Why I love Park Hill

"Gloriously Grotesque" that is my interpretation of the largest Grade II* listed building in Europe.

A social experiment that went wrong. The product of post war wild ideas and until recently a prison where you were jailed even before you had been held accountable for any misdemeanour. Standing over the steel city, bang slap in the in front of the Sheffield public transport Interchanges, there she is in all her Brutalist Glory: Parkhill.

I can understand why the majority of locals would sooner see Osama Bin Laden be named Mayor of Sheffield than have to endure the dominance of Parkhill on their beloved Sheffield Landscape for any longer. After all it had become a haven for Junkies, crime and prostitution, where the old residents feared to leave their front door, let alone go for a stroll on their "street in the sky". Of course it is the fault of the bricks and mortar that these undesirables were moved onto such estates as Parkhill. Good old Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith put in a lot of hard work and knowledge into a development which was going to rejuvenate The star of the North, Sheffield but the bricks and mortar and the concrete skeleton rebelled and enticed in the wrong uns'.

Replacing disease ridden slums where crime was rife, modernism had provided a new lease of life for residents. No more strolls outside to visit the loo and no climbing over the rats on the way back. Parkhill provided its' residents with luxuries they had never seen. Heating, running water, inside rest room and even a local pub crawl all below your doorstep!

Parkhill was not alone either, nationwide similiar estates were popping up. Most suffered the decline of Parkhill, a great majority having since been demolished but some have managed to rebuild their community spirit. Some have even come to be desirable, notably the Barbican and Goldfingers Trellick Tower, now pop art Icons. All the young and trendies want a part of it (as would I if my cash flow would stretch to the cost of London life).

So if I want to be part of the Northern, Young and Trendy Mob then Parkhill is my golden ticket!

There is something sexy about Parkhill, its' grittiness, its sheer size and the eerie feeling it gives off. As someone who used to hate it but realised there was something there to entice me into researching it further I would encourage anyone before passing judgement on the redevelopment to look a little into how it came to be. The history behind it.

We all judge to easily, a good person can suffer problems that might make them do wrong things. Should we eject this person from our lives forever? Should we not give people that second chance? do we not all deserve that? Who is to say that it was not the effects of the way that person was treated by another that caused the breakdown in the first place?

Parkhill is like that person. Parkhill worked, she was loved, respected, envied all across the country. Then Parkhill was let down, severley let down by those who she was trying to help. Parkhill was not given the proper maintainance, she was used by the people entrusted with her welfare. The council.

Well I for one understand that she can be loved again. We have examples that Brurtalism works if given the right tools to allow it to. The North needs its' Barbican, its' shrine to Modernism and that will be Parkhill.

There is not one person that has a right to determine what is left or not left as real life examples to generations to come of how we lived in days gone by. Whether you like it or not post war Britain is being documented in history and the late 50's and 60's should be remembered as a little more than The Beatles and Cilla Black.



For those that are still not convinced, take a look at how history repeats itself, the clothes, the music and whether you like it or not Brutalist living is coming back and gaining popularity. Millions redeveloping Parkhill for it to fail? It does not add up. Having lived with the bad times, embrace that at last the good times will come again.

Maybe Urban Splash should be forgiven for getting a little giddy with the Artists Impressions, I very much doubt that you will get to see Bertie Basset waving from one of the "streets" but the plans look interesting. My only worry is that too much of the original Parkhill is being destroyed, yes the grim grid remains but is it enough?



I still hope to get my hands on one though, cash providing (penthouse would be nice.) and I hope that when redevelopment is completed those that wanted her flattening to the ground will admit defeat when the new Parkhill is a success because if you do not, what more proof does a Brutalist lover like me need that you never understood and just followed the herd, instead of daring to actually lead it.