University of York still set to 'move forward' with vice chancellor's house demolition despite refusal

York Council refused the application to tear down University House, in Spring Lane, Heslington, due to a lack of information about the site’s ecology and restoration in the plans.

A University of York spokesperson said it would review the decision and provide the information so they could move forward with the project.

But 17 objections including from the York Civic Trust were lodged against the demolition of the 1960s home and called on the council to halt it on heritage grounds.

The plans come as the house has fallen out of use as a residence for vice chancellors since at least summer 2021, according to the 20th Century Society.

It has been used as a kitchen overflow and student accommodation since then, according to the organisation which campaigns to preserve buildings constructed after 1914.

The home was built in 1964 as the residence for its first Vice Chancellor Lord Eric James of Rusholme and his wife Lady Cordelia James.

Its contemporary design, drawn up by architects Robert Matthew Johnson-Marshall and Partners in consultation with Lady James, aimed to reflect the university’s meritocratic ideals.

The university’s application stated that the building was now vacant and redundant and their plans proposed knocking it down and turfing over the site.

A university spokesperson previously told LDRS a refurbishment had been deemed too costly and it was unsuitable for alternative uses, with plans for the site’s future yet to be decided.

But objectors to the demolition said the pioneering home was an important part of the university’s modernist campus and it should be preserved.

York Civic Trust called for the building to be adapted for a new use for the benefit of university students, staff and the wider public.

A University spokesperson said following the refusal: “The council has requested additional information from us on a couple of points in our application, which we will review and respond to in order to move forward with the project.”