Greg’s Place, York University

TGP successfully won a design competition to redesign Vanbrugh Piazza, ironically named Vanbrugh Paradise by the student community. The space is central to York University’s Heslington West Campus, it is adjacent to the University’s Central Hall, and was largely disused containing only one seat. The funding for the scheme came, in part, from Greg Dyke, the outgoing Chancellor, so Vanbrugh Piazza was renamed Greg’s Place in his honour.
The strong central axis of the site, which runs north to south from Vanbrugh College to the lake, was further enhanced by extending it out into the lake and placing a large feature seating window on it. The seating acts as a focal point on entering the site from the north and gives the ‘wow’ factor the client desires. Already it has been used as a bandstand, a relaxing place to read and meet and a location for graduation photographs.
The need for the space to be used in a number of diverse ways led us to work through a series of ideas where areas were created and almost designated for performance, study, socialising, relaxing etc. But in the end we felt the simplicity and open nature of the current space is part of its beauty and should be built on to create a piazza of elegant simplicity that provides adaptable space for the University community including students, staff and the public.
The open lawn areas allow plenty of space for resting, relaxing, studying and socialising, while the wide paved areas provide space for people to circulate by foot or on bicycles or stand and chat or perform. Greg’s Place was designed with an underlying philosophy of access for all including small vehicles for events and maintenance.
An existing tree has been retained to provide a strong vertical element and backdrop to the space while newly planted Himalayan Birch trees provide further ornamental tree planting to the eastern edge of the site and an Alder to the western corner of the lawn provides shade and seasonal colour.
The lawn area is bounded on its northern edge by 3m wide rain gardens which will collect storm water runoff within their recessed edges and slowly release it into the drainage system. These recessed beds are planted with colourful shrubs and herbaceous plants, which can withstand occasional inundation and provide year round colour, scent and texture.
The steps to the north of the site have been retained and enhanced to provide a strong enclosure and link to the ramped access to the west. They also provide additional seating for impromptu performances in the northern half of the site.
The barrier to access along the sites western edge, has been designed out into a series of steps that ramp up to a level access point, allowing users of all abilities to use the entire site. The original bridge over this access had become dilapidated and was removed for safety reasons.
The fall across the site has been used to create a 500mm change in level from the large lawn area, and in turn this provides bench seating for large numbers of people taking advantage of the view across the lake, and also for performances in the southern half of the site.
Following discussions with the University and Student Union and consultation events, a desire for a big screen on the cafeteria building wall to the west of the site was expressed. The piazza design was then adapted through the use of circular seating areas to the west of the site to allow it to function as a viewing area looking towards this screen as well as one that functioned when performances were taking place on its upper northern half or lower southern half.
Construction of Greg’s Place was difficult due to access restrictions but was still completed within 16 weeks and to the budget of £400,000.00. The scheme was funded in part through a donation from the University of York outgoing Chancellor Greg Dyke, as well as University funding and time of University Grounds Maintenance staff.

Sustainability

Greg’s Place has been designed with sustainability in mind, from the use of robust new materials, through the re-use of the existing sub base and demolition arisings to the re-use of existing paving and inclusion of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS).
Given the site’s constrained location and the difficulty in getting materials into and waste out of the site, a decision was made early on in the project to re-use the existing sub base and, where required, make up the new levels using crushed concrete from the demolition arisings, as well as looking to re-use the existing paving slabs. The existing slabs were lifted, cleaned and then cut in half to give them a new look and laying pattern as well as reducing the amount of site waste produced.
Rain Gardens were introduced along the northern edge of the grass area and these are positioned in order to allow surface water run-off to be temporarily stored in them during periods of high rainfall. The water can then slowly percolate through the beds into a French drain below and then on into the surface water drainage system. This helps to reduce flow peaks and flooding. Planting has been designed in the rain gardens to be able to withstand occasional inundation as well as being attractive to bees and insects.
The lighting scheme incorporated LED lighting to reduce bills and increase the lifespan of lanterns. The lighting columns and bollards were chosen to provide a low level of light to allow circulation around the site at night while keeping light pollution to a minimum.

Accessibility

The original plaza at Vanbrugh College was previously only accessible via steps or a convoluted series of ramps in the north-west corner of the site. As part of the design process, and in conjunction with the University of York’s DDA Officer, proposals were worked up that allowed full DDA access around the entire space. Levels were re-worked along the ramped access to Vanbrugh College on the western boundary of Greg’s Place to ensure it was 1 in 12 along its whole length, and the full length of the western boundary was stepped to allow ease of access into the space for other site users. A gentle fall was introduced from north to south to allow a change in level to be created for seating while maintaining a level access to this raised area from the north. A series of circular seating areas were installed to the west of the raised area and these were sited with gaps between the benches large enough for wheelchair users to access so they could be part of the group.
A new pair of ramps were introduced to provide access from Greg’s Place up to the cafeteria building and its external seating area to the west of the site.
The space has also been designed to allow small vehicles access the site for maintenance, bringing in equipment for events or even to sell food and drink.

Community Impact and Engagement

Significant community engagement and consultation was carried out as part of the design phase of the project. While the University was heavily involved in initial briefing sessions, it was felt that the students would be the ultimate users of the site so should have a big say in what the space needed to be. Over the years the plaza had been given the ironic nickname of “Vanbrugh Paradise” due to it being largely un-used and having only one seat in which to sit. The Student Union were consulted and were part of design meetings, offering their thoughts on how they would like to use the space going forward and feeding back discussions to the students. A year in the life of Greg’s Place was produced which set out the kind of activities the staff and students would envisage the space being used for over a calendar year. These ranged from Christmas markets, to music festivals, to drama performances, film nights, studying and graduations. This list fed directly into the design process. Further consultation events were held to show the wider University the initial design ideas and opinions sought on how people would use the site on a day to day basis. One thing that came from this consultation was that there was a desire to project films up onto the wall of the college building to the west of Greg’s Place. This meant that the scheme, originally designed to focus views from north to south, needed to integrate viewing east to west as well. This was where the circular seating areas developed as they would provide adaptable seating for all orientations.
In the months following its completion, the scheme has had a positive impact on the local community. Where there was once a disused and unloved space, there is now a new social focus for the campus. Students come to socialise, study and picnic, staff eat their lunch, visitors gravitate there on University Open Days, University Radio York broadcast from it and all sorts of performances take place there. The level of use of Greg’s Place helps demonstrate that by involving the community in the design and use of a space you are able to achieve a much higher level of buy in and enjoyment from them in the long term. Greg’s Place is now used as the starting point for all Open Day visits and is used as a way of selling the University of York to students the world over.

Overview

TGP designed a piazza at the heart of York University that provides adaptable space for students, staff and the public. Lawns provide space to rest, relax, study and socialise, and wide paved areas allow room to circulate on foot or bicycles, stand, talk or perform. One tree was retained to give a strong vertical element in the space and ornamental trees were planted to provide shade and colour. The lawns are bounded by rain gardens which collect storm water runoff and slowly release it into the drainage system. The beds are planted with shrubs and herbaceous plants providing colour and scent.