Matilda Way Sheffield City Centre Sheffield S1 4QJ
Another day another car park.
A busy city centre multi-storey car park in Yorkshire has undergone a two-phase refurbishment programme to upgrade and weather-proof its top deck; with the MMA Rapid Cure Flexible System from TREMCO being preferred by the specialist contractor involved.
The contract was carried out over a four week period, with PBM ensuring customers continued to have safe access to one half of the one hundred plus parking bays at all times. PBM were keen to use the MMA Rapid Cure Flexible System due to the tricky nature of the project and based on previous experience, they know that the product is easy to apply and reliable.
The top deck to the Furnival Gate MSCP featured an ageing polyurethane running surface which was leaking water through to the lower decks. The product was applied with a grey finish to the aisle ways and ramps while the parking bays were finished in green.
The project was a success and was supported throughout by the TREMCO area sales manager and the technical services department.
The towpath was barred and gated, necessitating a diversion along the road.
Roads lined with long stretches of brick and concrete, punctuated by metal doors and gates, along with blank eyed windows, staring blankly at the passing parade.
The remnants of an industrial past, reduced to scrap.
A chaotic situation is always deliberately produced.
Ask yourself who or what sort of creature could benefit from such a situation.
The Great Northern Warehouse is the former railway goods warehouse of the Great Northern Railway, it was granted Grade II* listed building status in 1974.
Refurbished into a leisure complex in 1999.
The building is at the junction of Deansgate and Peter Street.
Once upon time in 1807 it wasn’t there at all.
By 1824 it still wasn’t here, though the area had been further developed.
Construction began in1885.
The warehouse was built to be fireproof with a steel frame on a rectangular plan, 267 ft long by 217 ft wide and five storeys high, with twenty seven windows on the east and west sides and seventeen windows on the north and south ends. All four sides have friezes lettered in white brick reading Great Northern Railway Company’s Goods Warehouse. It was built above the Manchester and Salford Junction Canal, and a dock was constructed beneath to allow goods to be transferred to and from canal barges via shafts and a complex system of haulage using hydraulic power.
The building could hold a total of one hundred and fifty goods wagons across two of its levels, with capacity for a further 500 in its sidings. Its construction effectively wiped out the district of Alport Town, which had included 300 houses, and – Over 800 men were employed on the site. Twenty five million bricks, 50,000 tons of concrete, 12,000 tons of mild steel and sixty five miles of rivets were used in its construction.
So having time on my hands on the way to somewhere else, I took a look around the rest of the complex.
Here it is from the air in 2006.
Photo: Sean Gallagher
Great Northern is perfectly positioned in the heart of the city centre as the ideal place to eat, drink, meet and play. You will find a cinema, boutique bowling, restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, shops and the biggest range of estate agents in the city centre, all alongside our public square.
I found a mesmerising series of corridors and doors, defunct lifts and a plethora of pin-pong players, along with several leak catching buckets.
What will you find?
In November 2022, Trilogy Real Estate and Hong Kong–based Peterson Group brought forward updated plans for a mixed-use redevelopment of the site.
The historic warehouse will be given a new lease of life as office space, looking over a tree filled Square. Alongside this, the 1990’s cinema and car park building will be repurposed to create 746 apartments and reimagined pedestrianised retail streets.
Housed in the complex central Complex that is the Great Northern Warehouse, welcome to the Great Northern Car Park 2.
In 1898 you were happy enough working as a warehouse, whose sole purpose was the storage of goods.
The Great Northern Railway was incorporated in 1846, with the object of building a line from London to York. It quickly saw that seizing control of territory was key to development, and it acquired, or took leases of, many local railways, whether actually built or not. In so doing, it overextended itself financially.
The main line railways of Great Britain were grouped following the Railways Act 1921 into one or other of four new larger concerns. The Great Northern Railway was a constituent of the London and North Eastern Railway, which took control at the beginning of 1923.
The building could hold a total of 150 goods wagons across two of its levels, with capacity for a further 500 in its sidings. Its construction effectively wiped out the district of Alport Town, which had included 300 houses, and over 800 men were employed on the site. 25 million bricks, 50,000 tons of concrete, 12,000 tons of mild steel and 65 miles of rivets were used in its construction.
Great Northern is perfectly positioned in the heart of the city centre as the ideal place to eat, drink, meet and play. You will find a cinema, boutique bowling, restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, shops and the biggest range of estate agents in the city centre, all alongside our public square.
