WORK is now underway on a new aparthotel inside the Bar Walls in York.

The buildings at 105-111 Micklegate have been demolished to make way for a new city centre aparthotel, replacing the Jinnah Spice Club restaurant, and the Minster Self Drive car rental company, with the rest of the retail units having been out of use.

Supercity Aparthotels secured the spot after reaching a deal with York-based developer North Star.

It is being designed by York-based architects, Vincent and Brown.

Mark Andrews from Vincent and Brown said: “The design continues the approach of creating a ‘modern medieval’ building that is respectful and sympathetic to the surrounding context.

“The design concept has been influenced from the medieval timber framed buildings that once lined the street, echoing the forms of these traditional buildings through the use of gables and double-pitched roofs while also using materials that reference the buildings to either side, including brickwork, render and exposed timber fins and panelling."

The hotel will have 62 bedrooms and create 45 new jobs, complete with a restaurant and bar on the ground floor.

The site is bounded by the Grade I listed city walls and Micklegate Bar, Dewsbury Court and The Priory Pub.

The planning application stated that according to recent tourism figures compiled by holiday marketplace companies, York was the second most visited city in the UK in 2018 and has an expanding population.

Supercity has six aparthotels across the UK, in London, Manchester and Brighton.

Each location has high-speed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth sound systems as well as Nespresso coffee machines.

The hotel is expected to be finished by 2023.