Event
Date
Location
Description
001
Event 001
Date
Location
The Workstation
15 Paternoster Row
Sheffield. S1 2BX
Description
The launch event celebrates J.L. Womersley’s brutalist masterpiece, Park Hill, which has defined the Sheffield skyline since completion in 1961. Now Grade II* listed, the ‘streets in the sky’ are once again home to proud residents who report a growing sense of happiness at their decision to live in a refurbished concrete icon.
Concrete Communities 001 invites experts from the design industry – in addition to Mikhail Riches (the architect’s responsible for the award-winning retrofit of Park Hill Phase 2) to talk about how modernist communal living can positively benefit our mental health.
Panel 001
Documenting 001
As part of Event 001, members of the panel and design industry guests were invited to take part in a tour of the derelict flanks of Park Hill, Sheffield. Under normal circumstances, these blocks are inaccessible to the public, but after consultation with Urban Splash, Concrete Communities were given permission to view with suitable PPE. On 10 May 2023, the walkways and flats were explored, along with a former pub on the ground floor.
Event 001
Tickets for the first event sold out – an indication that there is clearly an appetite for open and honest conversation about good design. The evening was split into two sections: Panel 01 from 18:45 to 19:45, followed by a short interval. Panel 02 started at 20:00 and finished at 20:45. After this, both Concrete Communities panels were invited to answer questions from the audience. The concluding debate was lively.
Filming 001
As the award-winning regeneration company responsible for the retrofit of Park Hill, Urban Splash were keen to create a permanent record of the first Concrete Communities event in Sheffield. A short film was commissioned, which includes an introduction from Concrete Communities founder Leanne Cloudsdale, vox pops from the audience and thoughts from members of both panels.