MEPC has appointed Curo Construction as the contractor on the Signal Yard amenity project at Milton Park, Oxfordshire, the UK’s largest single-ownership innovation community.
The €16.7m redevelopment of the former Park Centre into Signal Yard is underway, creating a vibrant community hub at Milton Park. Once completed, it will feature 18 modern units offering a mix of food, drinks, retail services, and an outdoor events space amidst landscaped areas. The name Signal Yard reflects the site’s history as an RAF depot and its location near the Great Western railway, symbolizing innovation and community.
Initial enabling works have begun, including soft demolition, hoarding construction, and site preparation. Collaborating with Object Space Place Architects, Curo aims to redevelop the existing buildings for improved amenity use and energy performance.
Once completed, the ground floor will feature new timber shopfronts, a unified green color scheme, and a timber-framed extension facing Park Drive and the outdoor events space. The project will also remove the current light-blocking canopy, allowing for a cascading garden and seating area, enhancing the development’s welcoming atmosphere.
The landscape and architectural elements will connect indoors and outdoors seamlessly. ASA Landscape Architects have designed accessible outdoor spaces, including rain gardens, a tree nursery, and a boardwalk to the lagoon. Moveable planters with ornamental plants will allow for flexible event use.
Conor Maguire, Development Manager at MEPC Milton Park, said: “At MEPC, we are very excited to bring this transformative project forward to better serve the needs of our community at Milton Park. Curo Construction’s experience, collaborative approach and commitment to quality make them an ideal partner to bring the project team’s vision to life. We are currently curating an exciting mix of potential occupiers for Signal Yard. If you think you might be a good fit, please reach out to our team.”
Carlo Carenza, Curo Construction’s Project Director, said: “We’re excited to oversee the transformation of the site into a place people will want to relax, socialise and spend time in. At Curo, we are focused on delivering our projects to the highest safety standards and also ensuring we deliver the highest levels of quality. We also focus on respecting those working nearby and constructing in sustainable ways, ensuring we reduce carbon emissions through innovative design and construction methods. We’re looking forward to seeing people enjoy Signal Yard’s spaces and amenities upon completion.”
Brendan Mullard, Director at Object Space Place, said: “Signal Yard is an exciting project that brings life back to the four existing buildings and landscape that was Park Centre. From the start we knew we needed to create a ‘place’ and not a ‘design’. The spirit of Signal Yard will come from the occupiers, and visitors and the way the buildings connect to the landscape and the architecture just needs to find a way to allow all of that to happen. At OSP our work is focused on Sustainability and Hospitality design, so the opportunity to creatively reuse and adapt the existing buildings to make new hospitality space has been perfect. The project includes circular economy strategies for reuse and new parts are built primarily in timber to reduce embodied carbon.”
Maria Lara Mijancos, Senior Landscape Architect at ASA Landscape Architects, said: “Signal Yard is set to become a vibrant, green destination within Milton Park, designed to promote social interaction and wellbeing. The scheme integrates a sequence of distinctive spaces, including cascading gardens, a tree nursery, rain gardens and the boardwalk – each space has been designed to enhance biodiversity as well as spatial connectivity, creating an inviting retreat where the community can connect, relax and enjoy.”
Image source - MEPC.
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