Architect	Nigel Coates
Date Built	1999
Location	Paternoster Row
Description
Built as the National Centre for Popular Music this unusual collection of four circular metal pods, with rooftop vents resembling the handles on curling rocks, was built with the assistance of £15 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund.  Apparently the "handles" rotated in the wind when they were built but are now fixed in various directions.  Unfortunately the Centre failed to attract sufficient visitors and despite an  attempt at a relaunch it closed for good in 2000. In 2003 Sheffield Hallam University took possession of the building and it now functions as the Students' Union. The Nigel Coates website says of the original venture that, "The ambitions of Music Heritage Ltd, the promoters of NCPM, were to make the first viable attraction in Britain centred on music, to key-in to the vibrant local music industry, and to give Sheffield a new landmark. They would have achieved all three had the displays been up to the standard of the building, which received considerable praise in the press. Our idea was simple. Lift four circular galleries up to first floor level, and bring visitors to their level by way of a wide central stair. People would choose which gallery to enter first, and effectively would write their own script."

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