Thu 11 Dec 2025

31 July 2021

— 25 September 2021

Park Hill Pavilion

Following a residency at S1 Artspace earlier this year, architecture students from the University of Sheffield embarked on a process of research, consultation, experimentation and design to develop three alternative proposals for the first temporary pavilion at Park Hill.

Each proposal responded to the surrounding context and considers its function, material sustainability and environmental impact to provide alternative propositions for visitors, local residents and wider community.
The Park Hill housing estate opened in 1961 and was designed with community in mind. The wide decks outside every flat, multiple playgrounds, open green spaces, pubs, shops and community centre. These spaces provided opportunities for social interaction and exchange and helped build a strong sense of community. During Park Hill’s decline in the 1980’s, those spaces became fewer and community cohesion declined.

As part of Park Hill’s regeneration, spaces for social interaction and exchange are beginning to remerge and rebuild new communities. A pavilion structure has the potential to bring people together, to act as a focal point, and provide space and opportunities for conversation and contemplation.

This project has been developed with the Sheffield School of Architecture (SSoA) at the University of Sheffield, which was voted by The Times as one of the best two schools of architecture in the UK. Our Park Hill Pavilion programme is intended to become a biannual commission to showcase emerging architectural talent and we are delighted to be working with students at SSoA on our very first pavilion.

SSoA students leading this project include Claire Wilkinson, Dovydas Simkus, Sebastian Chambers, Ankie Ng, Alex Cole, Matthew West, Zhixian Li, Rafi Bear, Olive McAndrew, Rui Xie, Esme Kilshaw, Shuang Zheng, Zhuoqun Wang, Shengjie Cui, Jiaxin Wu and their Project Mentor from SSoA is Lettice Drake.