Riverside
Sheffield’s waterside business district and gateway to Kelham Island
The Riverside Quarter, also known as Riverside Exchange, occupies a prominent stretch of the Don Valley on the northern side of the city centre. One of Sheffield’s eleven designated city‑centre quarters, it extends from West Bar and Bridge Street across to Castlegate, Exchange Place and the Parkway, with its northern edge defined by the Wicker Viaduct, Spitalfields, Nursery Street and the riverside walkway.
Historically, this was an intensely industrial area. In the 1760s it hosted one of the earliest integrated steelworks in the world, and by the mid‑19th century it had become home to the Tennant Brothers brewery, later expanded into the vast Whitbread Exchange Brewery which dominated the site until its closure in 1993. As the brewery declined and the Wicker goods station and tram routes were lost, the wider Riverside area entered a long period of under‑investment.
Regeneration began in the late 1990s, with the brewery site cleared for new development. Between 2003 and 2005, more than 300 new riverside apartments were constructed alongside major office buildings now home to organisations including Irwin Mitchell and UK Visas & Immigration. The introduction of the Upper Don Trail, a landscaped walkway next to the river, and a new pedestrian bridge to Nursery Street helped create a more welcoming, people‑friendly environment.
Today, the Riverside Quarter is a key location for Sheffield’s professional services, digital industries and government offices — forming a natural extension of the city centre and a gateway to Kelham Island. Its historic assets include Victoria Quays, the canal basin adjacent to the Quarter, and landmark structures such as the Wicker Arches viaduct.
The most significant catalyst for the area’s growth is the £300 million West Bar regeneration scheme, located on the Quarter’s western edge. Set across seven acres, West Bar is delivering up to 1 million sq ft of new space — including Grade A offices, new apartments, retail, leisure and a multi‑storey car park.
Together, these developments are transforming Riverside into a lively, mixed‑use neighbourhood with strong business credentials, excellent connectivity and growing residential appeal. As regeneration continues across Castlegate and Kelham Island, the Riverside Quarter is emerging as a vital link between Sheffield’s historic waterways, its modern urban core and its fast‑growing innovation districts — a distinctive, evolving waterfront community at the heart of the city.