Plans to expand York St John University's Lord Mayor's Walk site will, following close consultation with York's Directorate of City Strategy team, be developed over the next few months.

The building design, by Charles Thomson of Rivington Street Studio Architects, received planning permission from City of York Council in October.

It will cover 4,500 square metres and provide the very latest in hi-tech, innovative learning environments, a new centre for the faculty of health and life sciences and facilities for institutional advancement, research and enterprises and professional training development.

The project will also include the conversion of two adjacent Grade II listed buildings to create an additional 500 square metres of office space to serve the university.

The new structure, which is anticipated to become a signature building for the city, will make a bold and exciting statement about the university with the use of contemporary design and materials to complete the modernisation of the campus.

Commenting on the site and the design, Mr Thomson said: "The site is located at an important but neglected junction of three historic York roads: Clarence Street, Gillygate and Lord Mayor's Walk and is close to the city walls.

"The new building has been designed to reflect something of the intimacy, variety, scale and drama of the historic city and to enhance the setting of the listed buildings.

"The building will form a focal point for people leaving York along Gillygate and will frame the view of the Minster coming along Clarence Street from the north.

"In addition, pedestrian areas will be improved and landscaped, and a new courtyard will provide a formal forecourt to the building.

"We hope that the new building will successfully reflect the close links between the university and the city and between the culture of the 21st century and the legacies of the past."

Colin Parkin, director of facilities at York St John, said: "An investment of £50 million in buildings and facilities over the past six years has resulted in the creation of a dynamic higher education campus, with a central location in this fantastic city.

"This latest investment will not only provide the very latest in learning environments and a range of learning opportunities for the people of York, it will, by underpinning our future academic ambition, further contribute to the economic and social development of our city."