Case Studies
It expands on the ten characteristics of good design set out in the National Design Guide, which reflects on government’s priorities and provides a common overarching framework for design.
The UK planning system has finally embraced coding. David Rudlin (who was a Director at URBED Ltd at the time prior to joining BDP) was commissioned as the principal author of the National Model Design Code with responsibility for setting out the methodology for design codes to be created by local planning authorities.
The method is based on the zonal, form-based coding model used across much of Europe and North America (although the UK government is reluctant to use the word ‘zoning’). Recent guidance has placed an obligation on all planning authorities in England to produce a code covering their entire area.
A design code is a set of simple, concise, illustrated design requirements that are visual and numerical wherever possible to provide specific, detailed parameters for the physical development of a site or area. The guide is a toolkit for local planning authorities on the design parameters and issues that need to be considered and tailored to their own context when producing design codes and guides, as well as methods to capture and reflect the views of the local community from the outset, and at each stage in the process.
