York Unlocked, York and North Yorkshire for York Unlocked

York Unlocked, York and North Yorkshire for York Unlocked

 

York Unlocked is an annual festival that gives people free access to architecture and urban spaces that are typically closed to the public, with the aim to inspire a love of architecture and inform discussions about how a historic city can adapt and develop in the 21st Century.

 

 

Describe the context of this project, its neighbourhood and people.

 

York Unlocked is an annual festival offering free, public access to architecture and urban spaces that are typically closed, with the goal of informing discussion on how this historic city can adapt and develop in the 21st Century.

York Unlocked tackles two challenges the city faces. York’s deep connection to its heritage often results in a knee-jerk opposition to any significant change or adaptation to the built environment. To counterbalance this, York Unlocked opens the doors to historic and modern buildings alike, alongside architect-led tours of recently completed buildings and proposed developments. We actively promote a greater understanding of the changing nature of the city and the role citizens can play in this change.

Secondly, there is a frequent opposition drawn between long-term residents and tourists. York Unlocked, established and run by local residents, champions a model of community-led tourism. The festival is delivered by over 70 local volunteers and celebrates a wide range of heritage across the city—not just the established tourist hotspots. We aim to create a local event of national interest, and this year we are able to show this is working.

In 2025, our fourth year, we recorded over 27,000 visits to 56 venues, with 95% of visitors recommending the event, demonstrating a celebration of the city that connects residents and visitors through shared heritage.

 

Tell us what you did and how the project, event or installation enlivened the place in a creative way? 

 

On 27th and 28th September we opened 56 diverse buildings, ranging from a historic library restoration and a factory-to-apartment conversion to architect-led tours of significant upcoming developments (like the Coney Street Riverside scheme). We used venues, such as the historically significant, but largely unused, Herbert House, as a community hub to gather visitor feedback on proposed urban changes.

We used architecture to foster proactive civic engagement. By providing behind-the-scenes access to development plans, we moved the conversation from passive opposition to informed participation.

Over 70 local volunteers greeted visitors at our venues. These volunteers are invited to participate in our year-round volunteer programme, which creates a thriving community connected through monthly, exclusive venue visits, ensuring continuous feedback and strengthening relationships with our volunteers. This year round programme ensures the volunteers can really ‘own’ the event when engaging with visitors during our flagship open doors festival.

We creatively employed technology to eliminate barriers to participation. We livestreamed the festival on YouTube and partnered with a local tech firm to create an event app, ensuring the whole programme is accessible to those unable to obtain a printed guide. This app was shortlisted for an Arts Council Award in 2025.

Our focus on organic social media following reached audiences typically disengaged from formal heritage bodies, inviting new voices into the discussion about the city’s future.

 

Did the project make a positive social and environmental contribution? If it was a temporary intervention, is there a legacy plan? What happened to its tenants, users, materials and programming?

 

York Unlocked makes significant positive contributions, aiming to build a more connected and environmentally conscious city. Our model demonstrates a positive way to run events that connect residents and tourists. Our festival was highlighted in the academic paper “Community-led Sustainable Tourism: A York Perspective” as an example of a high quality event that residents appreciate. We actively combat loneliness; multiple survey respondents noted the festival offers a vital way to connect with others. 

Furthermore, the engaged audience we build directly benefits local cultural institutions whose values align with our own: the National Railway Museum credited our collaboration with helping them re-connect with local audiences.

Many venue owners (churches, societies, charities) use our event to fundraise, crediting the generosity of visitors to the event's free and open nature. We actively encourage low-impact travel. 

Our 56 venues are arranged into walking hubs, and inter-venue travel by car is impossible. We draw attention to buildings demonstrating environmental best practice and plan to expand this with an explicit "Houses to Save the World" programming strand focused on residential sustainable development.

We plan to secure the growth and success of York Unlocked by attracting long-term partners and funders, ensuring the organisation remains resilient and the positive changes in community engagement and urban dialogue are sustained year after year.