Arts Tower
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The Arts Tower is a building at 12 Bolsover Street in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
belonging to the
University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...
and opened in 1966. A spokesperson for
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
described it as "the most elegant university tower block in Britain of its period". At 255 feet (78 m) tall, it is the second tallest building in the city, after the 331 feet (101 m)
St Paul's Tower St Paul's Tower is a skyscraper located on Arundel Gate in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Construction commenced in May 2006 and the building was topped out in August 2010, surpassing Sheffield University's Arts Tower as the tallest buil ...
on Arundel Gate, which was topped out in 2009.
Mitchell Construction Mitchell Construction was once a leading British civil engineering business based in Peterborough. History The business was founded by F.G. (Tiny) Mitchell in London in 1933 as an offshoot of Mitchell Engineering, his engineering business. In 1 ...
a British civil engineering firm, built the Arts Tower. Photographs from their topping out ceremony in October 1964 help to document a different era in UK working conditions.


Architecture

Designed by architects Gollins, Melvin, Ward & Partners, construction of the tower started in 1961 and lasted four years. Contrary to popular belief, there is no documentary evidence to suggest that the design was directly inspired by the similar, but much larger,
Seagram Building The Seagram Building is a skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with minor assistance from Philip Johnson, Ely Jacques Kahn, ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, or for the theory linking it to the
CIS Tower The CIS Tower is an office skyscraper on Miller Street in Manchester, England. Designed for the Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) by architects Gordon Tait and G. S. Hay, the building was completed in 1962 and rises to 118 m (387 feet) in h ...
and
New Century House New Century House is an office building with an attached conference hall, in the NOMA district of Manchester, England. New Century House is high and has 14 levels. There is office space, conference facilities, catering facilitates and a gym. Hi ...
in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
- although the similarity of aesthetics between the four buildings is undeniable. When asked about the possible inspiration of
Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...
's buildings in the United States, GMW project architect Robert Smith explained instead that the form of the building came from the surrounding context. Entry to the building was originally made by a wide 'bridge' between fountains over a shallow pool area in front of the building. This pool was eventually drained and covered over when it was found that strong down drafts of wind hitting the building on gusty days caused the fountain to soak people entering and exiting the building. Circulation is through two ordinary lifts and a
paternoster lift A paternoster (, , or ) or paternoster lift is a passenger elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments (each usually designed for two people) that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building without stopping. Passengers can ...
which, at 38 cars, is the largest of the few surviving in the United Kingdom. A bridge at the mezzanine level links the tower to Western Bank Library. This building was also designed by Gollins, Melvin, Ward & Partners—the two buildings are intended to be viewed together.Harman, R. & Minnis, J. (2004) ''Pevsner City Guides: Sheffield'', pp82–84. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. The Arts Tower and Library are
Grade II* listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. The buildings can be visited during office hours, although visitors may have to sign a register and show identification.


Original accommodation

The building was officially opened by
Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...
in June 1966; it has 20 storeys and a
mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...
level above ground. These housed the Departments of
Landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...
,
Modern Languages A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such a ...
,
Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
,
Biblical Studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...
, and
Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
as well as the library administration, before the building's refurbishment. As its name suggests, the building originally housed all 18 of the University's arts departments, which had far fewer students in the 1960s. Noticeboards for long rehoused departments such as History and Social Science survive in the basement foyer area. There are also two floors below ground level that house nine lecture theatres. The building contains a
cafe A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...
in the basement. It has a student computer room on the 10th floor, and a self-service language teaching centre on the second.


Refurbishment

In December 2007, the University announced plans for a major refurbishment of the Arts Tower. The refurbishment saw a major re-organisation of the building's interior, as well as a new façade, and coincided with the move of the modern languages departments to the Jessop West building, on the former
Jessop Hospital __NOTOC__ The Jessop Hospital for Women was a hospital in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. At the time of its closure in 2001, it was managed by the Central Sheffield University Hospitals NHS Trust. History Early history Following a large ...
site. The building was vacated in April 2009, with refurbishment taking approximately two years to complete. The work was finished in time for the beginning of the 2011-12 academic year; the building is still used for teaching, with the top nine floors allocated to the University's School of Architecture and Departments of Landscape.


References and notes

{{university of Sheffield Buildings and structures completed in 1965 Grade II* listed buildings in Sheffield Sheffield University buildings and structures Skyscrapers in Sheffield Grade II* listed educational buildings