Modern Yorkshire store to keep listed status

The 1970s glass and steel Milton Keynes shopping centre, known as thecentre:mk, has been designated Grade II status, meaning it is "nationally important and of special interest", according to English Heritage.

Heritage Minister John Penrose accepted that the glass-and-steel building, opened in 1979 by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, divided opinion but said today it had sufficient merits to be listed.

Mr Penrose, who has also rejected calls to de-list Coventry Market and the Castle House Co-op store in Sheffield, said: "Post-war buildings can, more than others, divide opinion.

"The test of tim' cannot be rushed, so the minister – me on this occasion – has to weigh the advice of experts and, where there is no clear consensus, find a way through that helps protect what's truly excellent.

"My decision to list Milton Keynes shopping centre and to reject calls to de-list important modern buildings in Coventry and Sheffield demonstrates this.

"These are interesting and eye-catching buildings that clearly merit

the extra protection that comes with listed status."

The shopping centre was the biggest in Britain when it was created by architects Derek Walker, Stuart Mosscrop and Chris Woodward for the new community of Milton Keynes. It now contains 240 shops, cafes and restaurants and attracts about 30 million visits a year.

Mr Penrose said of the centre, and the Coventry and Sheffield buildings: "They are not, of course, guaranteed immortality.

"The point of listing is to make sure that, if plans come forward in the future to develop or redevelop them, the locally-elected decision-makers are made fully aware of the buildings' importance."

In the letter informing the shopping centre of its new status, Ian Dunlop, of the heritage protection branch at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, accepted some had opposed its listing.

But he said letters from members of the public said it "helps create a local civic identity and is part of the history of the new town of Milton Keynes".

Many have derided the building, which has a grid layout, but it also won awards soon after it was unveiled to the public.

Mr Dunlop praised the "high-quality finishes and materials throughout. In this latest round of listing decisions, the minister turned down an application to list the gatehouse at St Anne's College, Oxford.