Shalesmoor

The former Acorn Inn was identified as a key regeneration opportunity in the heart of Sheffield’s fashionable Kelham Island Quarter.

The original vision, based on structural reports undertaken prior to acquisition, was an ambitious façade retention scheme. The intention was to preserve the building’s historic frontage while inserting a new four-storey structure behind it, creating 21 apartments and a ground-floor restaurant, for which full planning permission was granted.

During the detailed pre-construction phase, it became clear that the building’s structural integrity was significantly compromised, requiring a fundamental change to the project.

A new-build scheme was developed alongside further investigation of the existing structure. Intrusive investigations confirmed that the decision to abandon façade retention was necessary, revealing a major and unforeseen structural issue: the 1800s building had no foundations. The external walls were constructed directly off the ground, with only minimal concrete slab cover to the basement floor.

This discovery made the façade retention proposal unviable. The building was structurally unstable, while its basement, formerly home to the renowned ‘Club 60’ nightclub, directly adjoined the A61 inner ring road and presented a significant risk of collapse.

The project consequently became a complex engineering and demolition exercise. New consultants were appointed to develop a multi-stage demolition strategy. This involved first infilling the basement cellars with aggregate to brace the walls and protect the adjacent highway, followed by a carefully controlled, top-down demolition undertaken by a specialist contractor.

The change in circumstances also required the planning strategy to move from the consented façade-retention scheme to a full new-build proposal. Planning consent was subsequently achieved with no affordable housing requirement or Section 106 agreement.