Located on the University of York’s Campus East, the Ron Cooke Hub is one of the university’s most recognisable and multi-functional buildings. Positioned alongside the lake at the centre of campus, the building acts as a hub for teaching, collaboration, research, conferences and public events.
Used daily by students, academic staff, researchers and external organisations, the Ron Cooke Hub contains lecture theatres, seminar rooms, breakout spaces and collaborative learning environments designed to support both education and professional events. The building also regularly hosts conferences, networking events, presentations and university-led public engagement activities, bringing a wide range of visitors onto campus throughout the year.
As part of the university’s wider commitment to accessibility and inclusive education, the building includes a fully equipped Changing Places toilet, helping ensure students, staff and visitors with complex disabilities can confidently access both the facility and the wider campus environment.
Accessibility Across Campus East
The University of York has invested heavily in creating an accessible campus environment, with step-free routes, accessible teaching spaces, hearing loop systems, lifts and adapted facilities integrated throughout Campus East.
Within the Ron Cooke Hub itself, accessibility has clearly been considered throughout the building design. The facility includes automatic entrances, step-free access across all floors, accessible lecture theatres, adapted seminar spaces, lifts with audible announcements and wheelchair-accessible teaching environments.
The building regularly hosts lectures, conferences, collaborative research projects and networking events, making accessible facilities essential for ensuring all students, academics and visitors can fully participate in university life.
What’s Inside: Our Specification
Within the Changing Places toilet at the Ron Cooke Hub, University of York, we installed:
The room also includes a peninsular WC, grab rails, emergency alarm system and generous circulation space to support safe assisted use for both users and carers.
The overhead hoist system provides full room coverage, helping support safe and dignified transfers within a busy higher education environment.
Supporting Inclusive Education
Accessible hygiene facilities play an important role in enabling disabled students to fully engage with university life. For students with profound and multiple learning disabilities, spinal injuries or complex physical needs, access to a compliant Changing Places toilet can directly impact independence, attendance and confidence on campus.
At the Ron Cooke Hub, the inclusion of a specialist facility supports a more inclusive learning environment while ensuring visitors attending conferences, events and public engagement activities also have access to appropriate facilities.
This is particularly important within a multi-purpose university building that brings together teaching, research, business collaboration and community engagement under one roof.
Designing Accessibility Into Modern Learning Environments
University buildings often need to accommodate large numbers of people while supporting a wide range of teaching and event formats. Integrating a fully compliant Changing Places facility within this type of environment requires careful planning around space, circulation and day-to-day usability.
The Ron Cooke Hub demonstrates how specialist accessibility equipment can be incorporated into contemporary education settings without compromising the architectural quality or functionality of the wider building.
Get In Touch
If you’re working on a university, education or public sector project and want to ensure accessibility is considered from the outset, our team can help.
From early-stage consultation through to installation, we support architects, estates teams and contractors in delivering practical, compliant Changing Places facilities for modern learning environments.
