Design Review Service
What is a Design Review?
Who are they for?
When should a Design Review take place?
Design Review is an independent and impartial evaluation process in which a panel of experts in the built environment assess the design of a proposal and provide advice that will lead to improvements. They also give information and confidence to decision makers to support innovative, high-quality design that meet the needs of their communities and customers.
Design Reviews can be used by a wide range of people involved in shaping the built environment, including:
Architects and designers: to test ideas and strengthen design quality.
Developers and landowners: to de-risk proposals and add value through good design.
Local planning authorities: to support decision-making and ensure design quality is embedded early.
Community organisations and clients: to gain independent, expert advice on projects affecting their area.
Design Reviews work best if they are undertaken at the earliest stages of design but can be utilised anytime prior to a planning application being made. The diagram below illustrates the optimum time to carry out a design review.
Chapter 12 of the NPPF, “Achieving well-designed and beautiful places”, sets out strict requirements for making planning decisions that support ‘high quality’, ‘beautiful’ and ‘sustainable’ places. It also states that design expectations, and how these will be tested, should be clear at an early stage which reveals a need to establish a clear understanding of what ‘high quality’ design means objectively.
To establish whether a design is objectively ‘good’ or not, it is vital to understand how ‘design quality’ is achieved. High quality design is not just about what a building looks like, but how it functions, contributes, and integrates within the existing environment and context on a physical, social and economical level. There are many factors that contribute to a well-designed built environment therefore to better determine whether a design is meets the standards set out in the NPPF expert understanding of all of these contributing elements is required.
Design review panels provide a mixture of built environment experts with years of professional experience in their field. This allows a more holistic review of design proposals in order to support the shared overall aim of achieving high quality design and improving places for people.
Why should you engage with the Design Review Process?
Design Review Beneficiaries:
What happens during a design review?
Design Review Resources
