With the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 putting local people at the heart of development and requiring area-wide design codes to be produced by all local authorities in collaboration with the local communities they serve, our support for officers embarking on the design coding process or delivering design codes has never been more critical.
With the support of our expert network, we deliver affordable, tailored consultancy that brings best practice and learnings from first-hand experience of the National Model Design Code pilot and Pathfinder programme, as well as practical experience of developing clear, concise and user-friendly design codes.
If you could benefit from our design code support, please contact info@designsoutheast.org and request a meeting to discuss how we could tailor our support to fit your particular needs.
Design codes training
We deliver design codes training to cross-departmental working groups within local authorities. This helps officers from different teams and directorates to understand the value of design codes – and of good design – in enabling them to deliver on their various objectives and agendas, and builds the baseline data to inform the design coding process. We offer some standard training packages here.
Design code strategy
We develop design code strategies for area-wide design codes. We work with officers to understand different approaches to design coding in relation to the local authority’s priorities, to enable the development of the design code in-house (or to support the procurement of a specialist consultant).
Design code visioning
Through designing and facilitating engagement workshops, we have supported and empowered local communities to shape and co-produce the vision that underpins the design coding process to ensure that new developments deliver what are measurably ‘provably popular’ new places.
Design code review
We have advised both public and private sector clients on the preparation and delivery of Design Codes for specific places, drawing on our panel’s extensive experience of producing practical and user-friendly design codes to positively shape developments.
In order for design codes to be effective in ensuring high-quality, popular places, they need to be clear, concise and user-friendly for a diversity of audiences – including developers as well as Development Management teams whose role it will be to assess applications against the requirements of the design code.
Our reviews focus on shaping both the structure and format, and the content of the design code to optimise application of the code in practice.