The introduction of design codes in the UK, as part of moves to step up housing delivery, could represent a significant shift in planning policy to a more prescriptive, zone-linked and automated model.<\/p>\n
The advocacy of design codes by national government will see them increasingly take centre stage in remaking our built environment as part of a wider agenda to streamline and digitise the planning system, opening the door for planning policy that more readily enables cross-authority collaboration and AI workflows.<\/p>\n
The National Model Design Code\u2019s definition of a design code describes it as \u2018a set of design requirements for the physical development of a site or area \u2026 made up of rules that are clear, specific and unambiguous, and it should normally include extensive graphical illustrations. The code should build upon a design vision, such as a masterplan or other design and development framework for a site or area.\u2019<\/p>\n
Codes were originally championed by the now-closed Office for Place, though they remain a key ambition within the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and in the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. At seminars run by Office for Place before its closure, speakers emphasised the potential of the model to more strongly embed design in planning rules and to create efficiencies within the existing system.<\/p>\n
There are big questions about how design codes will be funded and delivered, and cash-strapped local authorities are understandably anxious about this. There is a risk that they end up becoming a box-ticking exercise, a masterplan in another form, and lose their potential to embed design principles in development through this weakening of their potential.<\/p>\n
Which raises a question: is there any benefit in making a system more efficient if you\u2019re not also raising the quality of delivery? The first wave of the government\u2019s design coding pilot programme, which tested the model, spanned urban, suburban and rural areas, different geographic regions and various socio-economic circumstances. All of this highlights the need for both proper funding and design skill in the making of codes.<\/p>\n
Some architects are already well-placed to contribute to the writing of design codes while others will see themselves simply having to respond to them in the coming years. Either way, they represent an opportunity for architects to add value to the planning process and to actively participate in shaping the model.<\/p>\n
We are great at creating \u2018well-designed places\u2019 and that\u2019s key. Done well, a design code should be about principles and good places, not simply roof profiles or material palettes or other elements that have all-too-often defined existing coding. The opportunity is there to bring architectural and planning skill together into the same robust document \u2013 and therefore to bring planners and architects closer together in a joint mission.<\/p>\n
There are vital and exciting questions to be solved along the way. How do we ensure codes are robust enough to deliver quality while remaining flexible? How will we adapt our design processes to work effectively within these new parameters? What about the logistics? In other words, will early-stage design become more about parameter checking, adding yet a new layer of complexity and contradiction between existing and new local plans? Will design codes create a more level playing field for planning applications, or add another layer of expertise needed to navigate the system?<\/p>\n
For architects, do they represent a chance to show how our skill in understanding and creating great places can be of use right at the beginning of the making of that place, rather than nearer the end? At my practice, we have been well-placed to begin collaborating with local authorities on the making of design codes and, in practice, we have found there to be extensive common ground and genuine collaboration and goodwill in the process.<\/p>\n
If we can move beyond the idea that architects are solely focused on light aesthetic skims of material palette or roof profile, then the rise of design coding represents a golden opportunity to make better places, to embed architectural skill in that process, and to build bridges between the design professions.<\/p>\n
Cristina Monteiro is an architect, author and co-founder of DK-CM<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The introduction of design codes in the UK, as part of moves to step up housing delivery, could represent a significant shift in planning policy to a more prescriptive, zone-linked and automated model. The advocacy of design codes by national government will see them increasingly take centre stage in remaking our built environment as part …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10162,"featured_media":709191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[745],"tags":[90210,6252,4280,65565,1489],"yoast_head":"\n