Member Article

Schoolchildren Tour Convent to Learn About Community Evolution

School children from St Lawrence’s School in York took part in a site tour of St Joseph’s convent yesterday to hear about the history of the site from one of the former sisters and document the transformation of this unique development.

The visit to St Joseph’s Convent on Lawrence Street was organised by new site owner, Select Property Group, a global developer, retailer and operator of market-leading property investment brands, with the aim of teaching the children about the way communities evolve over time.

Jane Nellar, head teacher at St Lawrence’s School, commented: “Today’s tour and insight into the new community that will be created at the student village is an invaluable way for our pupils to learn more about how places and people evolve.

“It’s been fascinating to walk around St Joseph’s today and we are very much looking forward to following the development of our new neighbour.”

Home to a closed order of Poor Clare Colettines nuns for more than 140 years, the site had become unmanageable for the eight remaining sisters. The listed convent will now be sympathetically refurbished and converted using its original features with additional buildings to be constructed with extensive landscaped grounds included in the scheme, developed under Select’s award winning Vita Student brand.

Former sister of St. Joseph’s, Sister Paul, spoke to the children in the former chapel about the history of the convent before they were taken on a tour around the former convent and grounds, taking photographs to catalogue its evolution.

Vita Student is the UK’s only customer-led student accommodation provider that places as much emphasis on customer experience excellence as it does providing stylish accommodation. It has eight operational residences across the country, with a further four sites in development.

Mark Oakes, chief commercial officer at Select Property Group, explained how pleased the business was to welcome the children on the site: “St Joseph’s Convent is a very important and historic building for the local community. Our new Vita Student village will be home to many students in years to come, and we appreciate the chance to help educate pupils at St Lawrence’s about the origins of the site.

“We are looking forward to working with the school on other projects and allowing the children to watch the sites’ progress from its inception to the final stages.”

Upon completion, the Vita Student village will provide exceptional customer service to residents, hosting regular events and social activities, along with stylish fixtures and fittings, including formal dining facilities, shared study rooms, next-generation gaming technology and Sky TV.

The development of its York site will take place at the end of the month which is to be carried out by one of the largest UK building & construction companies, Wates.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lianne Rimmer .