Castlegate Co-Production

Live Works has worked with Sheffield City Council, the Department of Archaeology (UoS), local community groups and independent local businesses to co-produce a shared development strategy for the Castle site, alongside various other linked initiatives in the surrounding area.

2014 – ongoing / Castlegate, Sheffield / in partnership with Sheffield City Council, UoS Department of Archaeology, Friends of Sheffield Castle and many others

Since 2014, Live Works has coordinated numerous projects exploring the future of Castlegate, a run-down area of the city centre which is the historic birthplace of the city. Castlegate has been home to 800 years of market trading, theatres, industry and one of the largest castles in England, demolished in 1650. Working with archaeologists, community groups, local businesses and the local council, our students and graduates have developed a clear vision for the future development of the site. This design work, and the participatory research that underpins it, is playing a vital part in a collective community-led campaign to propose the development of a new neighbourhood, accessible to all, that celebrates the rich heritage of the site while creating a viable sustainable future.

The full story of our involvement in Castlegate can be found in the Castlegate CoProduction Index > produced by Live Works with help from our various collaborators.

Selected Projects:

ReMake Castlegate > As part of Festival of the Mind 2014 local people were invited to work with a large physical model of Castlegate, to express, record and share memories, opinions and ideas for the future of the area.

Revealing the Castle > Live Project students worked with Friends of Sheffield Castle, archaeologists and local stakeholders to develop a vision for the regeneration of the Castle site. The vision has been adopted by FoSC and included in their Blueprint for the Castle Site, launched November 2019.

Harmony Works > Live Projects students worked with Sheffield Music Academy and Sheffield Music Hub to produce a vision for the £10m remodelling of a historic building in Castlegate to provide a new centre for young people’s music education and performance.

This vision was developed by Live Works to raise industry sponsorship and significant development funds from Sheffield City Council and the Architectural Heritage Fund to progress the project up to a full Planning Application with Evans Vettori Architects.

Work undertaken with Harmony Works since includes a second Live Project, a Pop-Up Urban Room, and scoping for a third Live Project.

Experience Castlegate > An AR installation that showcases a new 3D digital model of Sheffield Castle in the context of contemporary Castlegate, and invites people to engage with visions for the future of the site.

Castlegate Coproduction > A process facilitated by the Live Works Urban Room which saw several years of community consultation, co-design, data gathering, and research with local stakeholders and the wider Sheffield public. During this process, Live Works has successfully brokered a continuing relationship between the Community, the Council and the City and ensured that the voice of grassroots organisations are reflected in the proposed designs for the area. The results of the co-production process to date was captured in a series of publications by Live Works, including an Urban Room Public Engagement Report and Castlegate Commons Manifesto. Related Live Works research projects include the Castlegate Futures Urban Room. 

Castlegate Commons > The culmination of a co-production process facilitated by Live Works, with a vision produced by Live Project students helping to bring community-led proposals for Castle Park into fruition and begin to set up the structures their delivery. 

Castle Park Catalysts > A co-design project with members of the Events, Stewardship and Pioneers (ESP) working group of the Castlegate Area Board, developing proposals for a series of temporary community amenities for the new Castle Park.