£40m Hungate construction cancelled

17/07/2008

City of York council has cancelled construction plans for new £40 million headquarters at the Hungate following an objection.

"English Heritage had criticised the plans for the "height and bulk" of the proposed building and said the scheme is "too large for the sensitive site".

RMJM, developer of the project, is said to have been surprised by the reaction of English Heritage having already changed its plans once, and the council has withdrawn from the planning permission process.

Adrian Boot, director of RMJM, told the Architects Journal it had received "positive feedback, direction guidance and support" from English Heritage.

"In the context of that consultation, the letter from English Heritage is somewhat surprising, very frustrating and disappointing for us and our client," he added.

Meanwhile, the construction of a new, colourful building in nearby Leeds has got underway, according to SkyScraperNews.com.

The £7 million Indigo Blu building is set to comprise 1,000 sq m of office space on two ground floors and be topped by a further two floors of residential space, while a six-storey tower will feature on one side of the site.


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