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MILTON KEYNES | Projects and Construction

334K views 1K replies 81 participants last post by  MK Tom 
#1 · (Edited)
Although all three of these developments are ostensibly completed, I'm posting this so you can see some of the high rise development taking place in the new city. The Pinnacle is a 9 floor office development near the central station which is still only partially finished. The Hub:MK is a mixed use residential/commercial development including a 13 floor Jury's Inn hotel and a 14 floor block of flats. Finally Vizion, formerly known as One:MK, includes more apartments and a massive Sainsbury's superstore with a 14 floor tower on top of it.

All together these projects have given Milton Keynes a decent skyline which can be proudly observed from as far away as Leighton Buzzard, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire. Below are some pictures I've taken on various walks. I've had to post the fotopic page links here because the image links wouldn't work on some browsers.


The now sizable Milton Keynes Central station.

http://tom-walker.fotopic.net/p61780655.html

The Hub:MK, seen from across Witan Gate.

http://tom-walker.fotopic.net/p61780652.html

The main tower of the Hub:MK.

http://tom-walker.fotopic.net/p61780653.html

Round the side of the Pinnacle. The tallest part is just out of shot on the northern face.

http://tom-walker.fotopic.net/p61780654.html

The main tower of Vizion, the 'breadboard' as its become known locally. Sainsbury's occupies the bottom floor and the underground car park.

http://tom-walker.fotopic.net/p61780656.html

The Milton Keynes skyline, seen from Great Holm, a suburb near my home. It's not quite the same picture that's on Wikipedia, but I did take them both.

P.S. East Midlands seemed the only category I could put Milton Keynes in, it's not in London and there's no East Anglia option. Hope it's OK. Also, please no anti-MK digs, I am a proud resident and it's a wonderful place to live.
 
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#112 ·
The Centre:MK was in line for a controversial redevelopment that would have seen the Secklow Gate flyover demolished, parking removed and the appearance of the building completely changed. Now that the building (including the flyover) has been listed this seems pretty impossible now. It's still possible to expand the centre within the listing; principally by extending the shopping units down either side of John Lewis. I personally think MK could do with a bit of outdoor shopping; I'd like to see a small mixed-use development including some larger and some smaller stores on the site east of the Point. Could even have a Greggs or a CeX!
 
#113 ·
Construction update time! Took advantage of yesterday's weather to do a walk over to the EEA...

Firstly, Network Rail...



Next, a large crane on the project to widen the A5130 between The A509 and the Eastern Expansion Area. This is a bridge being widened to dual carriageway width.


Countess Way, the new 'city street' in the EEA which acts as and should have been an extension of H7 Chaffron Way.


New housing in Broughton Gate. The ditch is the original MK boundary - the new housing beyond it shows how we've gone beyond being a new town. The ditch is also the future route of the Bedford-Milton Keynes Waterway.


New housing at Campbell Heights on the south side of Campbell Park. The plan is to do blocks like this all along both sides of the park to create a New York Central Park style effect.


A view of the Hub on the sunniest day of the year so far...


Lastly, one for the rail enthusiasts! Got a real surprise as I walked over the bridge over the railway...


All in all a pretty enjoyable walk!
 
#114 ·
The A421 I believe is actually the responsibility of the Highways Agency, so any improvements to the section between the new improved road at J13 and at Fen Roundabout is actually upto them, even though I know that Central Bedfordshire has applied to the Dept. Transport for that section to be upgraded in turn with the new road leading to Bedford from J13. (I doubt it will be approved, especially since the improvements have now been completed, on top of the sweeping cuts being put in place by gov't atm!)
It's a shame really because Milton Keynes has such a poorly developed East-West aligned transport infrastructure, compared to it's North-South (M1, A5, Watling Street, Grand Union Canal and WCML), it would benefit from upgrades of the A421 which would compliment the O2C Arc, helping establish new potential for the region in general!

Anyways fantastic pictures there ^, everything, Milton Keynes in particular, looks so much better in the sun! Are there any new developments concerning the station square redevelopment? When I came home weekend before last there were, what looked to me, like surveyors measuring all sorts around that concrete expanse!
 
