micklegate

Artist's rendering of a street with modern mixed-use buildings, pedestrians, and a cyclist on a sunny day, with a historic stone archway in the background.

Situated within the Central Historic Core Conservation Area, Micklegate is renowned as one of York’s most architecturally rewarding streets.

We worked in close collaboration with York Council and key stakeholders to devise a scheme that would revitalise the area through the creation of a new boutique aparthotel alongside a renovated streetscape.

Team: Neil Brown, Emma Croyle

Similar projects: 23 piccadilly, kathryn aveue, coney street riverside

Construction site with steel reinforcement bars, a yellow tower crane, and workers in safety vests and helmets, set against residential buildings and a partly cloudy sky.
A street scene at dusk with people walking, shopping, and sitting outside cafes in a small town with modern and historic buildings.
Cross-section of a multi-story modern building with wooden framing, large glass windows, and interior furnishings, showing construction details.
View of urban rooftops with brick and gray metal roofs, a tree on the left, two people walking down stairs on the left, and a cloudy sky overhead.
A street scene in a small town with modern and historic buildings, people walking and a cyclist on the road, and a stone castle in the background under a blue sky.

  • To redevelop a prominent site in York to create a new aparthotel which responds to historic context sensitively through contemporary design.

  • Micklegate Bar remains the most prominent of York’s four medieval gateways and the entrance to the city for anyone arriving from the south. We used the principles of conservation to approach the design; to nurture change whilst preserving cultural significance. We undertook an extensive amount of research investigating in depth the area’s history and evolution that led Micklegate to its current form.

  • The development proposals reflect Micklegate’s historic architecture, decoration and furnishing. The contemporary new scheme drew inspiration from York’s medieval buildings, to inform and deliver change whilst enhancing this iconic and beautiful street.

    At ground level a sympathetic street frontage will enhance the quality of the public experience. An extended pavement width will incrementally add to the spatial quality and revitalise the dormant streetscape. The improved landscape around the new development will deliver the city’s aspiration for a more accessible, pedestrian friendly development.

    The sustainable building will preserve Micklegate’s architectural and historic character, while delivering a scheme that adds real urban value through placemaking. Putting Micklegate at the forefront of York’s tourism and leisure industry, once more.