Sheffield is rightly proud of its green and blue infrastructure.
But is the city really getting the most out of this infrastructure? And how would treating it as a system help?
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The UK’s first Investment Zone has been declared spanning Sheffield city centre, the Lower Don Valley, Rotherham and beyond. The economic objectives are clear, but there is little mention of sustainability.
This feels like a major omission and a lost opportunity. The Investment Zone is home to many businesses that support a sustainable future. Sheffield has committed to net zero carbon by 2030 and is known for its pioneering work to create sustainable urban places. Why not build on this experience and know-how to create the UK’s “greenest” Investment Zone?
Imagine extending Grey to Green across Sheffield city centre and using the river, canal, railway, roads and development sites of the Lower Don Valley to showcase what an adaptive and resilient urban environment should be.
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I had my first taste of the Canary Islands this year. I was prepared for black sand on Lanazarote, steep volcanic hills (we were planning to cycle) and palm trees (we were staying in Haria, in the “valley of a thousand palms”). But the work of Cesar Manrique was an unexpected delight.
Lanzarote is very different from South Yorkshire and yet many of the themes explored in his work are familiar: striking landform, vernacular buildings, long views, local materials. Could reflecting on his approach help us build better homes and places?
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South Yorkshire Housing Association is 50 this year.
How have we managed to stay true to our founder’s mission?
Part of the answer lies in the consistency of our leadership: we have had only two Chief Executives in our 50-year history, John Belcher and Tony Stacey. It is also because of the quality of those two leaders and their commitment to our purpose.
Tony has announced his imminent, and well-deserved, retirement after 27 years. This blog uses the refurbishment of a former homeless hostel to tell the story of Tony’s contribution to South Yorkshire Housing Association.
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At South Yorkshire Housing Association we have brought our Home Maintenance Team and our Neighbourhood Estate Action Team together in a new, shared depot.
The result is a depot like no other. What makes the design of this depot and the rest of our workspace uniquely South Yorkshire Housing Association's?
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At South Yorkshire Housing Association we are delighted to have been named Landlord of the Year in the UK Housing Awards.
Our video submission captures the strength and integrity of our brand: how our images, stories, evidence and tone of voice come together to articulate and communicate our values and purpose.
This blog tells the story of how we developed our brand.
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South Yorkshire Housing Association has ventured into a new type of housing: 225 flats for market rent in Kelham Island, Sheffield's most up and coming urban neighbourhood, recently voted one of the top 10 places to live in the UK.
These new homes are aimed at a new audience for us and needed a new approach to branding. But how to create a brand that is authentic, celebrates the neighbourhood and communicates our social values?
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Another batch of Live Projects - 17 in all - has just come to an end, beautifully curated and facilitated by Sam Brown from Sheffield’s School of Architecture.
Live Projects have been a key feature of training architects in Sheffield. They have also had real impact in the city and beyond. Why do they work so well?
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We know that libraries are transformational. What interests me is the difference that good design can make to elevate the transformational impact of libraries. Here are three examples:
#1 A library building - the Learning Zone in Parson Cross, Sheffield
#2 A curated library - at South Yorkshire Housing Association’s Rockingham Street workspace
#3 A Human Library - an event co-produced with South Yorkshire Housing Association’s customers and employees
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Neighbourhood Strategies in north Sheffield - how it started
In the first decade of the 21st century, a small experiment took place in north Sheffield: a group of us wanted to see if we could create a strategic and visionary masterplan for 6 neighbourhoods (50,000 population) starting not with facts and technical analysis, but with local people's stories and ideas.
Two things inspired this approach.
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At South Yorkshire Housing Association we want our customers’ experience with us to be a joy.
Since 2013 we have been exploring through a series of test projects how participatory arts can add value to our purpose: with us you can settle at home, live well and realise your potential. We call this programme Moments of Joy.
This year the programme has had fresh impetus as a direct result of the pandemic: as we locked down our extra care housing (homes for people aged 55 and over) we knew we had to do more to connect with people isolated in their homes.
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The pandemic has helped us all notice the joy in small everyday details, the flowers, the birdsong. Staying close to home, walking daily through local streets and green spaces, has helped us appreciate the natural world around us.
And at the same time, the massive overnight reduction in road and air traffic, the resulting improvement in air quality, the reduced noise and the fragility of our food chains, has focused our minds on the bigger picture of climate change and our relationship with the natural world.
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