Fred Roche
Frederick Lloyd Roche, CBE (11 March 1931 – 9 November 1992), was a British architect who worked on the national programme of New Towns in the United Kingdom. As General Manager of the Milton Keynes Development Corporation, his work on Milton Keynes during the 1970s has been praised; his work as a Chief Architect on Runcorn in the 1960s has been criticised. In 1985 he was awarded a CBE. Career. He trained at Regent Street Polytehnic (now University of Westminster) and qualified in 1955. He remained in London for three years working as a housing architect but in 1958  moved to Coventry, where he became an architect specialising in schools. In 1963 he returned to housing when he became principal development architect for the Midlands Housing Consortium. In 1965 he became chief architect and planning officer for Runcorn new town - developing the master plan. He hired James Stirling to develop designs for new housing, which included the poorly-built Southgate Estate. In a national report of 2002, Runcorn's new town was singled out as an example of poor planning, being "slammed" in a 'Transport Local Government and the Regions Committee' report on the New Towns programme, because of  high levels of deprivation, unemployment and crime. He was the designer of Runcorn Shopping City. In 1970 he moved to Milton Keynes in north Buckinghamshire, at that stage little more than an outline on a map, to be General Manager of the "new city" Development Corporation, at the age of 39. He oversaw the through to 1981. Thereafter, he joined up with Terence Conran (of Habitat fame) to establish the new architecture and planning consultancy Conran Roche. The company developed a number of successful projects during the 1980s including Butler's Wharf and Michelin House in London. Ill health forced  him to retire as managing director in 1988. Awards and recognition. In 1985 Roche was appointed a CBE. He was a vice-president of the Royal Institute of British Architects from 1983–85 and honorary treasurer from 1985-86. He is commemorated in Milton Keynes by having a linear civic garden named for him.