The Manifesto for Better Architectural and Urban Design.

 

A well-designed built environment works well, lasts a long time, is easy to maintain, uses environmentally sound materials, and provides what people need or want. 

Good design brings all these together in a visually appealing and uplifting way.

 

The North Staffordshire conurbation is a national and regional priority for economic and physical regeneration.  Many hundreds of millions of pounds are being made available over the next decade to create new jobs, revitalise shopping and employment areas, to build and refurbish housing, to create a new hospital, new schools, a new transport system and renewed parks and open spaces.

To be successful we must build on the best of our past and present. North Staffordshire’s unmatched network of open spaces, its strong local communities, its renowned traditions of industry and design, its universities and its heritage give it a strong base on which to build.  But one of the critical barriers to its regeneration is the quality of the urban environment and the image which this projects to the outside world. If North Staffordshire’s potential is to be fully realised, a major and sustained cultural shift is needed in the importance given to quality architectural and urban design.

Strategies are being prepared for North Staffordshire’s economy, housing, spatial development, its communities, culture and transport systems.  However, the long term success of all these will stand or fall on the quality of their physical delivery. The new housing, the new places of employment, recreation facilities, meeting places and the new transport infrastructure must all work together effectively. In order to meet our present needs and future aspirations physical regeneration must be well designed.

In commissioning and controlling new development all parties must adopt high quality design as their guiding philosophy.  New processes and improved practices need to be put in place, which integrate good design into all stages of the planning and development system.  This is particularly necessary in the flagship physical regeneration projects which will be delivered in the years to come.

In order bring about the necessary cultural shift, the North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone Board, Renew North Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and Staffordshire County Council have resolved to secure high quality architectural and urban design in and around the North Staffordshire conurbation as a means of

• bringing about successful physical and economic regeneration and social inclusion,

• creating a better and more sustainable urban environment,

• improving the image of the area, and

• raising the quality of life for the citizens of today and tomorrow.

This statement is based on the mission of Urban Vision North Staffordshire, the architecture and urban design centre formed in 2003 under the auspices of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and Advantage West Midlands.  It is hoped that all other local authorities, local strategic partnerships and major regeneration partners will also adopt and endorse this Manifesto.

To make this mission successful

• All regeneration partners will commit themselves to raising the standard of design in new development by prioritising quality design at all stages of the commissioning, planning and development process.  Designs which are inappropriate, or which fail to take the opportunities available for improving the character and quality of the area and the way it functions will be rejected.

• The Regeneration Zone Board will formally adopt an urban design framework for the North Staffordshire conurbation by 2005, drawing on widespread community participation.

• The architectural and historical significance of areas undergoing major change will be assessed by characterisation studies, and local design statements will be approved, before development proposals are agreed.  Urban design master plans or design briefs will be drawn up for areas undergoing major change.  North Staffordshire-wide thematic design policy or guidance will be drawn up for topics such as housing, employment areas and sustainable development. When appropriate, all master plans, briefs, guidelines and statements will be adopted as Local Development Documents by the relevant local authorities. These policies and guidance will create the confidence to invest in high quality design.

• Private sector partners will recognise that development fully in accordance with urban design master plans, design statements and other design strategy, policy and guidance will create raised land and property values, and generate a greater and more sustainable return on their investment over the long term.

• All partners will adopt best practice methods of procurement for physical development projects, including aspirational design and development briefs, the commissioning of high quality architects and the use of architectural competitions where appropriate. These methods will be set down in a design procurement protocol to be adopted by all partners.  Using this protocol should made a condition of  receiving regeneration grants for physical regeneration projects.

• All partner organisations will commit themselves to improving knowledge and skills in architectural and urban design. They will accept its central role for successfully delivering the key sub-regional strategies to improve the quality of jobs, housing, green space, health facilities, transport and education.  They will support programmes of training and education for elected members, community representatives, and regeneration and planning professionals so they can help deliver high quality urban design. This will help create more sustainable communities.

Appended to this Manifesto is a summary of existing local, regional and national policy and guidance on design in the urban environment.

 

APPENDIX  

SUMMARY OF DESIGN POLICY AND GUIDANCE

National Design Policy

In February 2005 the Government issued PPS1: Delivering Sustainable Development, which marks a significant shift in national government thinking about the importance of design in planning. 

PPS1 says that sustainable development is the core principle underpinning planning (p2 para 3), and that good design is indivisible from good planning (p14 para 33). 

