Patrick Comerford
Milton Keynes may be about to lose one of its most curious landmarks and a unique architectural work on a prominent, busy city centre corner. Since I moved here two years ago, I have been captivated by the former Jaipur Restaurant on the busy corner of Grafton Gate and Avebury Boulevard, a few hundred paces from Milton Keynes Central train station to the south-west.
With its elegant domed-roof, its covered balconies, verandas and colonnades, the building looks like it has been transplanted from India’s majestic past and the places of the maharajas.
Jaipur is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. The city, with a population of 3.1 million, is the tenth largest city in India. Jaipur is also known as the ‘Pink City’ because of the colour scheme of buildings in old city.
Jaipur was founded in 1727 by Sawai Jai Singh, the Kachhwaha Rajput ruler of Amer, who gave the city its name. It is one of the earliest planned cities of modern India, and during the days of the Raj the city was the capital of Jaipur State.
Jaipur is a popular tourist destination and is part of the west Golden triangle along with Delhi and Agra. It has two World heritage sites and is included on the World Heritage Cities list.
The Jaipur restaurant in Milton Keynes was built in the style of an Indian palace or temple, with a dome, covered balconies and verandas inspired by the Chandra Mahal, or Palace of the Moon, still the palatial home of the Maharajas of Jaipur.
When the Jaipur restaurant opened in 2002, it was said to be the largest purpose-built Indian restaurant in the world. At the time, it was owned by Abdul Ahad, a high profile member of the Bangladeshi community, who dubbed the Jaipur not his ‘Chandra Mahal’ but his own ‘mini Taj Mahal.’
The building housed the Jaipur Indian restaurant on the ground floor and the Orchid Lounge Thai restaurant upstairs. It was a busy and popular venue, and also become a well-known wedding venue. Inside, the Jaipur had luxurious decor and opulent architectural features, including a curved staircase, a beautiful chandelier and a raised domed roof light, as well as an ornate veranda and a number of balcony areas.
The company was put into liquidation at the end of 2014, owing substantial debts. But it was bought back two months later, in January 2015, for more than £1 million by a consortium led by Adbul Ahad, who reopened the restaurant.
Jaipur closed suddenly in 2018. When it re-opened it was as a late-night cocktail and clubbing venue housing the Atesh bar and restaurant.
But on the day after Christmas Day, 26 December 2021, Nagiib Maxamed (28) was fatally stabbed outside the premises during a party. He died in hospital from his wounds two days later, on 28 December 2021. The venue’s drink licence was subsequently suspended by Milton Keynes Council and it closed down completely shortly after.
The former Jaipur building has remained closed for the past two years, and developers have now proposed building a 33-storey apartment block on the site, with the proposed name of Jaipur Tower.
The application by Smith Jenkins Planning and Heritage on behalf of Galliford Try Investments seeks full planning permission for a 33-storey high-rise residential tower block with 302 built-to-rent apartments, ranging from one- to two-bedroom flats to accommodate one to four people.
The proposals include communal spaces that could include a gym and co-working spaces, two rooftop terraces on the ninth and 29th floors, and commercial use at ground floor and mezzanine floor level. According to the planning application, this would be a car-free development and no car parking spaces are included in the plans.
The proposed tower block would be one of the tallest buildings in Milton Keynes. Reports say the planning application has prompted many objections from nearby residents, who have describes the proposal as ‘hideous,’ ‘unsightly’ and out of character with the area.
The site is beside the 10-storey Premier Inn hotel, with a ground floor restaurant and bar. The Premier Inn says the tower block would result in ‘direct adverse impacts and potential risks to the hotel, as well as lack of light and privacy for guests.’
Residents in neighbouring areas and estates say the development would impact on their roads and infrastructure – and would be a blot on the landscape at the city centre, changing the character of the area and the view.
With its distinctive style, the Jaipur building has been well-loved locally and is still regarded as an architectural landmark. But the building has been vacant since 2022, and the application claims ‘there is little to no prospect of it being re-used as a restaurant.’
Conservation officers at Milton Keynes City Council say it is not officially considered to have special heritage value, and it has never been considered as a heritage asset. A report says this rules out any heritage objections to the redevelopment of the site.
Despite an original planning principle in Milton Keynes that no building could be higher than the tallest tree, a worrying precedent was set in 2021 when planning permission was granted for a 33-storey ‘vertical village’ block with 288 apartments as part of the redevelopment of Saxon Court, the council’s former housing offices.
Milton Keynes is fast becoming a city of skyscrapers, and may soon lose one of its unique architectural landmarks.
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