#115 ·
Yeah construction is expected to commence in April on the £3 million redevelopment scheme which will see private cars, taxis and buses separated onto different sides of the square with only one crossing in place of the current three. The plans I saw a year or two back included a new canopy running out over the bus stops; I don't know if that element is still going ahead or not.
 
#117 ·
I was considering going along to the protest about that but I had other things I needed to do! The group I'm in is one of the groups protesting. It's disgraceful why they haven't done it - they were planning an expansion that would have required the removal of the Secklow Gate flyover, which is a critical piece of road infrastructure. They've held off on repairing the bridge in case this controversial development goes ahead... only it never will because the shopping building AND the bridge are now a listed building! The road needs to be repaired and reopened ASAP. If it's not open by June it gets referred to the Secretary of State.
 
#119 ·
Yeah that's the risk they're running. As you probably saw on the article the council claims the delay is due to the complexity of the bridge and the extent of the fire damage. But there's been little or no evidence of work of any kind taking place on the bridge. The fire was fairly localised and it should only be a case of replacing the buckled springs. I just think they're unwilling to go through that expenditure when they still might have plans to demolish it. Either way if they can't present proof of work to the Secretary of State come June then they'll be facing sanctions. The best part is it's all insured; it won't even cost them anything to fix it!
 
#120 ·
Doesn't look like a very complex bridge to me. I wonder if using the insurance is now not an option given that they've taken ages to decide what to do. Put it this way, the insurance company wouldn't hang onto my car for 9 months whilst I decided whether I wanted it repaired or not. They'd say its getting repaired, or have it back.
 
#121 ·
Yeah there is that. I guess if the council argued that they have been surveying it the whole time and the Sec of State accepted that then it still would. But I doubt it. I have a feeling they're either going to do a sudden U-turn and pull off the repair really suddenly or the Sec of State and English Heritage are going to come down on them, fine them and force them to fund the repair. I sort of don't want that because the council budget is overstretched as it is! So I hope they pull their finger out whilst they still can. The law gives them 18 months to conduct the repair.

Speaking of listing, the Point turns 30 next year and that makes it eligible for listing. I've heard rumours that an application has already been submitted!
 
#122 ·
I wasn't aware a building had to be a certain age for listing to be considered, you learn something new every day. Slightly off topic, but I wonder if the Corby Cube could be a future listed building as its a beaut!

Listing a building however does not prevent it from being altered (not suggesting you thought otherwise). You have only to look at the substantial alterations being made to Park Hill flats in Sheffield, which I think i'm right in saying is one of the largest listed structures in Europe, to see that even listed buildings can move with the times.

Retaining key features is important, but allowing it to adapt (sympathetically) to continue its function over time should also be a consideration.
 
#123 ·
Yeah exactly. The listing protects the building's character and key features, and doesn't equate to freezing it in carbonite. The shopping building could very easily be extended within the confines of its original design; along either side of John Lewis was always earmarked for this from the outset. However I think removing the flyover would be like taking the suspension beams off Tower Bridge. It would go beyond altering the building and would equate I think in the eyes of English Heritage to destroying part of it.
 
#129 ·
#130 ·
Here's the ice rink:

http://www.cornfordandcross.com/projects/2007/trancenation/1 Peter Hutton- Milton Keynes.jpg

Here's the Xscape: (picture from MK Council)

Couldn't find one for the stadium plan. The main problem I have with the Xscape plan is it comes far too close to Avebury Boulevard.
Cheers for those :eek:kay:

I can see what you mean regarding the Xscape plan as that does look like a bit of a squeeze. Plus trying to find a car park space next to Xscape can be difficult most evenings, let alone if they remove a large portion of the current car park in order to build the casino there.

The Leisure Plaza seems a more suitable location and is ripe for redevelopment. I recall going to the Empire nightclub many years ago but the last time I was in that area it was deserted, bar for some Corsas and Saxos racing around the car park!

I've only driven past the stadium a few times but seems like plenty of land around there for building a leisure complex on, albeit it's a bit out of the way.
 
#132 ·
#133 ·
Hey everyone, long time no talk on this forum, which I'm sure doesnt reflect the vibrancy of MK nowadays :p Network Rail building is flying up; very impressive as your turn onto Elder Gate from the station, it'll really give an impression as you enter the city from the station and will give a lot more character to the area! MK Tom, what's the West End One development, didn't really give that much detail on the website you gave?
 
