Clifton Explore Library Learning Centre Development
Our Vision
A new Explore Library Learning Centre at the heart of Clifton,
Where you come in wanting one thing, but go out with so much more.
A friendly, accessible, safe space, where you will always feel welcome,
A library with great books to borrow, the place you meet up with friends,
A workspace with Wi-Fi connection, a place to learn something new,
A flexible venue for events and groups, hobbies and meetings,
A place you can trust for advice when life changes or challenges you.
Help us to create your library in Clifton shaped by your needs.
Update December 2023
Building
We’ve made great progress since building work started in April.
We have:
- Demolished the two old school classroom wings
- Reworked the old school hall and classrooms
- Created a new entrance from Rawcliffe Drive
- Laid foundations for the new buildings and finished all underground service works
- Started work on the new two storey building
Landscaping
We have now made a number of improvements to the design for the landscaping of the garden following your feedback.
- More accessible paths so people who use wheelchairs, motorised scooters, pushchairs and prams can move easily around the garden and enjoy the space.
- More nooks and crannies to encourage wildlife, such as wooden planters with bug houses at the bottom for insects and a planting scheme to encourage bees and butterflies.
- More sensory plants and a quiet, reflective space away from the children’s area so you can sit and read or quietly enjoy a cuppa in a lovely serene environment.
- An arbour to provide shade and create a tunnel of greenery.
The next step is to find the right garden designer to work with us to create this fabulous space ready for when we open later in 2024.
Update August 2023: Your feedback on the Garden designs
Thank you so much for sharing your views about the proposals for the Garden. 50 of you took the time to send in some very detailed responses. Here are the common themes:
- A more balanced approach to the space focusing less strongly on children and taking into account the needs of teenagers and adults. This might include exercise equipment or outdoor chess.
- Quieter, reflective areas with more seating and a focus on planting.
- Wheelchair friendly paths and surfaces and a sensory water feature.
- Habitats for bees, hedgehogs and other wildlife.
- Some respondents thought that the wooden butterfly and dragonfly features had limited play value and a short lifespan and could become a hazard.
There was also chance to discuss the revised designs at a session with Becky from Rosetta Landscape Design on Tuesday 15 August and Becky will now refine the design further based on feedback. We hope to have a finished design by the end of the summer.
Update May 2023: The Garden – consultation
Last year you shared some ideas for a beautiful, new community garden.
You wanted a place people could spend time socialising or relaxing quietly. You wanted to encourage play and creativity. You asked for natural materials and imaginative planting schemes including edible and sensory beds.
We commissioned garden designer Becky Pickering of York-based Rosetta Landscape Design to come up with a plan based on your ideas and priorities.
We invited you to tell us more about your ideas through a survey online and in the library during May and June.
Clifton Garden Plan
Bubble Tunnel
Bubble Tunnel. Age range 18 months -14 years.
Log Playground
Log Playground
Amphitheatre-two tier
Sensory Planter
Sensory Planter with sensory posts in each section. To be planted up with bright and fragrant herbaceous plants and bulbs.
Dragonfly sculpture
Wooden Dragonfly sculpture
Butterfly sculpture
Wooden Butterfly sculpture
Games Tables
Games Tables - plan shows 4 tables suitable for age range 4-11 years: Race Track; Mini Beasts; Alphabet Maze; Snakes and Ladders.
Proposed Wild Pod and Nature Ark
Proposed Wild Pod and Nature Ark.
Timber stepping stones
Timber stepping stones
Shrub bed 1
Ideas for planting include grasses, flowering shrubs and perennials.
Shrub bed 2
Ideas for planting include grasses, flowering shrubs and perennials.
Planting ideas
Colourful herbaceous shrubs and perennials.
Shrub bed 3
Ideas for planting include grasses, flowering shrubs and perennials.
Log and Boulder natural play 1
Log and boulder natural play 2
If the interactive version version of the plan does not work on your device try reloading the page or if that doesn’t work please use the image below and expand to see the detail:
Update March 2023: contractor appointed
Walter Thompson Ltd, a Northallerton-based construction firm, was confirmed as the contractor to build the new Explore Centre in Clifton with work starting in late spring.
Like all our Explore Centres, Clifton Explore brings community partners to offer a broad range of events, activities and services for people in Clifton. Our vision for Clifton Explore has been developed in detail over the past year, and local people have already told us a lot about what they want from this valuable new community space.
