Milton Keynes Gallery has announced that the installation of MK Forty Tower, a temporary artwork commissioned by Milton Keynes Gallery from de Rijke Marsh Morgan Architects (dRMM) to celebrate Milton Keynes’s 40th anniversary will opened to the public on Saturday 4 August 2007 at 10.00 am.

The striking, 19 metre high tower, pre-fabricated in sections made of 162mm thick cross-laminated timber, will dominate the square in front of Milton Keynes Gallery, rising above the Theatre and Gallery’s distinctive roof-canopy.  Visitors will be welcome to climb its 101 wooden steps to reach a platform affording panoramic views of the city and the landscape beyond.  Admission will be free and the tower will be open during normal gallery opening hours.

After climbing the tower visitors will be able to refresh themselves in possibly one of the most unique coffee bars in the city, housed in a 20 x 8 foot lime green metal shipping container, which has been temporarily installed by the gallery in Margaret Powell Square, beside the tower.  The MK40 Coffee Bar which will be run by “Sublime Coffee”, serving Fair Trade coffee.

Opening slightly earlier than MK Forty Tower in Milton Keynes Gallery Project Space is the exhibition dRMM:The Culture of Construction (21 July – 28 October 2007).    Documenting recent projects that demonstrate dRMM’s use of cross-laminated timber technology the exhibition will focus on dRMM’s award-winning designs for Kingsdale  School, London and the Naked House project (a digitally produced flat-packed home).  Milton Keynes Gallery Project Space opening hours vary from the main gallery.  It is open Tuesday – Sunday, 12 noon  to 5pm and admission is free.

For more information visit www.mk-g.org.