The driver for development consisted of refreshing the commercial opportunity to a tired space.

Office use at first floor has been vacant for a number of years and would benefit from modernisation inside and out.

At ground floor ad-hoc shop fronts are tired and are unsuitable for modern commercial units. The brief is to refresh the shop frontages to drive a more commercially viable retail frontage in response to market requirements to one of York’s busiest pedestrianised street.

The site is within the Central Conservation Area of York, bridging two juxtaposing Character Areas between the Medieval Streets of York and the Central Commercial Area.

The development consists of a wrap around 1970’s building consisting of poor quality pseudo-architecture vernacular, which is incongruous with the character area.

There is an opportunity to greatly improve material quality to the building with installation of new shop frontages, replacement windows, doors and rainwater goods.

The design follows a modern interpretation of the traditional shop front present elsewhere along Church Street and Swinegate. The timber frontage will comprise a projecting cornice and fascia sign section at upper level, with vertically defined pilasters relating to existing masonry pillars. By wrapping round the corner of Church Street onto Swinegate the frontage sets up a contemporary visual plinth for the building.

The upper floor will be enhanced with replacement of existing windows and materials to uplift the building from its currently unloved state.