Millennium Square is a modern city square in

Sheffield Sheffield is a 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 historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

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 was created as part of the Heart of the City project that began in 1998 and has become a central feature in Sheffield's redeveloped city centre. It contains fountains in the shape of steel spheres, recalling Sheffield's past as a centre of the steel making industry, whilst linking with the fountains of the Peace Gardens, as well as

Sheaf Square Sheaf Square is a municipal square lying immediately east of the city centre of Sheffield, England. The sides of the square are lined with major buildings: Sheffield railway station, the Showroom Cinema, Sheffield Science Park, the early ninetee ...

, Hallam Square and Barkers Pool. The square forms part of the 'Gold Route', designed by Sheffield City Council to guide visitors through the city centre from Sheffield Station to Devonshire Green. Part of the space now part of the square was previously occupied by the Town Hall Extension. This building, constructed in the 1970s, was demolished in the early 2000s to make way for the wave of new developments in the Heart of the City project. The Square, which is in fact triangular, was designed by Architects Allies and Morrison and is surrounded by new developments on three sides and the redeveloped Peace Gardens on the remaining side. The surface of the square is made up of a suspended

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

slab covered with

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

paving. The surface is covered with hundreds of LED lights which are used to illuminate both square itself and the steel water features throughout it. The square is intended to form a link between the Winter and Peace Gardens and also the

St Paul's Place St Paul's Place is part of the Heart of the City project in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It encompasses the new office blocks surrounding the Peace Gardens, the car park and is linked to the St. Pauls Tower. According to the St Pauls ...

development, which is home to Sheffield's tallest building. The square is surrounded in all sides by new or renovated structures, with the Peace Gardens and Town Hall on one side and a multitude of new buildings on the three remaining sides.

Water features

The steel balls in the square, of which are there are nine, are water features that were subject of a design competition held in 2003. The winner, artist Colin Rose, designed the feature in order to symbolise the steel,

craftsmanship Workmanship is a human attribute relating to knowledge and skill at performing a task. Workmanship is also a quality imparted to a product. The type of work may include the creation of handcrafts, art, writing, machinery and other products. Workman ...

stonework Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, m ...

and

water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

which are symbolic of Sheffield's industrial heritage. The Piece is called ‘Rain’ and is designed to evoke the falling of rain drops upon the ground, with the small pools at the base of each steel ball creating the ripple effect.

References

Squares in Sheffield Buildings and structures celebrating the third millennium {{SouthYorkshire-geo-stub