The £25m project, providing accommodation for 617 students and five staff in a mixture of houses and flats, marks the start of the first cluster on Heslington East, which will also comprise the Department of Theatre, Film and Television, the Department of Computer Science, the Creative Technologies Hub, and The York Law School and The York Management  School.

With sustainability a key feature, Shepherd’s in-house design team designed the new College, to achieve a BREEAM rating of "Very Good". Its features include a Sustainable Urban Drainage System, where the surface water will be channelled via a series of swales, leading down to a feature lake. Energy efficiency is also maximised, through heat recovery systems. The building also features a timber-frame, which will be sourced from sustainable sources.

Construction on the College will start in July 2008, with the first students taking up residence in October 2009.