Cemetery Road

Cemetery Road is a 3600 sqm new build mixed-use scheme sited one mile southwest of Sheffield City centre. The project is the second undertaken for the client of the successful Sinclair Building in the city. The site borders the local conservation area to the south and east and is located within an established inner suburb, adjacent to the Sheffield General Cemetery.

This high density project comprises nine townhouses flanking a raised courtyard garden, all above a shared semi basement car park, located to take advantage of the sloping site. Three commercial units at ground level with six apartments and an 180sqm penthouse above are located within a four-storey block that fronts Cemetery Road and provides the public face of the scheme.

The internal arrangements of the two blocks of houses are configured to maximise privacy between neighbours with the principal habitable rooms of the easterly block facing the staircases and ancillary accommodation to the rear across the courtyard. Both house types are designed with dynamic cross sections and make a generous provision of balcony and roof terrace areas.

The elevations addressing the conservation area are clad in locally sourced traditional sandstone; a material that was widely used throughout the city in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We have juxtaposed the rough hewn riven face of the stone with bright anodized aluminium and black stained batten on board cladding to hint at the more radical architectural language within the courtyard. Here materials are composed to more tectonic effect and express the configuration of spaces of the houses and flats.

The project won a RIBA National Award, a Civic Trust Award, British Homes Award Apartment Building of the Year and a Yorkshire White Rose Award.