Plans to increase the height of the block of apartments facing the Ecclesall Road roundabout from 22 to 30 storeys are being recommended for council approval on Monday.

Developers Velocity Living had been looking for 36 storeys but council officers believe this would have been stretching it too far, "damaging" the skyline from long distances.

They say it would have competed with higher buildings closer to the city centre, in particular the City Lofts apartments being built off Arundel Gate.

Councillors are being told by their officers that the latest scheme is a big improvement on previous proposals.

"It is by far the best-designed building yet received for this site, creating a dramatic gateway at the Moore Street entrance to the city centre," says a council report.

The tower, designed by Axis Architecture, will accommodate 240 flats. There will be a ground-floor coffee shop and a four-storey link to a 17-storey block that is due to be an aparthotel – serviced apartments – with conference facilities. This, too, has been redesigned.

Not everybody is happy with the glass tower. Staff at nearby Concept House have complained about damage to cars from concrete slurry during construction and a loss of daylight.

But another letter urges the council to raise its ambitions, saying the 36 storeys should have been given the backing of "short-sighted" planners, who are undermining "the enthusiasm and vision of organisations willing to invest in the city".

This "parochial blinkered thinking" scuppered a proposed Ikea store off the Parkway and the project to expand Sheffield Ski Village, it is claimed.

The council says it works to established guidelines. At Moorfoot, it believes, the results will be positive.

"Both the applicant and his architects are local businesses who have already proved to be a creative team in the design of another Velocity scheme at Tenter Street, now almost complete."

Despite the credit crunch, work is continuing on big housing schemes in and around the city centre. Experts say the better the quality and location, the better the chances of success.



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