| Kings Tower | |
|---|---|
 An artists impression of Kings Tower viewed fromChurch Street | |
 Interactive map of Kings Tower | |
| General information | |
| Status | Approved |
| Type | Residential |
| Location | Castle Square, 51–57High Street, Sheffield City Centre |
| Coordinates | 53°23′00″N1°27′56″W / 53.3834°N 1.4656°W /53.3834; -1.4656 |
| Construction started | Summer 2022 (planned) |
| Completed | 2023 (planned) |
| Cost | £40 million (projected) |
| Height | |
| Roof | 120 m (390 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 40 |
| Lifts/elevators | 2 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Hodder + Partners |
| Developer | SFGE Properties |
Kings Tower is an approvedskyscraper[a] that will be located onCastle Square at the junction ofHigh Street and Angel Street inSheffield, South Yorkshire. With a planned height of 120 m (390 ft) once completed,[1] Kings Tower will overtakeSt Pauls Tower (current tallest building) as thetallest building in Sheffield and in Yorkshire.[2] Plans for the tower were submitted by architectsHodder + Partners in September 2020, calling initially for a 39-storey tower.[3] Planning permission was granted in December 2020,[4] and construction is planned to complete in 2023.[3] Amended plans were submitted in late 2022, adding a 40th floor to the project.
Kings Tower will be located in theCastlegate area ofSheffield City Centre, on a site bounded by High Street to the south, Angel Street to the west, King Street to the north and theEasyHotel building on Haymarket to the east. The area has undergone a wider redevelopment in the late 2010s and early 2020s as part of theCastlegate Grey to Green Scheme and theCastle Market redevelopment. The site is served byCastle Square tram stop on theSheffield Supertram network.
The site of Kings Tower is part of theCastlegate Quarter, the historic centre of Sheffield associated with the formerSheffield Castle at the confluence of the RiversSheaf andDon. Located up the hill from the castle, the site was occupied by a townmarketplace established byRoyal Charter as early as 1296. The existing market on the site was demolished and redeveloped as theFitzalan Market in 1786, which was subsequently refurbished in 1855.[5]
With the construction ofCastle Hill Market (which would later become the redevelopedCastle Market) in 1930, Fitzalan Market was demolished and the site was replaced by a retail building which was completed in 1932.[5] This was known as theBurton Building, as the ground floor retail space was occupied byBurton Menswear, while the upper floors contained abilliard room and aroller skating rink.[5]
DuringWorld War II, the Burton Building was badly damaged byLuftwaffeair raids during theSheffield Blitz of 1940.[5] The badly damaged building remained derelict for over a decade, as theSheffield Corporation could not afford funds for a replacement and, in later years, had drawn up plans to replace the site with aroundabout at the head ofArundel Gate. Plans for the roundabout were subsequently scaled down to form the smallerHole in the Road scheme atCastle Square, and the site again became available for redevelopment. In 1962, the Burton Building was demolished and replaced by aPeter Robinson'sdepartment store.[5]
The first branch ofTopshop was opened in the third floor of the Robinson's Building in 1964.[5] Peter Robinson's subsequently ceased trading in 1974, with the upper floors becoming aC&A store while the ground floor was occupied by a furniture store operated byWaring & Gillow. By the 1990s, these retailers had moved out and the entire building was occupied byPrimark.[5] Following the construction of their new-build store across the city centre onThe Moor in 2016, Primark vacated the Robinson's Building and it once again became unoccupied.[5]
The design consists of a central 40-storey residential tower on the plot of land previously occupied byPrimark in the Robinson's Building, which will be demolished to make way for the skyscraper.[6] The adjacent Kings Buildings to the immediate east, currently occupied by anEasyHotel, will be retained and refurbished, with an area of the second floor of the building that is presently unoccupied being amalgamated into the Kings Tower residential scheme.[6]
Kings Tower is planned to contain 206 residentialapartments.[6] There will be a provision for retail space on the ground floor. King Street will be refurbished, retaining itspedestrianisedmarket stalls.[6] Sitting in a prominent location in the city centre on the edge ofCastle Square at the head of bothArundel Gate and theHigh Street, Kings Tower will feature a curvedfaçade on these two sides featuring large windows separated by narrowfluted columns ofPortland stone.[7] The remainder of the building, including much of the lower floors, will beclad in whitebrickslips to match, accentuated with smaller, randomly placed windows.[7] The overall scheme is forecast to cost £40 million.[7]
No formal start date for construction has yet been given, although a tentative start date of "summer 2022" and ending date of 2023 has been stated in planning documents.[7] As of January 2025 work has not started.