Eleven “sky gardens” and an “innovation hub” are the features of Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners’ proposal for Milton Keynes’ mixed-use scheme called MK Gateway.
Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) submits proposals for a £180 million mixed-use scheme in Milton Keynes. The proposals comprise plans for the refurbishment and addition to the Saxon Court office block and the construction of a new residential tower. The plans are awaiting Milton Keynes’s council approval for the construction to start early next year.
Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Three new stories will be added to the modernist Saxon Court—Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners will turn the former Milton Keynes council into a 185,000 square foot sustainable office building that conforms to the needs of a post-Covid-19 workplace, with offices, co-working spaces, research, and development zones, and an “innovation hub”. The Saxon Court will be renamed The Shed.
Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Sitting opposite the Saxon Court will be the 34-story tower. The residential tower, called “The Village”, will house 288 rental flats and a “sky garden”. The tower will connect to the office building through a green public square.
Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
While RSHP worked on the plans, First Base and investor Patron Capital are redeveloping the Saxon Court, and will also incorporate both indoor and outdoor public spaces at street level to house pop-up markets, food stalls, and events.
Courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Ivan Harbour, the senior design partner at Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners, said: “Together [with our clients], we have conceived an urban destination that offers a blueprint for the sustainable workplace post-Covid-19, for high-density neighborly living, for creativity and for a rich and diverse public realm in the spirit of Central Milton Keynes’ vision for “a space for everyone”, taken from The City Club in the 1970s.”
Illustration of a Sky Garden in the residential tower
The refurbishment and extension of Saxon Court will produce RSHP’s first workspace outside of London. Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners is a London-based international architecture practice. The firm has been winning awards for 40 years for its innovative built projects. Earlier this week, RSHP announced its first office in the US will open later this year in New York.
