Interview with Douglas Burcham (part 2)
Douglas talks of the general design principles of Milton Keynes. In his opinion, the great advantage of CMK is that it is based on ‘the idea of the individual development block … you could demolish and redevelop a block, but the infrastructure … should be sacrosanct…’. Douglas explains why he left MK in 1992, seeing the potential for changes to the original design. He expresses concern about a number of current changes. He is proud of being involved in the Shopping Building, and Central Milton Keynes in general: ‘I made a contribution by oiling the wheels and, certainly, had involvement with all the offices after Lloyd’s Court … and the station block…I did all the money side for those, in conjunction with the surveyors’. Asked what qualities he has that helped the process, he says: ‘Maybe, I’m a frustrated architect or a surveyor rather than an accountant… I may have been better actually building something and got more satisfaction’. He follows the principle of ‘keep the finances simple’; it applies to design, too: ‘the things like the Shopping Building, which are simple, are the things that have actually lasted’.
They discuss successes and failures in Milton Keynes: the Milton Keynes seat (‘now you see it everywhere…’), the CBX and Winter Garden, the station and bus station. In Douglas’ opinion the Theatre: ‘is a disaster in appearance terms…’ whilst in contrast The Point ‘was right for Milton Keynes and I think the church was good as well’. In Wolverton, Douglas worked on the Agora: in his opinion ‘a difficult scheme from day one’. He also mentions the proposals for an arena, the Food Centre, and the specialist shops. Of MK innovations, Douglas praises: the basic grid and blocks system; high quality materials; the principle of the shared free-to-use car parking; the grade separation of traffic and pedestrians; the use of London plane trees; the travertine flooring in the Shopping Building; and the clock ‘…I think it’s one of the most expensive clocks in the country’.
Douglas says that Milton Keynes was definitely the highlight of his working life: ‘I could have earned far more money in the private sector but I’ve got the rewards of having worked in Milton Keynes and other places’. He comments: ‘it was a good thing that MKDC was wound up in ’92 … A twenty-five year life span for an organisation is probably sufficient; all the structuring in terms of the grid roads and things was set up’. Finally, Douglas questions whether Milton Keynes might have been better sited at Watford Gap; and he comments on the high level of road noise, wondering whether the grid squares should have been larger.
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