Latest news with #OliMarshall
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'No plans' to demolish 'at risk' former pop museum
A former museum that became a students' union venue will not be demolished, its owners have said following fears that it was at risk. The charity Twentieth Century Society included the old National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield on a national list of buildings vulnerable to neglect, dereliction or demolition. They said the site, now part of Sheffield Hallam University, was "extremely vulnerable" after an announcement last year that the union would relocate. The university told the BBC that they had no plans to raze the building and they were exploring alternative uses. A university spokesperson said: "The HUBS building where Hallam Union has been based for a number of years is used on occasions for teaching, learning and other activities. "We will be looking at several different options for the building in the longer-term as part of the next phase of our campus plan." The National Centre for Popular Music closed in June 2000, just 15 months after it opened. According to the city council, the £15m venture was funded to the tune of £11m by the National Lottery – at the time it was the fourth-largest grant given to a project outside London. The unique design of the building - four drums representing different aspects of music - attracted mixed reviews. Oli Marshall, campaigns director at Twentieth Century Society, said he hoped the building would be reused in the future. "The HUBS building may feel very young to be recognised as heritage, but it's now a quarter of century old and the product of an era where unprecedented public funding delivered some really ambitious and extraordinary projects, that are of national significance. "While the museum may have been 'Top of the Flops', the building itself has long been a Sheffield icon." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. Neglect fears over 'at risk' empty city store Sheffield Hallam University Twentieth Century Society
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Neglect fears over 'at risk' empty Bradford city centre store
A landmark art deco former department store in Bradford has been added to a list of notable buildings in Britain considered to be currently "at risk".Sunwin House had been "one of the most modern and stylish looking shops in Britain" when it was built in 1936, according to The 20th Century the charity warned that the building, whose architectural style was inspired by Germany's Bauhaus art movement, had stood empty for nearly 15 years and was in danger of "creeping neglect".A spokesperson for the society added: "With Bradford in the spotlight as UK City of Culture 2025, hopes are high that Sunwin House could find the impetus required to dazzle once more." Sunwin House, which was most recently used as a TJ Hughes department store after the firm went into administration in 2011, is one of 10 buildings featured on The 20th Century Society's "risk list" for list also includes the former National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield, the Grand National Rollercoaster in Blackpool and the East Stand at Newcastle United's St James' Park stadium. Oli Marshall, campaign director for The 20th Century Society, said: "For a 90-year-old building, it survives in remarkably good condition internally and externally, but having sat empty for 15 years there are fears that creeping neglect could threaten its future."Despite the demise of department stores in recent years, there had been "some really imaginative and encouraging" approaches to re-using them such as co-working office spaces, hotels, gyms, university campuses, food markets, studios and repair shops, Mr Marshall said."We've even seen some recently with pop-up skateparks and go-kart tracks."Mr Marshall added: "Despite the challenges these buildings can present - their sheer scale, deep floor plates, high energy costs - with the right vision and a sympathetic developer, it can be done." 'Innovative re-uses' Si Cunningham, chair of Bradford Civic Society, said it was "concerning" to see Sunwin House added to The 20th Century Society's "risk list"."But it also can be helpful having a national group bring some attention to the building," he said."Bradford is not the only city struggling with former department stores, and we are seeing more and more innovate re-uses elsewhere."Mr Cunningham said that once new city centre music venue Bradford Live opened, "there could be renewed commercial interest in that part of the city"."We know there is a shortage of quality hotel space in Bradford. In the right hands, Sunwin House could be a destination in its own right," he reporting by Chris Young, Local Democracy Reporter. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘It's unjust': charity fights to save UK's at-risk modern buildings
Sheffielders describe it as 'alien-shaped' and like a 'kettle' but it seems the former National Centre for Popular Music may soon be consigned to history, with the distinctive building at risk of being bulldozed. The Marmite structure – soon to be vacated by its current occupant – is one of three in the UK built around the turn of the millennium to feature on the annual at-risk list from the charity Twentieth Century Society (C20), which campaigns to save architecturally interesting modern buildings. It is the first time millennium-era projects have featured on the list, which highlights outstanding 20th and 21st-century buildings across the country at risk from demolition, dereliction or neglect. Alongside Sheffield's former pop-themed visitor centre – which first opened in 1999 and closed 15 months later to headlines describing it as the 'top of the flops' and 'rock horror show' – the list contains the National Wildflower Centre in Knowsley (2000) and Archaeolink Prehistory Park in Aberdeenshire (1997), both of which are abandoned. Also featured is the brutalist east stand of St James' Park stadium in Newcastle, the wooden Grand National rollercoaster in Blackpool, which was opened in 1935, and Caerphilly's Penallta Pithead Baths, a now-derelict miners' washhouse built in 1938. Of the 10 buildings on the list, six are in the north of England, exposing a north-south divide in how historical buildings are looked after, which is 'big and getting bigger', according to Oli Marshall, C20 campaigns director. He said a lack of funds meant councils were less able to protect heritage sites than in the past, adding: 'Moreover, the money and investment in Britain always seems to flow in one direction. 'We have to ask ourselves, if some of these outstanding buildings were located in London or the south-east, would they already have been restored or rehabilitated by now? The answer is almost certainly yes. 'It's a situation that's unjust, but also risks reshaping our national history in favour of what survives, versus what is lost.' In Sheffield, locals are divided over the building. Hayley Glover, 43, who owns the cafe opposite, Kollective Coffee & Kitchen, thought the building should stay open to the public as she fondly remembers it being built 26 years ago. 'I think it's a shame that it's sat there empty, and whilst it's empty the square on the opposite side of the road is getting a lot of undesirables in there. 'So obviously, footfall getting in and out the building for us is a good thing. It would be a shame for it to be closed.' The building was bought in 2004 by Sheffield Hallam University and was used as its students' union, but is now due to be vacated, with questions hanging over its future. The university is not ruling out knocking it down entirely. Cory Anson, 30, a sales worker, thought the building had some aesthetic appeal: 'It's a beautiful building. I did a course there once, it's just a really nice building. I think it's a staple of Sheffield as well, to be honest. Like everybody knows about the kettle building.' The four giant stainless steel drums that make up the structure surround an atrium with a glazed roof. For Molly Mallette, 26, who works supporting women in the criminal justice system, and her boyfriend, Louis Binns, 25, who works at the university, the building elicits some debate. To Mallette it is 'hideous'. She added: 'I think it's a real eyesore in the area, to be honest. I don't really know what it's meant to be. I've got no other word for it, I just don't think it's very attractive.' Binns disagreed, however. 'It's interesting to look at,' he said. 'From working at Hallam Help, when directing students it's incredibly easy because it obviously stands out.' Kristina Drmic, 24, a former student who now works at the students' union, pointed to the unmissable nature of the building. 'It's very easy for students to find us because the description of it is very unique. Some people call it the alien-shaped building, some people call it the four kettles. 'I think the shape of it is part of the Sheffield culture and I think it should stay and shouldn't get demolished.' Anthea Page, 58, who works in communications, said the building was redundant and she would gladly welcome its closure. 'It doesn't serve its current purpose,' she said. 'It's used for the Hallam students' union and it's not well used, it's not very well placed. The entrances aren't in the right place.'
