Campus development

Investing in the student experience

Developments 2011/12

Investing in student accommodation

As well as laying the foundations for a brand new 650 bed Langwith College on Heslington East, a phased refurbishment of student accommodation across Heslington West began in summer 2011.

An investment of over £2 million has been made so far to upgrade kitchens, bedrooms and living areas. In total around 770 bedrooms in Derwent, Halifax and St Lawrence were remodelled in the first phase. 

The new designs and furniture have been chosen in consultation with students and college Provosts, proving comfortable sleeping and study areas with storage and washing facilities.

These refurbishments form part of our continued investment in improving facilities and social spaces for students studying at York.

New sports facilities

The University is investing heavily in developing its sports provision for students on both Heslington West and East. The £9million York Sport Village on Heslington East will be completed in summer 2012. This is a joint investment between the University and City of York Council.  Students will have access to a county championship competition-standard eight-lane 25-metre pool, a training pool, spa pool and steam room, 100-station gym, full size 3G Astroturf pitch and three further five-a-side pitches.

The University is also working closely with a number of sports organisations such as York Athletics Club aiming to provide new facilities including a running track and a closed-circuit cycle-track. This is in addition to all the sporting facilities available on Heslington West, where further investment is also planned.

New college facilities

The new Goodricke College was opened in 2009 providing accommodation for 620 students. Building work is nearing completion for a further college for Heslington East - Langwith College. This will generate another 650 bedrooms built around courtyards and a central nucleus for student activities including art gallery facilities and a bar.

New chemistry research provision

The University has initiated a multimillion pound phased redevelopment of the Department of Chemistry. New, state-of-the-art facilities will be provided for both research and undergraduate laboratories.

The first stage of this exciting development involves the £6.5 million final phase of the D block research building. This building is the completion of our original plans for the Dorothy Hodgkin Research Building, meaning the facility will almost double in size.

Investment in Heslington West

New buildings

The Berrick Saul Building was completed in June 2008 and opened by the Chancellor Greg Dyke. The £11m building houses the Humanities Research Centre, the Institute for Effective Education and dedicated study spaces for humanities postgraduate students. The building offers postgraduate students access to seminar rooms, study areas and provides high-quality workspace for Arts and Humanities research postgraduates and postdoctoral researchers. This latest investment in the humanities means that the University of York has committed more money than any other university in England to supporting the humanities.

The Centre for Immunology and Infection (CII) on Heslington West was opened by the Director of the World Health Organisation Tropical Diseases Programme Director, Robert Ridley, in September 2010. It provides significantly enhanced facilities for students and researchers including three floors of laboratories, increased facilities for handling high risk pathogens and a specialist clinical suite for volunteer studies and clinical trials.

Accommodation and teaching rooms

Improvements to student accommodation and teaching rooms provided on Heslington West are part of our overall development of a 21st Century campus.

Work has already begun revamping and refreshing accommodation, college and teaching room facilities across our western campus as part of a £2.7m spend. There are plans to spend a further £1.5m in the coming year to continue the upgrade of accommodation and teaching facilities on Heslington West.

On Heslington East, a combined investment of around £60m has delivered the recently opened Goodricke college  and sees the planned opening of a new Langwith college in 2012 providing another 650 purpose-built fresh and vibrant rooms and social living for York students.

Social and catering venues

Campus cafes, bars and restaurants have been revitalised and upgraded to offer an even wider choice of food in contemporary, relaxing surroundings, all with free WiFi access. Within our portfolio of catering outlets we now have three new Costa coffee shops.

We recognise the importance of great catering and social facilities for students and have invested £1.4m over the last two years creating new areas on Heslington East and refurbishing our existing establishments on Heslington West.

We have created new catering and retail outlets in Law and Management and the Ron Cooke Hub at a cost of over £420k. We have spent £900k updating and refreshing catering and social areas in Derwent, the Roger Kirk Centre, Cookies snack bar, Vanbrugh and Wentworth – the EDGE.  The newest Costa outlet is the fully refurbished Library Cafe which opened in February 2012.

And we are planning yet more investment in our bars, colleges and catering outlets on Heslington West during 2011 and 2012.

Investing in a 21st Century library, research and study spaces

Our JB Morrell library is mid way through a major refurbishment costing over £15m which will offer a complex of facilities including personal and group study spaces, silent areas and group meeting rooms. Together with additional online texts and journals and access to the Borthwick Institute for Archives we are creating an environment for students to concentrate, contemplate and collaborate.

The adjacent Harry Fairhurst building opened its doors in April 2011. We have invested £3.4m to create:

• 500 new study spaces
• 55 seat IT classroom
• Open collaboration zones
• Specialist research areas
• A research hotel
• Full Wi-fi accessibility throughout

This total spend of £20m on the libraries adds even more study spaces to those already set up around campus, and provides interactive networking areas, access to more learning materials and help and support for students and researchers at the University.

Investment in chemistry research

The University has initiated a multimillion pound phased redevelopment of the Department of Chemistry. New, state-of-the-art facilities will be provided for both research and undergraduate laboratories.

The first stage of this exciting development involves the £6.5 million final phase of the Dorothy Hodgkin Research Building. This building is the completion of our original plans for the Dorothy Hodgkin Building, meaning the facility will almost double in size.

Investment in Heslington East

A brand new campus extension

Our prestigious new campus extension at Heslington East has seen four academic departments move into purpose-built accommodation. Students joining the Departments of Computer Science, Theatre Film and Television, and the York Law and York Management Schools are being taught in inspiring new learning environments through an investment of over £67m.

These three new academic buildings have been complemented by the £20m Ron Cooke Hub. The Hub provides superb facilities including a 220-seat raked lecture theatre, a 100-seat teaching room with roof terrace known as the Lakehouse, seminar and PC rooms, a business training suite, and the Hub Cafe. This gives York students, staff and business partners open and quiet study space, collaboration and social interaction areas.

Investing in sporting excellence with a new £9m Sports Village

As well as the new £30m Langwith College planned for Heslington East, phase two of this exciting campus expansion will include a flagship York Sport Village due for completion in summer 2012.

With an investment of over £9m from the University and City of York Council, these facilities will offer students a 25-metre, eight-lane swimming pool, a fitness club, and outdoor 3G pitches for 5-, 6-, 7- and 11-a side football. This is in addition to the existing sports provision on Heslington West including outdoor sports pitches and a 70-station fitness suite. Further improvements to those facilities are planned for summer 2012.

To find out more and to keep in touch with developments, visit the campus development web pages.

To see where current works on campus are happening to plan for diversions and other alternative pathways and parking arrangements, visit the campus works web pages.

Awards for our investment

2010 – 2011 saw the University of York win the Time High Education award University of the Year.

Shearer West, chair of Research Councils UK’s research and development group and one of the judges, said: “York has an impressive record for outstanding research, high-quality teaching and social inclusion. It has been undergoing a period of physical expansion, with improvements to its student and research facilities. It is also leading the way in reinforcing its fine track record in the humanities through major investment.”