Sheffield's £480m Heart of the City project beside Cole Brothers building hits 'peak construction'

Cranes, hoardings, machinery and builders are busy on sites on three sides of the former Cole Brothers department store.

Looking towards Cambridge Street, the facades of the Tap and Tankard pub, Chubbys takeaway, the old John Lewis sports and toy department, Dina music venue and Henry’s wine bar have been retained.

The former Tap and Tankard pub and Chubbys next to Leah’s Yard will become a restaurant.

A wall adjacent has been flattened to create a route through, called Albert Walk, after the Old Albert Works which once stood behind it but burned down in the 1970s.

The demolition has also exposed the curious fate of Bethel Chapel which was bricked up when a new extension was built in front, leaving just the eaves visible.

After Bethel Walk is the listed former Bethel Sunday School, Dina and Henry’s.

A glass roof is being built to the rear to create a food hall called Cambridge Street Collective, set to be run by Matt and Nina Bigland of The Milestone Group.

Further up the street, Leah’s Yard looks immaculate after a revamp. A total repointing job has left it looking very smart.

The listed Little Mester’s workshop is the only surviving example of hundreds of similar buildings which would have dominated the city centre in the nineteenth century.

It is set to reopen as workshops, shops, offices, a cafe and restaurant in autumn. And a new extension in spring 2023.

Behind all this, Sheffield builders Henry Boot are cracking on with a conventional office block, close to Carver Street. Behind that, and out of sight, a new tiny park is being created – and behind that a giant block of flats called Kangaroo Works.

In the other direction, a Radisson Blu hotel is taking shape as a framework of girders behind a retained Victorian facade on Pinstone Street.

Coun Mazher Iqbal said that to ensure buildings were not left empty, the project was being built on a ‘block by block’ basis, securing tenants before work started.