York Community Stadium

York Community Stadium

Status: Completed 2021

Value: £47m

Type: New Build Sports Stadium and Leisure Complex

Location: York, England

York Community Stadium and Leisure Centre is a unique public/privately funded complex in the Monks Cross area of York that delivers not only a new 8,500 all-seater Stadium for York City FC and York City Knights RLFC stadium, but a new leisure complex and Community Hub.  The leisure facilities include a 25m pool, teaching pool and fun pool.  The complex also includes a 4-court sports hall with spectator viewing, fitness gym, dance and spin studios, adventure sports zone and 3G pitches.  Complimentary commercial elements include a 13-screen cinema, tenpin bowling, indoor golf, and restaurants.

The complex has been developed as a ‘Healthy Stadia’ which uses the power of sport to tackle health inequalities by using the stadium as a tool to promote the health of visitors, fans, players, employees and the surrounding community. The Stadium becomes a place where people can go to have a positive, healthy experience, playing or watching sport.  

A key design feature of the Stadium is the covered Fan Zone at the south east entrance to the Stadium. The intention of the Fan Zone is to encourage fans to come early and enjoy the pre-match atmosphere. For the hospitality and corporate guests, there is a variety of hospitality spaces for over 600 spectators.

The Community Hub provides facilities for York NHS, York Against Cancer, York Libraries, and community facilities for both clubs.  The inclusion of the NHS is part of the ‘Healthy City Strategic Partnership’ promoted by the Council and NHS.  Providing health services in a community stadium can affect people’s lives in many different ways; addressing access and health inequalities, ensuring people get the treatment they need on a regular basis at an easily-accessible venue as well as helping to prevent further ill health in the future by providing information and advice.   

There are many benefits in bringing together facilities and services that are intrinsically linked in a Community Stadium, benefiting both service providers and customers.  Combining several services within then complex brings energy consumption and carbon reduction benefits, in both construction and life cycle use, as well shared resources, and will also bring social, mental, and physical wellbeing benefits through bringing people and activities together. 

York Community Stadium offers a vision for how a mixed-use community sport and leisure scheme can become the catalyst for the regeneration of communities and offer a new community model for local authorities post COVID-19.