In collaboration with our client ENGIE, the Site Wide Design Code and Regulatory Plans at Rugeley Power Station will be key tools in the process of delivery and development control on this major regeneration project which will include 2,300 homes, 1.2 hectares of mixed use, 5 hectares of employment land, an all-through school and 67 hectares of formal and informal open space.

At Milton Keynes East for St James (Berkeley Group), a Site Wide Design Coding Framework Document has been approved which will govern all subsequent phase-specific Design Codes. Milton Keynes East will feature 5,000 homes, 105 hectares of employment land, three primary schools, a secondary school, new opportunities for mixed uses, health and retail, all set within a landscape lattice of green infrastructure for the new community.

At The Steadings for Bathurst Development Limited in Cirencester, the approved Design Code covers the crucial first phase of the primary road, footways and dedicated cycleways, enabling the delivery of significant infrastructure that will serve the next 300 homes to be built. Once completed The Steadings will provide up to 2,350 new homes, along with education, healthcare and retail facilities, as part of the most significant strategic site currently being brought forward in the Cotswolds.

These are significant milestones for each project and will help ensure the quality of the designs are carried forward from the original Outline Planning Vision through to subsequent future Reserved Matters Applications.

Design Codes can articulate ambition, shape quality, and help nurture value. They should not be seen as just ‘rulebooks’ – done well, they can support, guide and promote high-quality placemaking to the benefit of people and nature. We have simplified and streamlined the structure of our codes to make them increasingly user-friendly, but continue to seek ways to refine our approach in response to evolving policy and best practice. Overall, our approach is to provide enough flexibility to encourage creativity and added value, but to be specific enough to ensure that the vision is delivered to a high-quality. The benefits of this approach and methodology are multiple, and when realised should ensure that the Design Code enhances a project’s local context, allowing the community to grow in a coherent and orderly manner, to thrive, and to endure.