However, I came not to eat, drink, meet and play – but to wander idly around the then closed car park.
There are plans afoot to redevelop the whole site – who knows what fate awaits you.
I only know you must be strong.
The historic warehouse will be given a new lease of life as office space, looking over a tree filled Square. Alongside this, the 1990’s cinema and car park building will be repurposed to create 746 apartments and reimagined pedestrianised retail streets.
Trilogy and the Peterson Group have been privileged to work on the project with an award-winning design team, including architectural practice SimpsonHaugh and landscape architect Planit-IE.
Here we are again in Holt Town – following visits in 2017 and 2020.
Somewhere between the Ashton Canal and the River Medlock.
An area which has always embraced industry with open arms and dirty hands.
An area which has been home to many, with the attendant houses, schools, churches and hospitals
Now the Town is to become a Village – caught between a Sheik and a hard faced Developer, with the Council in tow.
Holt Town is a major regeneration project to create a new, eco-friendly neighbourhood. Our vision includes up to 4,500 new homes of different types and tenure and 30,000 square feet of workspace. With high-quality green spaces, a 1km play street, new local services, plus a cultural hub, lido and mobility hub.
Almost a year on and I’m back again and you’re still here.
Still awaiting the wrecking ball and a rubble trouble future.
Back in 2025 the reports of your demise were premature.
Back in 2023 you were, even then, tired and ready to go home – to car park heaven.
It’s 2026, are we to bury you or praise you?
Fresh plans have been unveiled for one of the Northern Quarter’s most significant redevelopment projects, with the latest proposals for the long-awaited transformation of the Church Street multi-storey car park now entering a second round of public consultation.
The council-owned car park, which has occupied the site since 1970, has long been viewed as one of the area’s least-loved landmarks, and in recent years has found itself frequently at the centre of antisocial behaviour in the area. Developer Glenbrook is now proposing to replace it with a new mixed-use neighbourhood featuring around three hundred homes, including 20% affordable housing, alongside commercial units, public squares, green spaces and a community hub.
Almost high on a hill overlooking Liverpool Bay, and the Irish Sea on the edge of the Mersey Estuary, there stands two separate private high rise housing developments.
Portland Place interwar Seaside Moderne, built between 1938 and 1939.
Further along the road The Cliff – two Seventies high rise blocks, with double decker garages.
Dominating Oldham for most part of the decade was Co-op’s Shopping Giant. It was a great place where you could stock up on your groceries and buy non-food items. It boasted its own Handybank, had a separate chemist opposite the main store and a fast food restaurant – qv Food and Drink section. Cars parked on the roof and at ground level with access via trolley-friendly escalators.
Other delights included Mario’s salon – on Manchester Street underneath the main store, and an ice cream stand by the entrance nearest the Bank Top Tavern.
Nothing, like everything lasts forever – so you became the Mecca Bingo Hall.
Being something of a car park aficionado I couldn’t resist walking up the ramp to take a look around.
To the right is the tower of the Civic Centre, it was designed by Cecil Howitt & Partners, and the topping out ceremony was held on 18 June 1976.
Plans are underway at the Civic Centre, the largest site in the regeneration project, to create a vibrant community providing 838 homes rising up to 15-storeys with mixed-use commercial spaces on the ground floor. This development will integrate seamlessly with the surrounding neighbourhood, particularly the nearby Former Magistrates’ Court site.
The Civic Tower at the edge of the site will be retained and redeveloped as a hotel in a later phase.
1971 built of a pre-cast concrete panel system, dour, on an awkwardly sloping site.
I beg to differ – what’s the opposite of dour?
So says the online Thesaurus – and I heartily concur, for the whole building has had a makeover and a half.
Civic is a super energy-efficient workspace in the centre of Wigan town centre. The BREEAM Excellent building has space for business of all sizes, from desks for solo start-ups, all the way to big open plan offices with their own front door.
The brutalist beast has been lovingly restored by Capital&Centric to celebrate its architecture, with original waffle ceilings, corduroy concrete and stunning feature windows that flood the space with light.
It was great to visit and tour Wigan Civic Centre on Millgate, to see the inspiring work being done to create sustainable workspaces and amenities in the centre of our town. This development, alongside others taking place and planned across the North West, will help to revitalise our public spaces
With students, start-ups and professionals situating themselves elsewhere in Greater Manchester, Wigan town had been missing out on the economic and cultural vitality that high quality workspace brings. Civic’s transformation represents not just the overhaul of a tired concrete building, but a wider renewal of place and opportunity for Wigan.
