portfolio - Year 2 P3

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Location Client Burton Road, Neepsend South Yorkshire Housing Sheffield Association

"a place to call home" The Silver Mill

Fueled by the narrative of the 1960's post WWIl Yemeni Workforce in Sheffield and constructed using the DNA of Kelham Island's industrial past, the Silver Mill houses 19 residential units that form a community for those who have recently migrated to the UK. Targeted at the demographic who are transitioning from the second age to the third, the core of this scheme sits on the diverse cultural values people of different backgrounds bring, celebrating unique cultural traditions and subsequently aiding the residents with settling into what can be a vastly new area. The building operates on these principles with a range of different communal areas and the 'circulation-balcony extrusions' that promote frequent social interactions / activities with other residents.

In addition to these 'circulation-balcony extrusions', the Silver Mill hones in on the importance of community with more than 5 different social spaces, each tailored to their specific functions and relation to that of hosting a diverse community. Externally, the scheme utilises the idea of 'funelling' to draw in activity and interest through the site. At the northern-most point of the funnel are the 17 flats, consisting of 4 different types and ranging from 4 floors to 6 in an effort to adapt to the vertical nature of the scheme's surrounding context. At the southern-most point of the funnel are the two townhouse dwellings as well as community restaurant.

The scheme incorporates a high density of green space and SUDS not only as a form of energy-efficient and sustainable building practice but as a natural beacon of optimism for Neepsend's cultural and inclusive growth - in collaboration with the factory-like chimneys and structural, limestone skeleton that mark the visual heritage of the area's past life. The idea of the scheme's position as a 'beacon' is supported by the wider urban strategy of using pocket parks with direct links to the scheme at different unused / derelict areas near site and on the bank of the River Don; generating a user-focused curiousity and drawing pedestrians into the scheme.