Henry Boot Construction and Ares Landscape Architects at the centre of Sheffield’s thriving public realm transformation

Some of Sheffield’s leading property businesses, including Henry Boot Construction and Ares Landscape Architects, are joining forces across many of the city’s flagship public realm projects, as Sheffield City Council continues to bring its ‘Outdoor City’ principles into the region.

Sheffield City Council has invested in delivering high-quality public spaces, including the award-winning Grey to Green scheme in Castlegate, Fitzalan Square, Pound’s Park and Charter Square. To do this they have procured businesses rooted in Sheffield.

Having worked together previously on Sheffield’s Olympic Legacy Park, Henry Boot Construction and Ares Landscape Architects have just completed work on the city centre’s landmark 14-storey apartment block Kangaroo Works, on Rockingham Street.

The client, Ridgeback Group, commissioned 365 new homes – a mix of one, two and three-bed apartments, which forms part of the wider Heart of the City masterplan.

The stylish complex is complemented by a landscape design creating a split-level central courtyard, roof terraces, new streetscapes and rain gardens. Central to the success of these spaces is a considered planting palette, providing residents with a lush, verdant environment, long floral displays and a ‘closeness to nature’ not always possible within an urban setting.

Once the plants have fully established this summer, they will perform more than one function. Whilst aesthetically pleasing, many of the planted areas fulfil a role in storing stormwater and are resilient to drought and heavy rainfall.

Craig Finn, Director at Henry Boot Construction, said: “There is a benchmark being set for public realm in the city and, as a business that calls Sheffield its home, we are proud to be playing our part in the transformation.

“With major ambitions to bring more and more homes into the city centre to help support local business, protect the green belt and drive economic growth, it is vital that local authorities, developers, architects and contractors all work closely together to create attractive, accessible and multi-functional outdoor spaces – enabling people to live healthy and vibrant lives.”

Discussing the collaboration on Kangaroo Works with Henry Boot Construction, Ares Landscape Architects Director, Ben Handley, added: “Landscape design can sometimes be an afterthought on developments, but at Kangaroo Works, it has been integral to the scheme from day one. We collaborated closely with Henry Boot throughout the construction phase. They remained flexible whenever challenges arose and, ultimately, reflected our vision and completed the work to an incredibly high standard.

“There is a shared understanding within the property sector in Sheffield that outdoor public space is our city’s true unique selling point. It is something we need to continue pushing forwards and matching the lofty standards that have already been set on Grey to Green and Heart of the City.”

Henry Boot Construction has delivered three adjacent schemes in the Heart of the City masterplan – Elshaw House, Cambridge Street Collective and Pound’s Park. Ares Landscape Architects is working on the Council’s major public realm makeover of Fargate – backed by the Future High Street Fund.