York Central

Since 2016 Gustafson Porter + Bowman have been the lead landscape architect for the masterplan and redevelopment of York Central: a 72ha area of land adjacent to York Railway Station and the National Railway Museum. It is one of the largest brownfield sites in northern England and when complete will provide up to 2,500 homes and up to 120,000m2 of office, leisure and retail space.

The land to the west of York Station constituted the most important railway hub and engineering works in the north. Vestiges of its former importance remain on the derelict site, parts of which
are retained within the National Railway Museum site. Gustafson Porter + Bowman have embraced the sites railway heritage and utilised this language to create a contemporary setting for new
public events, amenity spaces for people and habitats for wildlife.

York Central's major landscaped feature will be its linear park that will include a steam train ride, a sequence of water gardens, that have the potential to flood in extreme rainfall conditions and a new landscaped entrance to the rear of the National Railway Museum. Within the development area, our design includes a major new tree lined road, pedestrian boulevard and pocketparks, that terminate in a new arrival square that repurposes the historic coal drops as a performance space beside the Museum and Station entrances.

Gustafson Porter worked with Arup and Allies and Morrison on behalf of the City of York, the National Railway Museum, Network Rail and Homes England. The masterplan received outline planning consent in March 2019, it received the AJ Architecture Award for best Masterplan 2019 and the development of the first phase infrastructure and landscape work is now underway.