Winning design of new university student centre revealed

The winning design for the University of York’s new £35m student centre has been unveiled.

ADP and O’Donnell+Tuomey have been selected as the architects for the new building, which will be located on Campus West close to the library.

Building work is expected to begin in September 2023, with students able to access and use some of the new facilities in the academic year 2024.

The design will feature an atrium that leads into a large open area with office space for student unions and student services, dining areas, a variety of exhibition spaces, study areas and a rooftop garden. The building will also include digital teaching walls with augmented reality (AR) capabilities.

Professor Charlie Jeffery, vice-chancellor of the University of York, said: “This building is a once in a generation opportunity for us to enhance our existing student experience with an iconic, technologically smart, student focused space for all of our students, wherever they are.

“Our architects have delivered stunning buildings for other organisations and have designed us a building that will not only look striking and signal to visitors that they have arrived on our campus, but will also offer our students a dedicated space to relax on campus.

“Some of our students and staff have already been involved in the design process and we intend talking with many more of them over the coming months to ensure this really is a building for students, designed with students.”

The centre will be surrounded by landscaping and the area will be opened up to provide a new focal point of the campus.

The successful architects have experience in designing for higher education. They have been responsible for student centres at the LSE and University College Cork, Sussex, and university buildings in Budapest, Dublin, Belfast, Leeds, Liverpool and Edinburgh.

Jon Roylance, higher education director, ADP said: “The new centre and surrounding landscape will be a welcoming and supportive place for students, staff, and visitors, reflecting the university’s values, and celebrating its unique character.”

John Tuomey, of O’Donnell+Tuomey, the design-lead architects, added: “It will be a singular structure, a flexible plan with interconnecting multifunctional spaces, a south-facing winter garden and a walled orchard garden on the roof.”