Interview with Syd Green (part 3)
Syd recalls early discussions about building height in CMK and concerns about increased density and the effect on traffic management if high rise buildings were permitted. A key fact which led to the decision on building height was the Fire Brigade requirement for sprinklers, and the need to bring the water from Bow Brickhill, which happens to be the same height as the top of the Shopping Building (12 metres at top of arcades). This water requirement was a key factor in the design principle that none of the buildings could have sprinklers above the level of the top of the Shopping Building; higher buildings would require booster pumps. He recalls other early memories: stripping the site: ‘massive great machines trundling backwards and forwards scraping the earth … it was sandstorms all the time’. He made the decision to put £80,000 worth of plants into the arcades in October 1978 to ‘settle in’ before the building opened in the spring: this nearly led to disaster when ‘icy blasts from Greenland’ came into the building in November and threatened to kill the plants. Laing’s were quick to respond with protective actions but Syd says: ‘…it was almost the most hideous disaster I’ve ever experienced’. He also recalls the ‘continuous pour of concrete …over a weekend’, to create the service road in Secklow gate: ‘… like a military operation … and they didn’t have a hitch’.
Syd moved from the Shopping Building project manager role before the building’s completion and he recalls mixed emotions when he visited the building in 1979. But his contribution was acknowledged by his meeting with the Queen on her visit in 1978. Syd recalls the opening of the Shopping Building in 1979 and the public sector workers demonstrating against Margaret Thatcher: ‘…They were shouting …it was like a football ground and she stood there and she out-shouted the lot of them… my God! Was that a performance?’
Syd describes the rest of his time with MKDC, working on Industry in the Northern Towns Group, and then on the Central Business Exchange and Food Centre. At that stage projects were Design and Build; in Syd’s opinion, this method had many disadvantages and could lead to lower standards. After the privatisation of sections of MKDC, Syd stayed with the core staff at Saxon Court and set up a new department with Les Abbotts. He says: ‘part of my job …was to ease people out of work and get them counselled … which was an important issue’. He agrees that his work on CMK has given him the most pride in his career. He notes that: ‘personal recognition is not the thing’. MKDC rarely acknowledged individuals in exhibitions, etc.: there were so many people involved in achieving the final result.
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