We look forward to continuing these important conversations with you this spring when we’ll be asking you for ideas about the outdoor space through a survey and focus groups.
The new Centre will be five times larger than the existing library. Its 1,400 square metres will offer space for some 15,000 books, a reading café and a children’s library, plus rooms and other spaces. A number of organisations will be based at the Centre including those offering support to disabled children and young people, as well as learning projects, career advice and apprenticeships.
The development will include outdoor spaces for play and relaxation and a terrace outside the reading café. The car park will have electric vehicle chargers and bike storage. Low energy features will be included, such as green roofs and solar panels to help fuel passive ventilation and heat recovery systems.
A new safe school access route to the neighbouring Vale of York Academy will be built on the site’s additional land and a registered social landlord will be procured by City of York Council to provide some much-needed low carbon, 100% affordable homes.
Update Jan 2023: Tours of the old school were a great success
More than 90 past teachers and pupils joined public tours of the old school between October and December 2022, from babies in pushchairs to 80 year old past pupils.
Our tour lead was the last headteacher of the primary school, Mr Wigley. He also held a special get together for more than thirty teachers and other staff from the school. It was a great day and the building was filled with a hum of joyous noise just like it would have been back when it was a thriving infant school! Everyone enjoyed the tours, and shared so many stories of the past, and friends who had not met each other for years got chance to reconnect.
Update October 2022: Planning permission granted
On Monday 17 October we heard the good news that planning permission has been granted and the new Explore Centre can go ahead.
Sarah Garbacz, Chief Operating Officer of Explore said:
“This is brilliant news for the future of the library and archive service in Clifton.
“Working with the community of Clifton and with our community partners, we look forward to being able to do so much more of what we are good at – providing safe, accessible spaces that welcome everyone in.
“Local people have already told us what they want from their library and archives service and that has informed some of our decisions so far. We now look forward to being able to carry on those important conversations as we work on the next stages of the design.”
The development will now enter the procurement stage with the goal of selecting a contractor by the end of 2022.
We now look forward to many more conversations with you as we believe that what we do should be shaped with you. Keep an eye on this page where we will share next steps on our journey with you as we work towards to new Explore Centre. And don’t forget to sign up for updates if you want to be kept in touch.
Update June 2022: what you told us at the focus groups
Inside the building
You liked the location of children’s library and the quieter/study zone at the rear
Main library
You suggested:
- Develop the whole site to be dementia-friendly
- A room divider in the ground floor community room to allow for flexible spaces.
- Table and chairs and comfortable seating.
- A specific PC for catalogue searching
- Sliding partition(s) so children’s library can be partitioned off for events
- A – Z layout (not zoned) for book stock
- Bespoke area for teenagers, and designed with them
- Healthy air flow, air filters, windows which open and good ventilation
- Underfloor heating and sustainable options such as ground source heat pumps
Reading Cafe
You suggested:
- Removing the wall between the reading café and the children’s area to allow improved sightlines from one to the other?
- Smaller seats/tables for children in reading cafes
- Include soundproofing in the design to limit noise from café and machinery
Meeting rooms
You suggested:
- Hire charge at a per head rate for new community groups which may start with low numbers.
- Kitchen available for community hire
- Booths for confidential/private meetings and sessions such as financial advice, Citizens Advice bureau/debt advice, financial hubs, meet your MP.
The outside spaces
Play area
You suggested:
- Safe, robust play equipment to encourage playing together
- Using natural materials like logs and boulders, to create an area for imaginative, creative play.
- Book themed play equipment
- Get ideas from a local nursery
Garden
You said:
- Outside community space is vital
- A decent garden makes the difference between a quick hour long stay or a half day linger.
- Plan zoned spaces so people can meet and chat, but also create a quiet, reflective area, and use raised beds and planting to help achieve this.
- Plant an edible or sensory garden.
- Have an area which could be used as performance space.
Car Park and security
You said:
- Make sure there’s enough turning space
- Wide parking spaces as cars are getting bigger!
- the area needs to be safe when Explore is open and able to be secured when the centre is closed
Update April 2022: planning application live
The planning application for the Clifton Explore development went live in April 2022.
