The Point, Milton Keynes
Built 1985
Designed by Building Design Partnership
A “whimsical Constructivist pyramid”.
This iconic pyramid building, The Point, was the first multiplex cinema in the UK. Its piled boxes with reflective windows, framed in red steel, stands out amongst the straight roads and flat buildings of Milton Keynes.
Building it was a gamble, but a well-timed one. It opened in 1985 when going to the cinema was in decline due to the growth in home videos. If people could watch films at home, why go to a sticky fleapit which could only show one film at a time? So The Point had comfortable seats, stunning audio and large, multiple screens.
It was the busiest cinema in the UK for a while, but by 2000 its fortunes were turning as the nearby Xscape opened with even more screens. In 2015 the cinema closed and it is currently used as a base for charities and community groups.
Historic England declined to list it and the first plans to demolish it were as long ago as 2012. The latest planning permission has been applied for to replace it with 487 flats in tower blocks of up to 21 storeys high.
Charity ReturnMK, who refer to The Point as the city’s Big Ben, hope to turn it into a place for education, work training and socialising - open to all.
The Point is on the 20th Century Society’s Buildings at Risk list. Richard Gray, Cinema Theatre Association casework chairman, said that it is “not only a stunning visual asset for Milton Keynes, but as Britain’s first American style multiplex, it’s a building of huge historical and architectural importance”.
