It is a very significant development for the city and will create a premier business district to attract major employers.

“There has also been strong interest in private rented sector apartments with many investment funds eager to house people in a purpose-built environment”

Jon Suckley, partner at HOW Planning, commented: “Sheffield has been through a period of significant transformation over the past 10-15 years and West Bar Square will further enhance the city, providing an iconic, mixed use development.

“Given the character of the surrounding areas there is significant merit in transforming the site into a significant destination, creating a thriving new district which will act as a gateway to the city centre.”