Audio recording of David Lock (b. 1948)
On the 1st November 1988 David Lock started working from home in a make-shift office in his daughter’s bedroom. When at college DL never dreamt of running a business but realised that he would have to do this to do the work he wanted to do. Twenty plus years later the company that bears his name is a well respected planning and urban design company.
In his interview he outlines the demography of the company, low staff turnover, mentions where a number of staff members came from and how staff induction has changed as the firm has grown. He also reflects on his need to make recent redundancies.
He describes his work as a vocational calling, rather than about making money or widgets.
Feels a ‘very strong mission to rectify… the misfit between the needs of the people and the way we organise our towns and cities and our countryside’.
Mentions embracing new technology including Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Talks of attracting people to come and work in Milton Keynes. Regards MK as a scrapbook and reference book for much of their work and how it can elicit both positive and negative responses from prospective clients.
Believes Margaret Thatcher pushed creative work, in his field, into the private sector. The result was the migration of creative people into the private sector, leaving non-creative, clerical operatives in local authorities, who were not good at being clients.
Discusses the ‘lessons learnt from the experience of the Development Corporation and building Milton Keynes.’ Illustrates the master planning principles of Milton Keynes through the story of the plan for Salden Chase, where a ‘missing chapter’ from an MKDC Urban Design Unit document was found to be relevant to solving the scheme’s design dilemmas.
Refers to content, under consideration for the book and discusses the structure of the book.
Mentions that David Lock Associates has just been commissioned to design the Master Plan for Greater Bristol to year 2050.
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