Update March 2022: the conversation so far
Since Summer 2021, we’ve been sharing with you and hearing your thoughts on relocating the current Clifton Explore Library Learning Centre to the former Clifton Without Junior School on Rawcliffe Drive. This move, along with secured investment from City of York Council, will transform the library service for the community at Clifton: we’ll be able to do more of the things we are good at, in a bigger space, and for longer opening hours.
These are the things you told us you want:
- A Library with more books and space to enjoy family friendly events and activities.
- Meeting rooms where city centre advice organisations can come to you.
- Flexible space which transforms into a performance area in the evening.
- A Reading Café where you can meet friends,or just sit quietly and enjoy a cup of tea.
- Flexible outside space – you said this is as important to you as the indoor space.
- Enough parking space to minimise the impact of parking on local streets.
- A building design which has as many sustainable elements as possible.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and keeping the conversation going so far.
What next?
We aim to submit our plans for planning consent in March 2022. Sign up for updates using the button at the top of this page and we’ll let you know when the planning application is live so you can comment if you wish.
Following the planning application, we hope to start conversations with you about details of the Library, Reading Café and outdoor spaces. We want as many of you to get involved as possible.
We’d like to know:
- What should we consider when developing the building so it is flexible and can be transformed into a high quality performance space?
- What does a lively, contemporary Children’s Library look like?
- What will you be doing in the Library that we need to consider as part of the design?
Clifton Explore: the conversation continues
In the summer we asked what you thought of our plans to relocate Clifton Explore to the former Clifton Without Junior School. 90% of you liked the idea. You told us some of the things you’d like to see included as part of the new Explore Centre development.
We then came up with a basic first draft design (shown below) for inside and outside based on what you told us. During December 2021, you shared your thoughts with us on this draft design.
83% of you told us that you liked the design, particularly the reading café, the size of the library space and the number of suggested meeting rooms for events and community meetings. We will work up these designs in more detail ready for further conversations with you.
You still didn’t like the amount of parking provision, so we need to do some more work in this area.
You also shared some further ideas about the design of the building and different uses for the library space that you would like to see, such as a quieter area for study, and ensuring full access to spaces on the first floor.
We are now working on your feedback and we will be sharing another set of designs incorporating further developments in February 2022.
Do you have views about the Housing development? Or about the School Access Path? Please contact City of York Council
The Council is proposing to work with a local housing association to build a number of low carbon affordable homes. The income from developing this area will help fund the library project so this is an essential part of the overall site development. For further information and to share your views on this aspect please contact the Council
Although the School access path is part of the site development, the land is under the control of Vale of York School. The school and the Council are working together to create this important, safe access for students. For further information please contact the Council.
What did you tell us at the consultation in August?
We asked you to share your views about the first stage of the proposals in a consultation during August 2021. We had 233 responses to the online survey, as well as feedback through other means. We’re grateful for the time and thought you put into your feedback. The data shows that a large majority of you support the overall proposal about moving the library to the proposed new site.
About the inside:
You told us what you would like to see in the new library learning centre so we will now draw up plans that includes a Reading Café, space for us to be able to hold lots of different types of events and activities to meet all of your needs as residents – with author talks, children’s activities, music, theatre and arts performances and drop-in surgeries from city centre advice organisations being the most popular with you. We will include free Wi-Fi throughout the buildings and spaces for you to be able to sit and use computers. You also told us some examples of specific events and activities you would like to see ranging from yoga classes to special sessions for people living with dementia and their carers. We will carefully design our inside spaces based on all these suggestions and start working with our partners on what that might look like as we go forward. Some of what you told us will inform what we offer in the new location, but we will also be able do some of what you told us now while we are still in the current library in Rawcliffe Lane and we will keep you posted on this.
About the outside:
You feel as passionately about the outside space as the inside! You want to see lots of different spaces to sit, relax, read and enjoy being with one another, with space for families and children but also space for you to meet with other adults and just enjoy being together. We will factor these multiple needs into the design of our outside spaces and talk with you further with what we come up with so you can continue to inform the look and feel.
You want to make sure that there is space for car parking somewhere on the site and we will factor that into the design of the whole area.
