A Vision for Parkwood Springs

Across the city from the heights of Crookes, there lays an under-used ‘green’ finger pushing into the depths of central Sheffield. Known as Parkwood Springs, the area is seen to be lacking any form of identity. Stretching from the Northwest rural fringe of the city right into the midst of urbanism, the area is seen as the key to unlocking vast potential for the city and wider area. We were invited to come up with a visionary strategy for this whole area which would catalyse discussions about its future.

Through a series of spatial studies and investigations, including social mapping and following dog trails, a development of visionary strategies for the unique area were subsequently proposed. After researching various precedents and environmental information, in cohesion with various stakeholders (Sheffield Steering Group and Sheffield City Council), as well as our client from South Yorkshire Forestry, a number of schemes were devised, diverging from the outrageously provocative to the more fundamental issues relating to sustainability and the community. These ideals then converged into a system of nodes connecting the different strands of the urban park together, creating a completely unified whole for the first time in the city’s history.

On the basis of the success of this initial study, the University has now been commissioned to develop a more strategic study for the area.

Credits

Mentor:

Prue Chiles + Carolyn Butterworth