Regent Court is a block of

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

in the

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

district of

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 ...

. It is located on Bradfield Road and is close to the Hillsborough shopping area and about half a mile from the Sheffield Wednesday football ground. The building was designed in 1936 by Edgar Gardham and completed in 1937; it was the largest housing complex in the city at the time. Little is known of the architect and he designed a similar apartment block that was in Duke Street,

; this was demolished after the Second World War. While he also designed some housing for local authority development in other parts of the country, Regent Court was his most well known commission. According to an article published in the Sheffield Daily Independent on Saturday 13 November 1937, the vision and capital to undertake the building came from Armin Krausz who travelled extensively, making a thorough study of this kind of building. The site was a man-made swamp because of its vicinity to the Nether Owlerton Dam that had served the Nether Owlerton Wheel works which meant that the footings for the building were much deeper than originally planned. Despite lying in a

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

area, the building boasted high specifications and

rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

s. With styling loosely inspired by in the

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

style, it was arguably the first workers' housing of the modern movement in the UK, preceding the purer Kensal House in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

by a year. Regent Court was built round three sides of a square with the open side facing south and is nine storeys high in the main block and seven storeys on the east and west wings with a central entrance leading to a communal lounge. The central block and each wing have a lift though these are quite small and slow; there is no service lift. In total, it comprises 202 flats, ranging from one to three

bedroom A bedroom or bedchamber is a room situated within a residential or accommodation unit characterised by its usage for sleeping and sexual activity. A typical western bedroom contains as bedroom furniture one or two beds (ranging from a crib for ...

s which are accessed along open balcony walkways. The heating at Regent Court is included with the rent as is the constant supply of hot water. Each flat was self contained and also had its own sun balcony; some of those have now been incorporated into the internal living space of the flat. Kitchenettes were equipped with modern devices and the bathrooms had both a toilet and a bath. There was an on site laundrette. Each flat owner has to contribute to the cost of upkeep/maintenance of the block and pay for things like the caretaker's wage, gardening, heating etc. When originally built, Regent Court had a

Tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be u ...

and gardens, some lock up garages and a children's playground. In the 1930s this was fairly far sighted. The proposed swimming pool and bowling green were never built, perhaps due to cost and possibly the war. An article written in the Sheffield Property Guide (Saturday 24 June 1972) stated that by the 1960s the flats had deteriorated to near slums and had new owners in 1971 who began renovating them. The renovations included the replacement of a leaky roof and the replacement of the coal fired heating system with an oil fired three boiler system; 3 new lifts were custom built at a cost of £30,000. All empty flats were refurbished, including rewiring and redecorating and then offered for sale. Regent Court was renovated again the late 1990s after years of neglect and it is now a popular residential location. The flats were used in the film,

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film is s ...

and also on the artwork of

Made in Sheffield ''Made in Sheffield'' is a documentary film on the history of the music scene in the city of Sheffield, England from 1975 until 1983. The film was directed Eve Wood and produced by Sheffield Vision and Slackjaw Film in 2001. It features bands su ...

, an album by

Tony Christie Anthony Fitzgerald (born 25 April 1943), known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of "(Is This the Way To) Amarillo "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is a song writt ...

(a former resident).

References

*''

Pevsner Architectural Guides The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of Great Britain and Ireland. Begun in the 1940s by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the original Buildings of England series were published b ...

: Sheffield'', Ruth Harman and John Minnis {{SheffieldStructures Buildings and structures in Sheffield Hillsborough, South Yorkshire Residential buildings completed in 1937