La Chambre Sheffield: Former swingers club and pub set for new lease of life as part of Attercliffe Waterside

La Chambre on Attercliffe Road was a hugely successful swingers club, boasting 25,000 members during its heyday before shutting its doors for good in 2020, with husband-and-wife Barry and Marie Calvert, who ran the business, blaming Covid for its demise. The building, which was formerly the Robin Hood pub and is known as Staniforth Court, has stood empty ever since.

That’s set to change as The Star can confirm it will form part of the Attercliffe Waterside regeneration scheme, which promises to transform a 23-acre swathe either side of the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal, creating more than 1,000 new homes. Sheffield City Council last month exchanged contracts with developer Citu for the project, which will also include shops, workspaces and an arts venue, creating what has been described as one of the UK’s largest zero-carbon communities.

Staniforth Court was owned by the Canal & River Trust before being sold earlier this year to the council, which said it was unable to confirm the price paid for the property as it had bought a plot of land containing several buildings and the cost was ‘commercially sensitive’.

Citu is due to submit plans for the first phase of the redevelopment, including more than 400 homes, in the coming weeks, with construction scheduled to begin in 2024, subject to planning permission being granted.

A spokesperson for the developer said it could confirm that Staniforth Court was being ‘retained’. They added: “It’s too early to say at this stage what the building’s future will be but the general plans for Attercliffe Waterside are to bring the neighbourhood to life with climate conscious creative workspaces, an arts venue and retail opportunities.”

After La Chambre closed, Mr Calvert told how he and his wife were still getting hundreds of enquiries asking when it would reopen, but the couple were unable to find a suitable venue at which to revive the club. Urban explorers have shared photos showing how the rooms inside have been left much as they were, including the old hot tub, sauna and dungeons, where chains could still be seen hanging from the ceiling.