NOOKS And CORNERS
THE University of York says it plans to “move forward” with plans to demolish its mid-20th-century former vice-chancellor’s residence, despite refusal by York council last month.
The house hasn’t been lived in by a vice-chancellor since at least 2021. It has at times provided extra student accommodation, but the university says it is now vacant. It was built in the 1960s as part of the Heslington campus, by architects Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall (RMJM), which York council notes has been described as “one of the most euphoric expressions of British post-war utopianism”.
Although the vice-chancellor’s fancy pad is not individually listed, as are some of the more significant buildings on the lakeside site, such as Derwent College and Central Hall, the modernist campus landscape as a whole is listed grade 2.