Sheffield West Bar: New video shows how £300m development will look when completed

A virtual fly-through of what the completed site will look like shows the extent of the new business and residential accommodation that is being created.

The mixed use scheme, which is set to support up to 8,000 new jobs, is in the midst of the construction phase with the first building due to open in June 2024.

The overall development will eventually provide one million sq ft of space on brownfield land on the outskirts of Sheffield city centre, including 500,000 sq ft of new Grade A workspace, residential apartments, multi storey car parking, as well as retail and leisure facilities.

West Bar Sheffield is being delivered by Urbo (West Bar) Ltd, a joint venture between Urbo Regeneration and Peveril Securities, in collaboration Sheffield City Council.

After 20 years in planning, the scheme is being brought forward following a ground-breaking deal to secure £150 million funding from Legal & General. The agreement represents the largest single city centre investment deal that Sheffield has ever seen.

The project is taking place across a 7-acre brownfield site on the Inner Ring Road between Sheffield’s Kelham Island, Cathedral and Castlegate neighbourhoods.

Peter Swallow at Urbo (West Bar) Ltd, said: “We were delighted to reveal this fantastic new footage at the recent Sheffield Property Association gathering where we were joined by our delivery partners including Sheffield City Council, principal contractor Bowmer + Kirkland, 5plus Architects and Asteer Planning.

“West Bar is a leading example of what can be achieved through effective public and private sector collaboration.

"To achieve what we have, with the difficult economic headwinds, to make the scheme commercially viable and deliverable was especially challenging.

"It has involved many years of site assembly work, negotiating with landowners and tenants over 100 separate property titles within the development boundary.

"We worked hard to secure alternative and improved premises for these occupiers such that zero jobs were lost through the process.

"This was backed by a full compulsory purchase process including a full CPO Public Inquiry and ultimately secured 100 per cent freehold ownership with vacant possession, paving the way for our deal with Legal & General. This is a rare and excellent example of best practice approach to area-wide urban regeneration.”

Animation studio, Dematerial, led by Will Priest worked closely with Urbo and 5plus architects to produce the CGI film of how the development will look, with the footage released on YouTube and on other platforms.

The first office building expected to be completed by June 2023 is No 1 West Bar Square and will have eight storeys, a roof terrace and shops on the ground floor.

BNP Paribas Real Estate and Cushman & Wakefield have been appointed to market the space to prospective tenants.