Interview with David Byrne
Following work as an architect at Runcorn new town, where he worked with Fred Roche, Frank Henshaw and Derek Walker, David applied for a post as architect for South MK at Milton Keynes when Fred was appointed General Manager. He notes that he made a point of seeing the Walter Bor Masterplan of MK before moving there. His first job was Windmill Hill, Bletchley; he then joined the CMK housing group in 1972/73, heading up the team designing Conniburrow and Downs Barn. He remembers working in : ‘…the yellow box at Wavendon … who can forget it?’ He describes how the overall structure plan for the squares north and south of the city centre was agreed by the group, led by Derek Walker: ‘London squares were the inspiration’, with narrow frontage houses and enclosed private and public spaces.
David discusses the constraints of the ‘dreaded housing cost yardstick’ and the need to ‘horse trade’ with the Department of Housing and Local Government for additional financing. Housing schemes at that time had to adhere to the Parker Morris standards for the number of each type of house. He also mentions the choice of the cream bricks, flat roofs, and the question of use of corner sites for shops. He talks through the process of design by the team, which would take at least 6 months. He notes that the layouts of Conniburrow and Fishermead are identical, Downs Barn is two-storey; Springfield and Downhead Park are red brick, more suburban. During the building, he says: ‘I was involved in the day to day running of the job and … ran monthly or fortnightly site meetings throughout’ with the builders, Mowlem’s. Looking at Fishermead now, he comments that ‘… superficially, it is a very pleasant place to live’.
David comments on life working as an architect in MKDC: ‘a very, very exciting time to be an architect… in the early days it was heady stuff …just shared enthusiasm’. He notes that most of the architects were single-minded and possibly ‘…designing for your fellow professionals… not the end user’. He describes his time in Milton Keynes as: ‘…the defining, most important seven years of my architectural life’. Asked what he might have done differently, he notes that housing fashions have changed now; in his opinion, the houses were too narrow, and there was too much concentration on the motor car.
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