Working with Wigan Council and Capital & Centric, we completed the refurbishment of the 50,000 sq ft building that is Wigan Civic Centre. Delivering aspirational office accommodation to stimulate economic growth with the goal to create a lasting social impact in Wigan. In addition to exemplar market-leading workspace, amenities include a rooftop terrace, mini cinema, gym studio and co-working/coffee shop space.
Here’s the exterior.
Many thanks to the Cotton CaféBar for kindly allowing us in after hours.
Ultimately, civic stands as a symbol of optimism for Wigan, proving that intelligent commercial design can catalyse economic renewal, secure a sustainable future, and truly lift a town’s spirits, without erasing its history. It is a gold standard for the adaptive reuse of 20th-century landmarks.
To begin at the middle, the middle of the Twentieth Century, houses may have looked like this:
Or possibly these:
These Shore Road survivors have resisted the charm of redevelopment, the demolition and new build, or the uPVC over cladding, relentless render or reglaze.
So what happened to houses that look like houses?
This upwardly mobile trend, fuelled by the rakish progress on the so called property ladder, fanned by 80’s Thatcherite tax cuts, and the ever so irresistible allure of conspicuous consumption.
Architectural historian Virginia Savage McAlester, coined the term Millennium Mansion, though these houses are also referred to as a McMansion, Persian Palace, Garage Mahal, Starter Castle, and Hummer House.
Marketing parlance often uses the term tract mansions or executive homes.
Let’s take a closer look at the look of luxury, is it playful and witty pastiche or Post Modern mumbo jumbo – un repas de chien.
Barclays House was constructed by Barclays bank from 1972 to 1975 as part of a move to decentralise its offices from London.
The structure, was designed in the Brutalist style by architects Wilson, Mason and Partners. It consists of three main wings, each octagonal in plan, and dominates the town centre skyline.
Barclays first occupied the office in January 1976. The building’s basement is below sea level and is often flooded or damp, which prevented its use by the bank for storage. The structure has also sunk over time due to its significant mass
Barclays left the site in January 2022 and put the structure up for sale by sealed bid auction. The highest bidder was Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council but they withdrew from the purchase in September 2022.
BCP offered £17 million, almost three times more than the next highest bidder, thought to be Fortitudo at £6.5 million, who wanted to demolish the structure and build three apartment towers.
In February 2023, boarding was put up around the building and the Bournemouth Daily Echo reported that a new buyer had been found. In November 2023, proposals for redevelopment to residential use were announced, 362 flats are proposed for the building.
Town hall planner Gareth Ball has given the go-ahead for VCRE Four Poole Limited to convert the historic building into a 362-bedroom apartment block.
No parking spaces will be available for the future residents, as noted by BCP case officer Mr Ball as being in accordance with the council’s rules. Instead, the development will come with 488 cycle spaces – or one space for every resident. The scheme will feature a gym, communal workspace, squash courts, a games room with table tennis, pool, video games, surfboard storage and a rooftop garden.
Barclays House was bought last year for £5.3 million, according to documents.
Here are the photographs I took in May 2026 – incorporating the multi storey car park.
But what of the future?
This recent ARC projectinvolves transforming the former Barclays building in Poole into 362 modern residential flats while preserving the existing building’s façade. This project focuses on revitalising a heritage landmark by repurposing it with innovative designs that offer easy access to public transport, exceed space standards for comfort and practicality, and create a strong sense of community through shared internal and external amenities.
After twenty years, the waterproofing on the top deck of the busy Avenue Road council car park in Bournemouth was failing. Water was penetrating the structure and dripping onto users’ cars on the lower levels and also into a tenant’s offices situated below. More importantly, this was affecting the structural integrity of the car park.
Being close to the sea, the car park is subjected to highly corrosive moisture and salt levels, which if left unprotected could cause long term structural damage. And indeed, further investigation by the contractors Concrete Repairs Ltd. and Triflex’s Technical Team revealed that part of the concrete substrate was cracking and failing causing potential health and safety issues.
As a result, the council needed to refurbish the car park and have a reliable waterproofing solution that would extend the car park’s service life. In addition, this work needed to be finished before the start of the busy summer tourist period.
