Securing Design Quality

Design is fundamental to making quality places within which people will want to live, work, and play long into the future. ATLAS has experienced wide variety in terms of how the design process has been taking forward.

In a regeneration project in Essex, a masterplan was prepared which included an appreciation of urban and architectural design needs, and an approach to achieving a quality outcome. However, the design approach had not evolved in a truly collaborative manner, stakeholders had not influenced it to the extent they should have and as a result it was not supported by the LPA or other key agencies. It stresses the point that collaboration throughout the design process in crucial to ensure that the outcomes are deliverable and supported by all.

It is clear that greater emphasis on design parameters and principles is now coming through in both policy and practice. In one project for an urban extension in Bedfordshire, an outline application was submitted with a Design & Access Statement, although it was clear that this was lacking in definition as to the actual design approach or parameters & principles that would guide any future development. No parameter plans or clear design principles were defined by the application or supporting material. They were subsequently refused, with one key reason being this lack of design context. Through an appeal process parameter plans and a design specification were produced, which had these been prepared collaboratively at the outset, would have saved a considerable amount of time, resources and pressure.

Many development sites aspire to high quality design based on local identity, but what does this mean in reality and how can it be assured through to detailed design and implementation? A project in Sussex commissioned a design study as part of a suite of background documents that sets out design principles based on an understanding of the local context, the key factors influencing the new community and maximising environmental sustainability. The content of the study was tested through a stakeholder design-led workshop which allowed all involved to start to see the new community as a living, breathing, three-dimensional place rather than just lines on a map. There is a challenging balance to be struck between providing certainty on the future design solution and allowing enough flexibility to accommodate changing circumstances or creative responses from developers, but this can be addressed sensibly if the work is done collaboratively between commercial, community and public sector interests.

The above case studies reinforce many of the messages ATLAS present throughout the Guide, in particular:

• The recognition that design is fundamental to achieving a positive outcome for a place and project;
• The need for active stakeholder involvement and support through a collaborative design approach; and
• The need to pay due consideration to how design parameters & principles should be articulated and secured through the formal planning process.