Sheffield City Council has chosen real estate developer Urban Splash as its preferred bidder to restore the former Cole Brothers building in the UK city.

Urban Splash plans to renovate the building into a mixed-use community, with most of its portions to be reopened to the public.

This project’s key goal is to redevelop the structure into a place to meet, dine, and shop as part of the larger city centre.

Splash collaborated with UK-based architects AHMM on the bid.

AHMM co-founder Simon Allford said: “The refurbishment of the Grade 2-Listed Cole Brothers building is perhaps the key project in the ongoing reinvigoration of the Sheffield city centre.

“We have worked with the Urban Splash team for many years and we look forward to collaborating with both them and the city of Sheffield.”

This project will open up the Barker’s Pool and Cambridge Street entrances to enable on-street dining.

The remaining ground level will comprise shops with a focus on independent businesses. Lower ground floors will be used for leisure.

Meanwhile, the upper floors will feature workspaces, studio spaces, rooftop offices, a gym, as well as a pocket park at the top of the existing car park. 

This current car park will be retained but with fewer parking areas reserved exclusively for building tenants.

Splash's regeneration director Mark Latham said: “This scheme bears all of the hallmarks of an Urban Splash project; from Park Hill to similar urban and civic-listed buildings in cities all across England, our portfolio is filled with award-winning schemes that have been transformed through working with an original building, keeping the best of the old, while adding new design ideas and new life.

“We will adopt a similar approach in our plans for Cole Brothers - engaging with local people as we immerse ourselves in the heritage and emotional connections many have here. There’s a lot of hard work ahead, but we are excited to get started as we take on another Sheffield icon.”