Talk:Park Hill, Sheffield

untitled
Is Park Hill definitely the site of the first major slum clearance in the UK? I'd have thought Quarry Hill in Leeds would have been earlier - the flats themselves were built in the 1930s - Nebbish 11:32, 11 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I've removed the claim. Although some of the Park Hill site was cleared in the 1930s, this claim sounds very doubtful to me.  I suppose it depends on your definition of slum clearance, but the clearance of Agar Town could be counted, and it's hard to see how the clearances prior to the construction of the Boundary Estate wouldn't count. Warofdreams talk 01:25, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Wasn't some of the estate demolished (and some other parts refurbished) in 1989/90 ready for the 1991 World Student Games? I have vague memories... 78.147.21.222 (talk) 21:37, 13 September 2009 (UTC)


 * That would be Park Hill's sister estate, Hyde Park. 2A02:C7C:5C95:5A00:3009:5388:88A0:299F (talk) 22:46, 17 July 2023 (UTC)

Listing status
Is this Grade II or Grade II* listed?

The Introductory paragraph says Grade II as does the Listing and renovation section but the Categories section at the top says Grade II*.

I am not an expert but I thought that there was quite a bit of difference between Grade II and Grade II*. Hence 92% of listed buildings are Grade II but only 5.5% are Grade II*.

FerdinandFrog (talk) 17:33, 30 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Definitely Grade II*. Warofdreams talk 19:49, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

The 'I love you' bridge
Why no mention of the 'I love you' bridge?

BBC Radio 4 featured programme on this building
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017l87m Rebroadcast 26 jan 2013

Rebuilding Britain for the Baby Boomers Duration: 58 minutes First broadcast: Saturday 26 November 2011 Maxwell Hutchinson analyses the great push to re-build post war Britain. In the 1990's architect and broadcaster Maxwell Hutchinson began recording interviews with the men who re-built Britain after World War 2. These idealists - then in their eighties- told how they'd returned from war to a country ravaged by the Luftwaffe, determined to design a country fit for heroes. Many were graduates of the left-leaning Architectural Association and brought their radical ideas, influenced by le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, to building social housing for slum clearance families ; hospitals for the infant NHS; schools for the children of the Butler Education act; and bold new tower blocks that would transform the city skyline. Most of them worked for local authorities and saw their profession as a public service. These "duffle-coated pip-squeaks" as they were known, included Sir Phillip Powell ,Sir Andrew Derbyshire, Ivor Smith, Peter Smithson , the father of Brutalism; Lord Esher and Jim Cadbury Brown. Many have since died. Using these interviews, plus newsreel and contemporary archive, this programme captures that idealism and reflects the later disillusionment when modernism - and architects - fell out of fashion. 2011 was the fiftieth anniversary of Parkhill Flats, Sheffield. It was seen as the embodiment of the modernist movement - streets in the sky to replace the grim terraces bulldozed after the war to give families indoor lavatories, central heating and airy balconies. At first the families couldn't believe their luck - they loved their modern new homes. But as the building began to show cracks, and the community spirit failed to translate from slum-terrace to deck access, Parkhill Flats became a by-word for all that was rotten in the state of post war architecture. It wasn't long before residents starting chucking their rubbish over the balconies, and the flats became the new slums. Peter Smithson, once blamed the residents of his much criticised development, Robin Hood Gardens (a sister project to Parkhill) for letting the building go to rack and ruin; for "painting their doors purple" and not applying "the minor arts of occupation". Parkhill Flats - the largest listed building in Europe - is undergoing extensive renovation by the trendy developers Urban Splash; so the story of this emblematic building, which Sheffielders love and loathe in equal measure, is still a talking point. Maxwell Hutchinson goes back to Parkhill to see the renovation, talk to former residents and find out if the post-war dream of the young architects who designed this colossal building can be revived.  SHOW LESS — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.218.211.54 (talk) 20:37, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

Featured in Synth Britannia?
In the documentary Synth Britannia, a castle-like brutalist building can be seen 53 seconds into the film. Is that Park Hill? The view in the documentary looks pretty iconic, yet I haven't found that perspective elsewhere. --Tim Landscheidt (talk) 04:42, 1 April 2015 (UTC)


 * I have looked around with Google Street View a bit, and the view there has convinced me that it is indeed Park Hill. --Tim Landscheidt (talk) 09:03, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 06:23, 7 May 2016 (UTC)
 * All this has been done- I would rate this as a B-class article now, so I have blanked the class fields to trigger a re-assessment. ClemRutter (talk) 07:54, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

parking a reference
Musical at the Crucible Guardian. --ClemRutter (talk) 09:12, 2 March 2018 (UTC)