(Castle)Gateway

Can the integration of refugees into an area of decline provide grass roots opportunities for regeneration, trade and work? Based in the heart of Sheffield’s historic city centre, the proposal of a vocational enterprise and support facility, aims to change preconceptions of the effects that increasing refugee populations is having on our economies. The proposal seeks to highlight what can be learnt and gained from migrant communities, whilst addressing issues in Castlegate of unemployment, a lack of vocational training, and a vast number of under-used buildings. The re-appropriation of an “at risk” grade II listed building, The Old Town Hall, provides the base for a hive of creative and cultural activity with construction and vocational trade training at the core of the project’s programme.