Topping out ceremony marks milestone in Sheffield Hallam University’s city campus development

27th June 2023

South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard has joined Sheffield Hallam University and partners to celebrate the ‘topping out’ of the University’s new city centre campus development.

The topping out ceremony, which took place today (Tuesday 27 June), marks the milestone of reaching the highest point in the construction of the multi-million-pound development on Howard Street. The first phase of the development is due to be completed in Spring 2024.

The mayor was invited to visit the construction site alongside the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Chris Husbands, design and construction partners BAM, CBRE and BDP Arup, as well as and Sheffield Hallam students and apprentices currently on placement with construction partners BAM and CBRE.

The first phase of the campus plan will deliver state-of-the-art facilities for students and staff, as well as enhancing a major gateway to Sheffield City Centre and creating a vibrant site for the wider community to share.

Three new net-zero ready buildings will be set around Hallam Green, a new green public space at the heart of the campus.

The buildings will provide a new home for the Sheffield Business School; the College of Social Sciences and Arts including SHU Law, the University’s not-for-profit teaching law firm, and a South Yorkshire Institute of Technology site as well as providing several food outlets and social spaces.

Hallam Green will provide more than 400 square meters of new greenery and spaces for up to 150 people to sit and relax. The University has invested significantly in biodiversity as part of the development with green roofs and roof terraces, and green corridors, an integral part of the plans.

Designs include the latest technology and measures to make the new buildings zero carbon ready. They include the use of sustainable energy solutions such as heat pumps, maximising the use of photo voltaic panels and provisions to support and promote sustainable travel.

Sheffield Hallam University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Chris Husbands, said:

“Delivering this first phase of the campus plan represents a significant investment in our University and our city, and we’re proud to have reached this milestone in the construction.

“This development is one of the pledges in Sheffield Hallam’s Civic University Agreement and we are committed to delivering outstanding facilities for the university community, modelling zero carbon ready construction, and to working with local partners to ensure that we maximise the benefits for Sheffield and the wider region.”

South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard said: 

“I’m delighted to see the development of Sheffield Hallam University’s new city centre campus, which is a significant investment not just in the future of its students but into South Yorkshire itself.

“The facilities being created for Hallam’s next generation of student’s are genuinely state-of-the-art, offering first class teaching facilities and doing it in a way that’s carbon neutral. This is yet more evidence of South Yorkshire’s ambition and drive to build a new future; a future I’m proud to be working with Sheffield Hallam University to help create.”

Campus plans are being developed by a number of key partners as part of collaborative ‘Hallam Alliance’. The first of its kind in the UK for a university building programme, the Alliance involves all design, construction and facilities management partners working collaboratively with the client through all stages of design, construction and operation.

Members of the Alliance include Sheffield Hallam University, BDP ARUP (Design), BAM (Construction) and CBRE (Facilities Management).