Bank House

Bank House is a landmark redevelopment in Central Milton Keynes, replacing an existing office building with a mixed-use scheme centered on residential use. The 20-storey building delivers 355 Build-to-Rent homes, including 110 affordable units, alongside flexible ground-floor commercial space, supporting a more active and lived-in city center. 

Bond Bryan were appointed from RIBA Stage 3 onwards to lead the architectural design, taking the project through developed design, technical coordination, and planning support for a high-rise residential building within a tightly constrained urban site. 

The development introduces a significant number of new homes into the heart of Milton Keynes, helping shift the city center towards long-term occupation rather than single-use activity. Its proximity to Milton Keynes Central Station supports sustainable patterns of movement, while the mix of residential and ground floor uses brings consistent presence to the area throughout the day. 

Alongside the new homes, on-site commercial space supports everyday services at ground level, reducing the need for short car journeys and helping integrate the building into daily patterns of city life. The site’s proximity to Milton Keynes Central Station and nearby bus routes allows residents to easily reach existing nearby facilities, helping support access to services that contribute to health, wellbeing, as well as boosting the local economy. 

The site is bound by public footpaths on all sides, meaning the building is experienced as part of the wider public realm, rather than from a single frontage. This places particular importance on how people arrive, move around the site, and pass through it. Clear entrances, active edges, and landscaped podium terraces help support visibility and natural oversight, contributing to streets and routes that feel safe and straightforward to use. 

On a broader scale, the building responds to the established urban structure of Milton Keynes. Its stepped form reflects the city’s modernist character while helping manage height and scale at street level, allowing the development to sit comfortably within its surroundings. 

A central focus of the project was creating a building that supports everyday routines, wellbeing, and natural social interaction. Shared spaces are anticipated to include a range of flexible spaces, accommodating uses such as fitness, co-working, social and family-friendly areas.  

These spaces are intended to support everyday use and social interaction, while allowing flexibility for future use. 

Landscaped roof terraces at multiple levels provide access to outdoor space throughout the building, supporting varied patterns of use and contributing to resident well-being. 

Access and movement were shaped by existing site conditions. A level change of approximately 1.8 metres across the site influenced the arrangement of entrances and external routes. Where direct level access was constrained by fixed conditions within the surrounding public realm, alternative level approaches were incorporated to ensure clear and inclusive access for wheelchair users and people with reduced mobility. The aim was not just compliance, but routes that feel safe, intuitive, and dignified. 

From RIBA Stage 3 onwards, Bond Bryan’s role focused on translating these priorities into a coordinated and buildable solution, ensuring design intent, access, circulation, and long-term operation were clearly resolved and consistently carried through. Our role included resolving complex level changes, coordinating two primary circulation cores, and developing lift and stair strategies appropriate to a 20-storey residential building.  

The facade strategy was refined to provide visual distinction between residential elements while maintaining a coherent architectural language overall. Principles of passive surveillance, accessibility, and long-term operational efficiency were embedded throughout the design, supported by coordinated drawings and technical documentation prepared for the planning submission. 

Sustainability has informed the design approach from an early stage. Proposals include ecological enhancements targeting a biodiversity net gain of 79% alongside low-carbon building services strategies to support long-term environmental performance, subject to final design and delivery. 

Landscaped podium and roof terraces support this approach while also improving comfort and access to outdoor space for residents. 

Transport and movement have been carefully considered as part of the building’s wider sustainability strategy. The basement car park includes electric vehicle charging to all spaces, with accessible bays located close to lift cores and designed to support practical use. Cycle provision is extensive, with 500 spaces distributed across ground, upper ground, and basement levels. Storage accommodates a range of cycle types with step-free access and good natural surveillance, encouraging everyday use and low-carbon transport choices and reflecting the operational demands of a high-density residential building. 

Bank House represents a thoughtful, design-led response to urban living needs in a newly designed city. The collaborative process, facilitated by technical expertise, has produced a scheme that is both contextually responsive and future-facing.