O2 Academy set to reopen with new roof

A planning request to replace the roof of the O2 Academy Sheffield, which was found to contain "crumbly concrete", has been granted.

The application stated that the work would allow the building to "reopen swiftly and return a vital business back to Sheffield city centre".

The music venue has been closed since September 2023 due to areas of unstable reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac), a lightweight material prone to collapse.

The problem material has also delayed the building of a shipping container leisure venue, between the O2 Academy and Odeon cinema on Arundel Gate.

Conditional permission was granted in March 2024 for the development, which will join the chain of Stack container parks.

The land for the planned container park is under the same ownership as the O2 Academy, which said at the time it was closing as a "precautionary measure".

It was prompted by a warning from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that Raac, which was used extensively in the 1950s and 60s, was beyond its lifespan and may "collapse with little or no notice".

The warning sparked thousands of building inspections across the country, with Raac found primarily in roofs, as well as some floors and walls.

Sheffield City Council granted permission on Thursday for the problematic roof deck to be replaced with a new flat roof.

The application had been submitted two weeks earlier by Pegasus Planning Group on behalf of Pond Gate Estate.

Academy Music Group, which runs the O2 Academy Sheffield, has been contacted for details about the future of the venue.

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