What kind of developments are working best in Sheffield and South Yorkshire?
We are finding demand continues to be strong for one- and two-bedroom apartments in Sheffield city centre. There is also a huge demand for three-and four-bedroom family homes close to local and regional centres. We are designing a range of multi-family and clustered housing types in sustainable, walkable places which are compatible in scale with more traditional residential neighbourhoods.
What needs to happen to keep people working in offices and urban centres?
Humans are social creatures and even after the Covid-19 crisis which saw many working from home, people are choosing to return to the office to realise the benefits of being around colleagues and reinforcing relationships through ‘face-to-face’ contact. Our urban centres should support our natural instinct to ‘gather’ and continue to evolve and develop a broader appeal. They should be attractive, vibrant environments that people want to visit, not only to work and do business in but to live and spend their leisure time in.
I would like to see our town and city centres become greener with people-friendly, public spaces that encourage people to meet and socialise with their colleagues, friends, and families. I strongly believe vibrant urban centres should provide more affordable and diverse housing options linked via public transport and better walking and cycling infrastructure, to employment, education, local shops, public open spaces and parks, health and community services, and leisure and culture.
What kind of property do we need to be seeing within inner cities to keep people there?
We need to be seeing larger apartments and homes with three+ bedrooms that are suitable for a greater range of households and critically, families. Supported by local services and amenities, larger homes will provide more options to continue to live in inner cities, and not make people feel they have no choice other than to move to the suburbs as their life circumstances change.
What developments are Coda doing right now that are contributing to keeping people in South Yorkshire’s dense urban areas?
We are very active in the inner-city neighbourhoods of Kelham Island, Neepsend and Shalesmoor. We are also working on a new local centre for Waverley with Harworth and delivering hundreds of homes at Waverley with Sky House.
If you want to discuss bringing your idea to life, check out Coda at www.codaarchitecture.co.uk