It says design is one of the six key principles that should be used by local authorities to ensure that development plans and decisions taken on planning applications contribute to the delivery of sustainable development (p6 para 13).

It says that planning authorities should plan positively for the achievement of high quality and inclusive design for all developments (p14 para 34). 

And most significantly of all it says that design which is inappropriate in its context, or which fails to take the opportunities available for improving the character and quality of an area and the way it functions, should not be accepted (p14 para 34).

This changes the question that should be asked when planning applications are determined from “Is the proposal bad enough to refuse?” to “Is the proposal good enough to approve?”

Further strong endorsement of the value of good design is contained within PPG3 – Housing and PPG6 – Town Centres and Retail Development.  PPG6 states that

“the vitality and viability of town centres depends upon……creating and maintaining an attractive environment….. The Government therefore wishes to…...encourage high quality design of both urban spaces and buildings.”

The work of CABE

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) has produced an extensive body of advice, guidance and research publications which demonstrates the economic, cultural and practical value of a well designed environment.

A high quality built environment is a product of good urban design and good architecture.

URBAN DESIGN

CABE has identified seven fundamental urban design qualities which successful places have and which all new developments must contribute to.  These are

• Character: a place with a sense of history that responds to and reinforces locally distinctive patterns of development and landscape.

• Continuity and enclosure: a place where public and private space are clearly distinguished.

• Quality of the public realm: a place with public spaces and routes that are lively and pleasant to use.

• Ease of movement: a place that is easy to get to and move through.

• Legibility: a place with a clear image that is easy to understand and navigate around.

• Adaptability: a place that can change easily.

• Diversity: a place with variety and a mix of uses.

These qualities are explained in detail in The Councillors’ Guide to Good Urban Design by CABE.

ARCHITECTURE

The best urban environments also have individual buildings of real architectural quality, which have special value for their users and contribute significantly to the urban design qualities of successful places.  Good architecture is achieved when the client is committed to quality, sets a brief which demands quality, and commissions a good architect to deliver quality.  To promote the procurement of good architecture CABE has produced Creating Excellent Buildings – A Guide for Clients, which sets out ten key success factors for clients to follow through the development process.

Regional Design Policy

Regional Planning Guidance for the West Midlands (July 2004) states that a planned approach to securing higher environmental outcomes is required.  Environmental improvement will bring about the renaissance of the urban core. 

A high quality built environment is a result of high quality townscape and urban form, through the use of good architecture, urban design and landscape design.  Public Art should be promoted. 

Sustainable regeneration is the creation of environments in which people will choose to live, work and invest.  Sustainable development is achieved by giving particular attention to energy and water efficiency, use of renewable energy, sustainable construction and drainage, building orientation, use of recycled materials, minimisation of waste, construction materials, and prolonging the lifespan of buildings.

The protection of irreplaceable environmental assets, such as historic buildings, should have high priority.  Derelict land should be re-used, degraded areas restored, and high quality new environments created for all.  Good design should be used to create distinctive built environments that provide a sense of identity and place in which local communities can have pride.

The overall quality of public space should be significantly improved, especially in urban areas, by protecting key greenspace features, by creating new physical linkages to and between green spaces, and by connecting to the wider countryside.

Local Design Policy

The planning system, through the Local Development Framework and decisions on individual planning applications, has a key role in encouraging and securing the good design of new development.

In 1999 Stoke-on-Trent City Council adopted the Stoke-on-Trent Design Strategy for the Built Environment as Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Stoke-on-Trent City Plan 2001.  The City’s Design Strategy has been saved as part of the Local Development Framework.   A key policy in this document is the requirement for design statements to accompany all development proposals for significant or sensitive sites.

Design policies exist in the adopted development plans of other partner local authorities, including the Newcastle-under-Lyme Local Plan 2011, and the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Structure Plan 1996 – 2011.  These documents have also been saved in the Local Development Frameworks for their respective areas.

Vision Lite

In 2004 Stoke-on-Trent City Council, with the support of neighbouring local authorities and regeneration partners, produced Vision Lite as a guide for future development in the sub-region.  Vision Lite provides a spatial and design vision for the North Staffordshire conurbation, promoting high quality well-designed development focused on the urban core and the canal network. Vision Lite is envisaged as the precursor to the conurbation-wide Spatial Strategy which will be an integral part of the Local Development Framework.