A DISUSED former malthouse in York could be redeveloped into new offices designed for post-Covid working trends.

York architect Vincent & Brown has designed a new building for 9 The Crescent, taking into account evolving working patterns which have emerged during the pandemic.

Plans for the new grade A offices at the rear of York railway station have been recommended for approval by City of York Council’s area planning committee on Wednesday.

The site currently contains the vacant two-storey former York Brewery buildings with a malthouse kiln to the rear.

Existing buildings would be partially demolished and redeveloped with 2960m2 office space.

The new property would have five floors including a basement and a small mezzanine area in the roof space.

The facade of the existing brewery building - a non-designated heritage asset dating from the 1870s - would be retained with a new, predominantly red brick building constructed behind it.

The car-free development includes bike parking spaces and electric bike charging points.

This is a revised scheme. Comments from council officers on the original scheme said accessible, high quality office space in, or near, the city centre is rare but desirable, and such a development would encourage inward investment and enable existing businesses to expand, new business start ups and jobs for local people.

The Vincent & Brown team has worked closely with the site’s developer and owners, North Star and Crescent Developments (York) Ltd, along with office experts, to create a space suitable for future, flexible working.

Many companies are seeing the attraction of hybrid working, and choosing smaller satellite city centre hubs. Hybrid working has been found to encourage collaboration and promotes better work/life balance for employees.

Each floor has been designed with flexible open plan offices, with the potential introduction of smaller smart meeting rooms for virtual meetings.

The proposals also include larger informal social spaces which would see the workplace become more of a creative interaction space.

Rob Miller, from Vincent & Brown, said: “These plans have been designed to accommodate new working behaviour that has emerged over the last 18 months and are set to continue in the future.

“This office development utilises the latest creative thinking in office layouts and will also provide much-needed new office space in York city centre, boosting the economy by attracting high value jobs.”