Delivery of a strategy for the development of an area-wide design code for Sevenoaks District Council, co-developed with planning offices.
Brief
In line with the requirement of the National Model Design Code (NMDC) and the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act (2023), Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) intends to develop an area-wide design code. With the process of design coding and applying the NMDC on an area-wide basis a complex one that all LPAs now need to understand, we were commissioned to provide support to SDC and to help develop a roadmap or strategy for the development of the design code.
Project
A workshop with a cross-departmental group of officers supported those with in-depth knowledge of the borough to understand, scope and identify what they wanted to get from a design code for SDC. This included discussions about its physical coverage, the range of area types to be coded, and the overarching issues and challenges faced across the district in relation to design coding for design quality. A second workshop with those leading the design code project helped us to co-produce a design code ‘routemap’, capturing the feedback from the workshop discussions and giving options for taking the design code forward by identifying a strategy for the process.
Key Facts
- Local Authority: Sevenoaks District Council (SDC)
- Location: SDC Council Offices
- Date: May 2023
- Service: design code support – strategy development
Image © Sevenoaks District Council