Client:  Urban Splash & Glenbrook

Architect: Howells

Planning Consultant: Made It Together

Description: 306 new homes in blocks up to 6-storeys adjacent to Campbell Park. 

HCUK involvement: Assessment of the effect of the development on the setting and significance of Campbell Park, a grade II Registered Park and Garden described by Historic England as a central feature in the unique plan of Milton Keynes, Britain’s most successful post-war new town. 

 

Summary 

Campbell Park is one of the largest public parks to be laid out in England in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, having been influenced by 18th and 19th century landscapes and fusing them into a contemporary design.  The concept is to transition between the grid pattern of the city centre and the natural landscape beyond.  Pevsner and Williamson described Campbell Park as magnificently generous and on the right scale for the city.  Designed by Derek Walker, Stuart Mosscrop and Andrew Mahaddie in 1980, the park involves substantial earthworks, sculptures, water features, a cricket pitch and an open-air auditorium.  The scheme as has been little altered.  The park has group value with the Shopping Building, Midsummer Boulevard, the Central Library and Silbury Boulevard.

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It was long anticipated that the northern edge of Campbell Park would be developed.  Given that it has an elongated plan it was inevitable that comparisons would be drawn with the way in which Central Park, New York, is framed by buildings.  Phase 1 of the development  demonstrates that the historic environment here can absorb the change, aligning with the government’s recent designation of Milton Keynes as a “Renewed Town”.  It will contribute to the city’s strategic vision by helping revitalising the centre, enhancing travel networks, and delivering the high-quality homes required to meet future growth.

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Key issues:

• Impact of the proposed development on the northern skyline of Campbell Park, as experienced within  the Registered Park and Garden.

• Consideration of the impact on the setting of nearby conservation areas and listed buildings.