Farm Road tower heads raft of Sheffield resi approvals
Bluecastle Capital has the go-ahead to deliver amended plans for 336 apartments close to Sheffield station, with the council also rubber-stamping 100 BTR flats at Nursery Street and 48 homes at Copper Street.
Farm Road
Proposals for the Farm Road site were originally approved in 2022, with Bond Bryan the architect on a scheme by Penistone firm Fairbank Investments.
Fairbank then sold the approved site to BTR specialist Bluecastle, which has since engaged 5plus to alter the proposals, necessitating a fresh consent. Iceni is advising on planning.
With the application lodged in August, a decision notice has now been issued, dated 29 October.
Bluecastle’s site is to the south of Sheffield’s mainline station, on the brownfield British Rail Sports Club plot.
In headline figure terms, the scheme is the same: the project remains as 23 storeys at its tallest, with other blocks coming in at 10 storeys and 17 storeys.
It is in layout and breakdown of apartment sizes where the differences come: the fresh proposal has lost 12 one-bed and 16-three bed apartments, with these 28 homes now proposed at two bedrooms each.
This puts the proposal at 156 one-bedroom, 168 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom flats. As set out by 5plus in its design & access statement, the layout has been “revised to improve the plan arrangement of the building and to create a better separation between the building’s forms”.
Layout changes also offer future-proofing for expected fire regulation changes, it is noted.
Another alteration sees a residents’ lounge of 4,800 sq ft become 12,000 sq ft of resident amenity space, with gym space being slightly increased too. Car parking and cycle spaces have been reduced, from 29 to 19 car spaces and 358 to 336 cycle spots.
The landscape architect is Layer Studio. Farm Road’s professional team also includes Apex, Cass Allan, Development & Light, Consolux, Cahill Design Consultants, Estrada Ecology, GIA. HSP Consulting, Weddle, Arctic Fire and RLB.
In addition to Sheffield, Bluecastle Capital is also advancing BTR projects at Central Square Cardiff and in Stevenage.
The Sheffield City Council planning portal reference number for the project is 24/02237/FUL.
Old Coroner’s Court site, Nursery Street
Working with planner Urbana, Parklane Group put forward plans for a building of up to 10 storeys with 102 build-to-rent apartments: 30 studios, 37 one-bedroom and 35 two-bedroom flats.
The plot is at Nursery Street’s junction with Wicker Lane. The Old Coroner’s Court Business Centre still takes up the site, but has been disused for some years and is in a state of disrepair.
A decision notice was issued on 25 October, greenlighting 100 apartments – this followed an officer report detailing how although the area is mixed, and still classed as industrial, it is becoming increasingly residential, with various other plots advancing.
Copper Street
On the northern fringe of the city centre, Sky-House Co now has consent for the redevelopment of the Classic Cutlery Emmanuel Works site, with a mix of apartments and townhouses.
The approval covers the demolition of three former works and warehouse buildings and their replacement by 14 houses and 34 apartments, central courtyard and amenity spaces, with ground floor commercial space and landscaping.
Paul Bedwell Town Planning and architect Coda lead the professional team for the project, which is within the Furnace Hill conservation area.