You care about the environment in all areas of the development, with encouragement from you we will investigate and incorporate elements of eco-design into the scheme and complete surveys to increase our awareness of current wildlife and ecology on the site before any work begins. We will explore this more and aim to have some examples of where we can include this into the design ready for our next conversation with you. You have also raised concerns over the impact of removing the hedgerows, so we will mitigate this by retaining as much of the existing green space as we possibly can and replacing the removal of existing greenery by a planting scheme which creates new natural habitat areas
The housing and the play park proposals:
We are feeding back your views on both. 47% of you were opposed the proposed re-location of the play park to the new library site. This information will be shared with Clifton Without Parish Council who are responsible for the play park and who will make a decision on next steps based on this response. We will keep you updated as we have those conversations. 59% of you were in support of seeing a small development of affordable homes on the site. This has been shared with City of York Council and they will continue conversations with you on what these homes will look like.
The access route to Vale of York academy:
You had a few questions about this route into the school. City of York Council defined this as the most convenient place to locate the new school access path to maximise safety for students The alternative location would have been alongside the vehicle entrance off Rawcliffe Drive and in the Council’s view this was discounted. The lease is now in place between the Council and Hope Sentamu Learning Trust (who are responsible for the school) and we are committed to providing safe access for students as part of this project. We still believe the proposal is the safest for students. The Water Lane access for students will remain and the new Fairway access will be gated and locked out of school hours.
And finally….
What will happen to the current library site once we have left it? This question came up a number of times. We lease the land from City of York Council, so the land belongs to them. We will speak with the Council and hopefully have more information to share with you as we continue the conversations.
The full results are available on York Open Data Platform. We have taken steps to make this document as accessible as possible, but get in touch if you need any assistance with accessing or interpreting the information.
Next steps – continuing the conversations:
We have taken all of your feedback and this will now feed into the first design of the building and the surrounding space which we will then share with you. We hope to have something prepared by mid-November. We will continue as before by producing printed information to share with you and having open sessions for you to come along and speak to us.
The Proposal
City of York Council’s commitment to libraries
As part of our contract with Explore City of York Council made a promise that the number of staffed libraries in York would be protected. We want to build on the success of our libraries, re-imagining them as centres of opportunity and learning for everyone. In February 2019 the Council agreed to spend £4m on significant improvements to the Explore Centre libraries in Clifton and Acomb. Clifton Explore’s current site is too small, so over the past year we have researched new sites in the local area. After an options assessment, we think the best site is on Rawcliffe Drive, the old Clifton Without Junior School.
Why did we choose this site?
The Location: the new site is accessible on foot, cycle or by car from Rawcliffe Drive, Rawcliffe Lane and Fairway. It is easy to find, close to the existing library, Vale of York Academy, on bus routes, and local amenities, and it has lots of people passing by.
The Building: We will breathe new life into a vacant site and restore a local building of character and history. The site is big enough to let us deliver the true vision of an Explore Centre where many organisations can work together to benefit local people.
Clifton Garden Plan
Bubble Tunnel
Bubble Tunnel. Age range 18 months -14 years.
Log Playground
Log Playground
Amphitheatre-two tier
Sensory Planter
Sensory Planter with sensory posts in each section. To be planted up with bright and fragrant herbaceous plants and bulbs.
Dragonfly sculpture
Wooden Dragonfly sculpture
Butterfly sculpture
Wooden Butterfly sculpture
Games Tables
Games Tables – plan shows 4 tables suitable for age range 4-11 years: Race Track; Mini Beasts; Alphabet Maze; Snakes and Ladders.
Proposed Wild Pod and Nature Ark
Proposed Wild Pod and Nature Ark.
Timber stepping stones
Timber stepping stones
Shrub bed 1
Ideas for planting include grasses, flowering shrubs and perennials.
Shrub bed 2
Ideas for planting include grasses, flowering shrubs and perennials.
Planting ideas
Colourful herbaceous shrubs and perennials.
Shrub bed 3
Ideas for planting include grasses, flowering shrubs and perennials.
Log and Boulder natural play 1
Log and boulder natural play 2
When will the new development happen?
We need to carry out thorough checks on the site, understand all the costs, and make sure that there is money in the budget to pay for the development. Only then can we ask the Council for agreement to start work. So we have no firm dates at the moment, but we hope that work will start in 2023.
What are the next steps?
- August 2021: Stage 1 consultation ran
- Autumn 2021: We are evaluating your responses and start to draw up designs
- Winter 2021: Stage 2 consultation – we will share early site designs and update you on progress.
- Winter 2021/Spring 2022: Tours of the former Clifton Without Junior School site.