Riverside Court Hotel

Nursery Street
Sheffield
S3 8GG

Applicant: Mr Inderjit Singh

Agent: Provesta

Design and Access Statement

Introduction
The building has deteriorated due to lack of investment under previous owners and the
general downturn in the fortunes of The Wicker district. After a period of business
stabilisation the current owner is keen to bring the property back into full use and has
embarked on a programme of essential repairs to the external fabric and refurbishment
of the interior.

The traditional hotel operation has declined commercially in recent years due to the
development of a large number of newer hotels in the immediate area. Consequently the
owner is realigning the business to cater for increasing demand from budget travellers
requiring en-suite bedroom facilities and breakfast-to-go. The integral hotel restaurant is
not expected to have a future at Riverside Court due to the increasing choice and quality
available on Sheffield's "Curry Mile" on The Wicker.

Therefore a key element for the future success is to delete the unused ground floor hotel
public bar and restaurant facilities to create self contained units fronting onto and
accessed from The Wicker / Nursery Street. The change of use to the ground floor will
allow the building to come back into full use and provide a useful future without
demolition and redevelopment of the site.

Existing use and site context:

The improvements and alterations to the property identify with the aspirations of the
Council's Wicker Riverside Action Plan 2007-2017. In particular by creating live ground
floor uses the proposal reconnects the pivotal junction of Nursery Street (Riverside) and
The Wicker to the Castlegate zone.

The premises are currently used as a hotel comprising two co-joined properties with
ground floor bar, restaurant, reception and back of house services such as office, kitchen
and toilet amenities.

The ground floor is divided by decorative columns into structural bays which have
received a variety of infills in the past, some with doors, some plywood panelling and
some part or fully glazed with obscure glass and inconsistently sized openings. At some
time the main entrance has been moved away from the original entrance to a more
central position. A retail unit in the right hand building was shuttered up around ten
years ago and became part of the hotel envelope.The public bar and restaurant /
breakfast room was located immediately off the original entrance. Kitchens were located
to the other side of the entrance necessitating carrying of meals through the lobby area.
By its nature the current hotel use is inward looking to the its immediate environment
and does not present an active face to the street.
The basement has had a variety of uses in the past, including a tea room and most
recently as a club and restaurant. Some original fittings are still in place but the
basement as a whole has not been used in recent years.

The upper floors are utilised as hotel accommodation.

Change of use:
Upper floors are to remain in hotel use and dare not part of this application.

The ground floor will be reconfigured and converted to units for commercial occupation
in the following use classes:
• A1 Shops
• A2 Financial and professional services
• A3 Restaurants and Cafés
• A5 Hot food takeaways

The basement will remain unused apart from maintenance access and does not form a
part of this application.

Design
The previous timber ad-hoc ground floor timber / aluminium / glazed frontages are
replaced with a unified aluminium system and full height glazed shopfronts.

The hotel entrance is reinstated to its original position beneath the arched pediment
adjoining Unit 7.

A new reception area leads to the hotel lobby and stairway with the original tiled floor
featuring the tiled Gilmour's logo is uncovered and featured in the doorway.

The facia is renovated to be suitable for future signage which will be the subject of later
planning applications as appropriate. Existing swan neck light fittings have been
retained.

The existing ground floor timber and obscure glass infill panels experienced many years
of neglect and deterioration past the point of viable repair. Replacement with aluminium
frames with full height glazing allows the ground floor spaces to be opened up to the
street to create viable commercial units.

Servicing and bin storage will take place from the off-road service area on Gun Lane at
the rear of the building.

Flues will be routed at the rear of the building above the service area to the satisfaction
of SCC's Environmental Services department.

Access
The proposals will comply with Approved Document M of the Building Regulations.

Street entrances have level access from the footway with the exception of Unit 7 (Hotel
Café) which has alternative access from within the hotel.

Limited car parking is available to the rear of the premises but this is alleviated by
ongoing agreements with a nearby NCP car park for discounted client parking.

Flood Risk Assessment

Sheffield City Council categorise the premises as Zone 3a(i) Designated Floodplain. The
Environment Agency defines Flood Zone 3a – High Probability as
This zone comprises land assessed as having a 1 in 100 or greater annual probability of
river flooding (>1%) or a 1 in 200 or greater annual probability of flooding from the sea
(>0.5%) in any year.

The premises sit on a slightly elevated platform at the junction of Nursery Street and
The Wicker and have not been subjected to flooding during the tenure of the current
owner. The owner reports that no flood waters entered the ground floor of the premises
during the major 2007 flood event and no insurance claim was made.

Despite this the premises are strictly within the area determined as being at risk of
flooding. Preliminary discussions with Sheffield City Council and the Environment Agency
indicate that with a satisfactory outcome to a detailed study it may be possible to re-
designate the zone, however for the porpoises of this application the premises will be
restricted to uses permitted within the Zone 3a(i) designation, i.e.
• A1 Shops
• A2 Financial and professional services
• A3 Restaurants and Cafés
• A5 Hot food takeaways

The basement will not be used and access to the those areas is restricted for essential
maintenance purposes only. The owner will put in place operational procedures to
alleviate risks to persons from flood water.
Images

New frontage during refurbishment.