Concrete Repairs Ltd. and the Triflex Technical Team visited the site to complete an extensive site survey. Testing was also conducted to determine the suitability and compatibility of the substrate and the requirements for its preparation. Triflex DeckFloor was specified for the decks with DeckFloor Ramp System to provide a more aggressive aggregate was to the ramps and inclined areas of the car park. The ramp system incorporates emery aggregate which provides additional traction for those harder wearing areas.
Always a pleasure to walk the spiral ramp of a multi-storey car park, with the extra added pleasure of a passing motorist enquiring after my well being.
“Are You Lost?”
“No I’m taking pictures, but thanks anyway, if I ever am lost I’ll certainly know who to ask.”
Something of an anomaly, combining accommodation with a leisure facility.
The Outlook is ideally suited to students looking for quality, self catering, en suite accommodation in central Bournemouth, just a minute’s walk from the town’s excellent amenities.
The student accommodation has recently completed a comprehensive refurbishment, the work which included considerable redesign, new furnishings and decoration.
Excitingly close to Oasis Fun Bournemouth’s No.1 indoor fun centre.
Want to keep the kids entertained?
Then why not visit Oasis Fun today for a fun-filled experience for the whole family. We have an amazing bowling alley with six lanes, an indoor soft play centre, large Adventure Golf course, arcades and pool tables. Oh, and we have a café serving snacks and a fully licensed bar.
It’s 1892 and the Twentieth Century is about to overwrite the expansive green sward of Northstead and Newlands.
The Manor of Northstead consisted of a medieval manor house surrounded by fields and farms in the parish of Scalby in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The estate originally bordered the northern side of the ancient boundary of the Borough of Scarborough, following the line of Peasholm Beck. The estate passed into the ownership of the Crown during the reign of King Richard III. By 1600, the manor house had fallen into disrepair, being latterly occupied by Sir Richard Cholmeley’s shepherd until it finally collapsed
Walking the streets on a sunny Scarborough day, I was struck by the capricious cornucopia of interwar and postwar architectural styles. These are well kept well behaved homes, many of which were built as imposing apartment blocks, possibly for the seaside retirees, or the transient tourist.
The coast encourages a playful sense of design, referencing vernacular styles and including several decorative devices.
So let’s take a wander around, see what we can see.
It is with deepest regret that despite the best efforts of everyone involved, it has now been confirmed that Lynwood Convalescent Home will close at the end of 2025. Whilst it was previously hoped that Lynwood could remain open for a further period, unfortunately, there are insufficient funds required to keep the Home operating and a sale of the building is progressing.
The Yorkshire Miners’ Welfare Convalescence Home charity who owns the home is continuing to support beneficiaries and staff during this difficult period. The trustees of the Home are currently discussing how the charity will use the funds from the property sale to support beneficiaries going forward and plans will be communicated in the coming weeks and months.
We fully understand the disappointment and impact this decision will have on our beneficiaries and staff. Please be assured that the trustees remain committed to keeping all stakeholders informed about the future of the charity.
Hi, there are a few point that we feel need addressing, the WiFi kept going off. Both shower heads were very high and we could not adjust them. The grouting in the bathroom floor was broken, which made the tiles loose and needs attention. The toilet in the bathroom was loose and felt insecure. The cooker was not properly secured to the housing, it felt loose in the housing. The TV kept loosing signal and the picture would break up – thank God for youtube, as that was pretty good
Apart from the points mentioned the apartment was clean and tidy and very nice.
We have previously stayed at Manor Heath on four occasions and always enjoy it and look forward to our next visit. We stayed in apartment two, which was very comfortable, but would benefit from a coffee table or nest of tablets, so you could relax and put your drinks on it
Reviewed by Sharon 5.0 ★
Seaside Hideaway combines a fantastic North Bay location with comfortable rooms, delicious breakfasts and a warm personal welcome from your hosts, Jim and Sarah.
If you’re thinking about a spring break by the coast, take a look at our spring breaks in Scarborough guide for ideas on where to stay and what to do.
Penrhyn Bay is a peaceful seaside town and residential suburb of Llandudno in Conwy County, North Wales, known for its scenic sand-and-shingle beach. Located east of the Little Orme, it offers coastal walks, rock pooling, and a quiet alternative to nearby bustling resorts. The area is popular for its local community feel, nearby seal spotting, and easy access to North Wales attractions.
Following several recent suburban posts in my local area, I decided to take a train to Colwyn Bay, in order to revisit an old friend, last seen in 2023.
