The project comprised the reconfiguration, refurbishment and internal fit-out of a former warehouse in Harrogate to become YCR’s headquarters. The building brings together workspace accommodation, facilities and support spaces for cancer patients, a shop and café under one roof.

We worked closely with the charity’s leadership team from the outset, advising on the acquisition of a suitable site and conducting a dynamic briefing process which identified opportunities for the building to be used for more than just a workplace.

The centre is a pioneering new concept, home to the charity’s new cafe and boutique-style shop. Importantly, it is also the home of a new service for people affected by cancer offering them fitness, nutrition and wellbeing support to aid their recovery. The existing building – an atypical business park unit – has been reimagined to offer supportive, welcoming accommodation and is an exemplar of how any space can be retrofit, reused and re-positioned with the right approach.

By integrating multiple uses in a single space, the new HQ engenders a truly integrated approach that sees patients, volunteers, fundraisers, customers and staff coming together in one space – a model we now see being adopted by others within the charity sector.