MK:U International Design Competition announced today that the International team led by London based Hopkins Architects was selected unanimously by the jurors, as the winner of their new model university competition launched in early 2019.
MK:U is one of many big projects planned for Milton Keynes’s near future, in order to develop the economy of the city, to reach new competitive heights. The university is a partnership between MKC and Cranfield University. Designed to meet the needs of the digital age, it basically equips students for the 21st-century workplace, and for future careers in emerging fields.
The competition attracted 53 team submissions comprising 257 individual firms from across the globe. The winning proposal of the scheme of MK:U by Hopkins Architects was chosen mainly because of the clarity of the concept as well as the collaborative approach of the international team of professionals. The plan illustrates a green open quarter, a rational series of academic pavilions, and a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere. The centerpiece of the plan is the forum with its striking red geometrical lecture theater, enclosed in a glass giant lobby, welcoming newcomers. The proposed project is due to open to its first undergraduates in 2023.
“The Hopkins’ scheme celebrates and develops the emblematic Milton Keynes urban design principles, elegantly re-interpreting the concept of the original town block,” -- Malcolm Reading, Competition Director.
The winning team includes Prior + Partners, Expedition Engineering, Atelier Ten, GROSS. MAX., Buro 4, RLB Schumann, GRFN, Caneparo Associates, QCIC, Nick Perry Associates, Access=Design, Cordless Consultants, Sandy Brown Associates, FMDC and Tricon.
The four other finalists comprised teams led by Co:MK:U; Hawkins\Brown; Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands; and OMA. Read more about their proposals here.
