York St John Design Centre

The York St John Design Centre is a striking home for innovative facilities and learning spaces, where 19th-century foundations meet bold 21st-century architecture.

The Design Centre has been home to our design programmes for almost 50 years. Following a period of expansion and modernisation finalising in 2026, it is now home to the future of our Design and Computer Science courses. It contains specialist spaces for Animation, Games Design, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Product Design and Computer Science.

Specialist facilities

The atrium

The atrium is the beating heart of the building, providing an interdisciplinary co-working space. The specialist studios for each programme are situated around this central hub.

Specialist studios

Each of our programmes have a fully accessible ground floor specialist studio providing a base for each discipline. This includes an exhibition wall alongside specialist equipment and resources.

Workshops

To the rear of the building are our workshop maker spaces. These workshops are home to our specialist facilities, including 3D printing, woodwork, metal work, laser cutting, CNC, and welding.

Digital maker space

On the first floor of the extension we have our digital maker space, housing stop motion animation booths, motion capture, and game design testing stations.

Computer Science suite

The new computer suite is a modern and spacious teaching environment for our Computer Science students. Its scale, layout, and integrated audio-visual systems support collaborative and interactive learning. This well-structured, purpose-built suite facilitates effective real-time support and monitoring of student progress. The space will also be used for hosting workshops, conferences, and hackathons.