Construct Grade-A office space suitable for the future, flexible workflow of the post-COVID-19 era;

• Deliver a highly sustainable development both in construction and use;

• Generate activity and add vitality to the area that could;

• Connect the development to the proposed Station front and York Central masterplans.

The site is split through the middle by the boundaries of the City of York Character Areas 22 (Blossom St and Nunnery Lane) and 23 (Railway Area). Two distinct character areas are defined by Victorian and Edwardian housing, alongside twenty-first-century development and nineteenth-century railway building vernacular.

Due to the industrial nature of the existing buildings on site, heavier weighting was given to the railway character of functional buildings, with large flexible open plan spaces and multi-pile roof structure. However, the victorian properties fronting The Crescent and their single pile roof form were to be given weight in reviewing the scale and massing of the site.

A visually distinct malt house on site was outlined as a significant historic industrial building. Consideration was given at the outset for the retention of key parts of the surviving building, including the front facade and the kiln roof. A heritage assessment and retention studies were undertaken for the existing building to define the key elements of historic interest.

A key principle in the proposed massing of the building, was to preserve the memory of the malthouse. Retained elements of the existing building facade preserved a facet of the site’s history, whilst the modern structure of the main office space behind created an evocative ‘echo’ of the original elongated footprint and a contemporary interpretation of the malthouse kiln roof in a meaningful and practical manner.

A multi-pile roof profile characterised by the local railway engine sheds has been implemented and diminishes in scale to respond to the prevailing context. Hit and miss brickwork maintains a relatively solid appearance, and combined with large rooflights and an atrium, provides a good quality of diffused daylight to the office space.

The resulting Grade-A office space responds well to the brief and has been carefully designed to encourage ‘agile working’, providing manageable and flexible open-plan offices, specifically designed for effective collaboration. Larger informal social spaces, such as more substantial kitchens and breakout areas. encourage more creative interaction, shifting the office into a setting for innovation and engagement. Other features include a plant filled atrium which will be used for natural ventilation and an emphasis on bringing natural daylight into the building and landscaping, to enhance the well-being of future occupants of the building.