23 Piccadilly

The proposal creates a new destination in York city centre run by the hotelier room2, replacing the exiting Swinson House with a sensitively proportioned, high quality contemporary brick building referencing York’s vernacular architecture, and responding to the surrounding historic buildings of St Deny’s Church and Clifford’s Tower. The public realm along Piccadilly will be reworked to include planting and wider pavements, contributing to the changing Piccadilly Character Area, and the Castle Gateway Masterplan.

Vincent & Partners have been appointed to progress the scheme from planning and develop the original Dexter Moren Associates design to accommodate room2’s brand standards. The ground floor reception and bar animate the street along Piccadilly, creating a welcoming, lively space which interacts with the city, with guest rooms addressing the quieter roads towards St Deny’s Church and at the upper levels. The basement includes a meeting rooms suite, staff accommodation and back of house areas for the aparthotel, which have been developed in collaboration with all stakeholders.

Sustainability is a key driver of the scheme which is targeting BREEAM Excellent and net zero carbon in operation, and operator targets for embodied carbon. The building will be all electric, with air source heat pumps and photovoltaic panels.