Comments on: Reflections on the new-look Stonebow House

By: Gillian

Gillian — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 09:40:53 +0000

I worked for two years on the second floor of Stonebow House. I wonder if the architects have managed to stop the concrete walls cracking open due to earth movement and the whole building shaking when a bus or lorry went past. I wouldn’t live there if I was given an apartment. You cannot make a silk purse out if a sows ear and demolition of this carbuncle both then and now should have been done.

By: James

James — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 18:03:42 +0000

Quite a change. I used to work at BT in the exchange building opposite (a similar vintage?) and had many afternoon beers in Fibbers when it was underneath The Stonebow. I’ve looked on Streetview and Google Earth and there’s certainly been a lot of development around there. It was a strange bit of town; you didn’t really venture down there unless you had good reason to, the building marking something of a border, at least it felt like it to me.

York only got slightly grazed by the brutalism trend, I think Stonebow and the University were the only places that really went big on concrete. It wasn’t pretty, but it was different, and out of the way enough that it wasn’t too intrusive.

By: AndyT

AndyT — Fri, 26 Apr 2019 13:51:25 +0000

I agree John. Sadly our Council let anything go and this is a missed opportunity to demolish or failing that, make it into something much much nicer.

By: John Hudson

John Hudson — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 21:29:23 +0000

Still find the whole complex an eyesore in the city centre – should never have been built in the first place. Frankly the retrofit hasn’t altered the concrete brutalist mass at all. What was needed during the project was a damn good garden planner to Soften it with trees, shrubs and maybe even one wall with a vertical garden! Should have been demolished and transformed into a garden for shoppers & tourists to sit and relax.

By: Amos

Amos — Sun, 02 Sep 2018 14:12:31 +0000

I have such mixed feelings about this place really do, despite the refirb you can’t polish a turd and all they have done is made it look more modern, personally speaking it should have been pulled down, it is a sad, depressing looking area (granted it was worse before the refurb) and whilst it has improved the best improvement would have been demolition and demolish the Park inn hotel too.