Located on the site of the former Don Valley Stadium in Attercliffe, the flagship athletics venue for the 1991 World Student Games, Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park is an economic development project on a nationally significant scale that will completely transform the eastern quarter of the city into a vibrant, world-class community for the health, wellbeing, sport and activity sectors.
Burnished by a unique agreement with the British Olympic Association that makes it the only venue outside a host city to be permitted to use the name ‘Olympic’, the Park is already home to well-established sporting facilities with an impressive track record in cultivating elite athletes, such as The English Institute of Sport Sheffield and Ice Sheffield.
Since its inception in 2014 and January 2021, Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park has secured over £100m of investment to deliver several key projects, namely the Oasis Academy Don Valley – a coeducational school which admits students between the ages of 2 to 16 years, UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, which specialises in computing, health sciences and sport science, and Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, a state-of the-art, research and design facility aimed at transforming lives through innovations that help people move. Canon Medical Systems Europe has also recently completed its Canon Medical Arena, which is the UK’s first affordable net-zero carbon built sports, healthcare and community arena featuring an integrated Medical Diagnostic Centre.
Scarborough Group’s involvement in the Park dates back to 2018 when we acquired the Community Stadium site from Sheffield City Council. We later concluded a wider agreement with Sheffield City Council to deliver the next phase of development, which comprises 1m sq ft of commercial space across an 80-acre zone around the established facilities.
At the heart of the next phase of development will be an ‘Innovation Centre’ to support start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs in collaboration and innovation, as well as ‘Move-On’ space for more established companies. Custom design and build opportunities for major corporates will also be available.
Flexible managed business space is now readily available in the Community Stadium building, which also provides a professional-quality, floodlit artificial grass pitch with covered grandstand that is home to Sheffield Eagles RLFC and Barnsley Women FC.
Among the next wave of occupiers to have a presence on the Park is Sheffield Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which has recently benefitted from the Government’s Levelling-Up Fund to deliver the National Centre for Child Health Technology; a ground-breaking facility that will deliver the world’s most advanced integrated healthcare system for children.
The Park also sits at the heart of the South Yorkshire Innovation District. This area will be the focus of future industrial and economic growth in the region and is based upon applied research and innovation in the life science, advanced manufacturing and creative and digital media sectors.
“Sheffield is a city that has always championed our fantastic sports teams, events and legacy so it’s no surprise we are the only city outside of London to have an Olympic Legacy Park. It’s fantastic to see the site continue to grow, with the new Community Stadium providing a permanent home for Sheffield Eagles, as well as creating a dedicated space for people to train and play sports together, from professionals to schoolchildren. We want everyone to take advantage of the brilliant facilities available, which will support more people to lead active healthy lifestyles and inspire our future athletes for generations to come.”
Kate Martin, Executive Director of City Futures at Sheffield City Council
