HQ’s new look
9:09am Saturday 10th May 2008
THEIR first attempt drew almost universal derision.
Now council chiefs are hoping it's second time lucky, as they try to come up with new headquarters fit for the future.
These new images show the revised designs for City of York Council's £40 million offices at Hungate, off The Stonebow.
A council spokeswoman said the new blueprint was "less boxy, softer and more in keeping with other buildings in the area."
The sharp, unbroken corners and roof-lines have been replaced by a staggered and fluctuating line, while some of the reconstituted stone has been replaced with more natural-looking brick.
The eco-tower has also been reduced in height, and the building's entrance made more prominent.
The building retains its "excellent" environmental rating, but as previously reported in The Press the cost is likely to rise, possibly by up to £3 million.
One local conservationist, Alison Sinclair, who chairs the York Conservation Areas Advisory Panel, today said she remained unconvinced.
She said new buildings in York were not receiving the conservation input they merited, due to council posts being unfilled, and she said her view had not changed despite the new designs.
Coun Ceredig Jamieson-Ball, the council's executive member for corporate services, said the changes were in response to the comments received on the original designs, and said it remained affordable, according to the council model.
He said: "We have managed to take on board a lot of comments that have been made publicly and in response to the original plans. These are obviously modified to include the stonework on the front and more glass, and it has a more open look and less like a concrete box, which is what some people described the old design as.
"But it keeps some of the core aspects of the building, such as the customer centre and one-stop-shop."
In an internal email to staff, the council said: "The design has been modified, with the building set slightly further back from the road. The scale has also been altered by setting back the fourth floor adjacent to the Black Swan Pub, thereby reducing the apparent height of the building."
Labour councillor Paul Blanchard, whose ward neighbours the Hungate site, said: This is a vast improvement on the previous design and it certainly looks like the council has been listening to feedback."
The council is set to submit a planning application later this month, and hopes to move into the new building by 2010.
Have your say
What do you think about the revamped design?