Milton Keynes Western Expansion Area (MKWEA)

Milton Keynes Council’s Design Guide for the MKWEA sets out an ambition for a comprehensive extension to the city that creates a sustainable community that is a walkable neighbourhood and a place where living, working, learning, and leisure all take place together as part of the development. Our approach in formulating a response to this ambition was to emphasise the need for ‘future proofing’ including flexible buildings (particularly in the local centres) that can change their use over time and reserved sites that can be used in a dynamic way and respond to neighbourhood needs as they emerge. These initiatives acknowledge that the Masterplan is not fixed in time and space.

It has been essential to ensure all principles we formulate for the site allow for changes in styles, tastes, habits and trends due to the widespread and ongoing nature of development at MKWEA – what is right for today may be completely wrong for tomorrow. Therefore, we have worked closely with our client and Milton Keynes Council to develop an approach to Coding that allows change to occur but at the same protect what is important for high quality placemaking and masterplanning. 

Define’s urban designers have produced several Design Codes for MKWEA ranging over a 15-year period during which time the approach to Coding has changed significantly from high levels of detail to coding for only what is necessary to achieve high quality. The Codes we have produced have responded and been resilient to changes local and national policy throughout. In spite of this, the vision and ambition has remained true and what is emerging at MKWEA is a cohesive community, unashamedly contemporary in its appearance with open spaces and facilities that support happy, healthy lives.