The quality of light and the well behaved deportment of the houses and owners, exuded the demeanour of a model village.
There are new model cars, extensions, impressed drives, garden ornamentation, quirkily rendered reliefs and cladding.
Excellent price – max £4 for whole day. Awkward to exit on foot, it needs more signage, but worth a bit of faffing around for the very reasonable cost. Really easy to pay by phone, although it costs an extra 20p to do this. As other have said, it closes at 8pm, but great for daytime adventures!
2017
Open 24 hours, no lifts but cheap. Always managed to find a space.
2023
Parkopedia
Crosville buses DVG279 and ENL826 head out of Liverpool past the multi-storey car park and AUEW offices in Mount Pleasant.
One of Liverpool’s traditional “Freddie Boswell” street sweepers is going down the hill with his dustcart.
Photo 1985 Chris Palmer
On my way somewhere else, took a left off Lime Street to walk around and about this monumental concrete car park.
I was on my way to see Ed Ruscha amongst other things.
Volare Digital Camera
I think he would have admired the view.
No fancy cladding and a limited pedestrian access, should you happen to be sans auto.
Attached to the car park is the 051 Complex – made for the Liverpool dialling code.
Club 051, ofiveone, The 05’…
Whatever you wish to call it, this iconic venue has touched the hearts of literally hundreds of thousands of clubbers spanning its illustrious history. Those infamous stairs down to the dance floor are truly part of clubbing folklore for those who have walked them, and now because of a team of people who dared to dream, you can once again enjoy the spine chilling ofiveone experience!
For my part I cannot help bur recall the TV show Green Acres whenever I pass by Green Pastures.
Eva Gabor preferring the glamour of Manhattan.
To the rural life.
Culturally and stylistically, Green Pastures sits somewhere betwixt and between.
In reality the fictional life of Green Pastures became Mulberry Close, in the hit TV show Inside No. Nine
Vinette Robinson, Reece Shearsmith, Adrian Scarborough, Steve Pemberton and Dorothy Atkinson.
So much for the scriptwriters wild imaginings, what does the road look like?
A broad sweeping swathe of tarmac, with a range of 70s housing typologies – wall less gardens, where grass becomes easily impressed concrete, gravel and artfully paved car parks.
Asymmetric roof, bedroom balcony with optional infill, ever more pointless integrated garage, as the inflated automobile refuses to fit in.
The ubiquitous carriage lamp, B&Q Georgian front door and hanging basket, all head up the relentless quest to defy period integrity, in favour of a free market, free for all of undiluted historicism.
The future and the past and the houses are infinitely all extendable.
Butetown – or The Docks Tre-biwt is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early 19th century by the 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose title the area was named.
Commonly known as Tiger Bay, this area became one of the UK’s first multiculturalcommunities with people from over fifty countries settled here by the outbreak of the First World War, working in the docks and allied industries. Some of the largest communities included the Somalis, Yemenis and Greeks, whose influence still lives on today.
In 1906, work began on the present-day church, which also serves the Russian Orthodox community in south Wales. Designed by local architects, James and Morgan, it is located on a site provided by the 4th Marquess of Bute, to the west of Bute Street. The modestly-sized building is of Byzantine style with a domed nave and an apse at the east end. It retains the original dedication to StNicholas. The interior is very ornate, with a lot of carved woodwork. The dome and upper walls have painted Biblical scenes in vivid colours with gold decoration.
Loudoun Square was originally built in the mid-1850s as upmarket homes for merchants, mariners, ship brokers and the like around a central park.
Photo 1962
In the 1960s, most of the original housing was demolished including the historic Loudoun Square, the original heart of Butetown. In its place was a typical 1960s housing estate of low-rise courts and alleys, and two high-rise blocks of flats.
Between 1960 and 1966 two sixteen-storey tower blocks, Loudoun House and Nelson House, were built on the centre of Loudoun Square
The demolition of the old buildings in Bute Street gets under way in 1963.
Surveybase have undertaken detailed scanning and modelling prior to the planned post Grenfell re-cladding.
The Loudoun Square regeneration project is a collaboration between Cardiff City Council, Cardiff Community Housing Association, Cardiff Local Health Board and Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust. The site is located between Cardiff City Centre and Cardiff Bay, and was previously occupied by an existing health centre and local shops, together with a vacant area of land.
The area has been regenerated with the creation of new modern facilities to serve the local community and include a new health centre, shops, affordable homes and community facilities.