#134 ·
It's the site between Sainsbury's and Toys 'R' Us... the only completely undeveloped grid block left in the city centre. The original plan was for 650 apartments and a primary school. That plan was fairly awful, fronted directly onto Grafton Gate and put a primary school next to Childs Way. This new one appears to have been extensively redesigned but no masterplans have yet been released so I don't know if I like it yet!
 
#135 ·
OK, photo update time!

Firstly, some shots showing the new cladding and steelwork on the Network Rail HQ:




Secondly, a shot of progress at the second ExtraCare retirement village in Shenley Wood:


Thirdly, some shots of the completed and operational Milton Keynes Coachway, which opened in December:




Lastly, just for fun, a picture I took of the Hub which I think look quite a lot different in the kind of sun we've had recently:


Please feel free to reply with questions or information!
 
#136 ·
The new coachway looks so much better than the one I used to have to wait in for my Granny on many an occasion in the past. The times spent in that grotty cafe wondering if her coach would ever turn up!

Will be paying my first visit to MK since 2005 next week, moved away in 1998 and only been back 3/4 times since so look forward to seeing how it's changed and showing my lass where I grew up.
 
#137 ·
Network Rail HQ is certainly looking impressive - especially when you approach it from the station (down Eldar Gate), as this is there the two 'wings' of the building join with a huge covered 'high street'/courtcard.

I hope some development of the Centre:MK goes ahead - I seem to recall that as part of that, Waitrose would move into an extended John Lewis, giving more weight to doing something with the foodhall. As a car park, it's a fantastic building, I love parking there, but it's such a waste of space now that Sainsbury's has moved out.
 
#138 · (Edited)
I tell you what Milton Keynes (and many other towns in the UK really) are missing, is a proper leisure pool complex. Dolphin Splashdown even in its better days was a joke - we used to go to Bedford Oasis - not much better either.
In Prague, we had a fantastic facility open - Aqua Palace.
Unbeleivable - the place was huge, with many different zones, with loads of slides, wave pools, lane pool, lazy river, beach, and cafes, pool bars, qym, saunas, with everything linked to your wrist band (so you could charge food drink to it, open/lock your locker with it etc). You could easily spend the day there.

http://www.aquapalace.cz/aquapalace-praha-2

Granted, Prague is much bigger (pop about 1.2m), but with MK's proximity to other large towns, I'm sure it could sustain it. Would be such a fantastic facility - I miss it muchly!
 
#139 ·
IBEH: It has changed a lot. We have a stadium now, but the most noticeable change to you will probably be The Hub, Sainsbury's and The Pinnacle and the effect they've had on the city centre. The only open gappy bit left is where West End One is going to be in a couple of years.

Aldredd: Yeah the only place nearby that has a decent pool is Corby. I don't know what the pool at the new Bletchley Leisure Centre is like but it seems the same as Dolphin was and the Statonbury one is and Aquavale Aylesbury and Mereway in Northampton and all of those are.

It would be nice if they made something of the Food Hall. To me that seems the ideal place for the sort of shop the lack of which is MK's biggest problem in my opinion. That is the shops that can't afford the rent in the shopping building; the likes of Oxfam, CEX, Greggs and Cancer Research. Right there are the four shops I think CMK badly needs one of.
 
#141 ·
Well, as the name suggests, it was always intended to be a hub for food retailing - with lots of independant / specialist food shops anchored by 3 large supermarkets - Sainsburys, Waitrose & Iceland - with Sainsburys being the biggest by far. Sainsbury's moved out a few years ago into a new premises and the 'specialist food shop' element never really worked anyway - over the years there have been / are restaurants, off-license, pet shop, hair-dressers, bank, betting shop etc. I think there still is a charity shop on the 2nd floor - or is it just an office? Perhaps you could indeed use the space freed up by Sainsbury's to have a small mall of specialist shops - would be a welcome addition - there is quite a bit of traffic going through that part or the building due to it being en route to xscape. The building itself (outside) could do with a tidy up though! Who owns the building anyway?
 
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