Arundel Gate.

Photo by St BC (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Has there been anywhere in Sheffield changed more in spirit in the last decade than Arundel Gate? When I was little, it was a wide, impenetrable road with barely any buildings on it. To get from one side to the other, you had to risk your life sprinting between its barriers, or use one of a string of sinister underpasses. And, when you emerged on the other side, you still felt a million miles away from anywhere that was actually worth getting to.

Now it's a much narrower road with lots of buildings on it. In the process, it's developed more of an air of belonging in the hub of a major city centre and also lost its previous mood of limbo-esque desolation.

It still has its failings. The old Top Rank/Fiesta complex is still there and the buildings at the Castle Square end are less than impressive but, for me at least, it's a vast improvement on how it once was.

Cheese Grater car park, Charles Street.

Photo by Stanley Walker [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

It's the Cheese Grater car park - or "carp ark" as I always manage to mistype it.

Personally I can think of no finer concept than a carp ark; to preserve our little scaly friends should the world ever again face global flooding.

Granted, as fish can swim - and breathe underwater - a carp ark might be viewed as inherently redundant but I do always feel that, when it comes to fish, it's better to be safe than sorry.

As for the Cheese Grater, it's a relatively new addition to the city's skyline and has recently been voted the world's third coolest car park by someone or other.

So, well done to it. It certainly makes a change from the usual nightmare concrete box that such structures tend to be.