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Regenerative design

Regenerative design

Charlotte Walker 11 Mar 2024
For decades the development industry has been re-thinking and re-designing ways to reduce the impact buildings have on the environment. Increasingly, there is an understanding that for the industry to best respond to our environmental challenges and natural environments, thinking needs to change from development ‘being less harmful’ and ‘doing more good’. This shift in approach to the way we plan for, construct and live in our built ‘environments’ is being achieved through regenerative design.
 
This blog reflects upon some of the opportunities and challenges that a regenerative design approach presents.
 
Defining regenerative design
     
 
Regenerative design is best understood as overlapping with the concept of sustainability in planning and architecture by seeking to reduce resource consumption. Whilst sustainability often means developing a site to have little to no impact on the environment during construction and operation, regenerative design goes beyond this to create a net positive impact on the environment, ecology, health and society.
 
     
Therefore, regenerative design asks the question: how can development proposals reverse ecological damage, replenish natural resources and enhance ecological and social systems?
 
What can regenerative design achieve?
Regenerative design seeks to renew and promote the health of social and natural systems so communities thrive. For example, a development can be ‘carbon positive’ by using materials that take carbon out of the atmosphere and aiming for a building that generates more energy than it consumes[1]. Interventions can also include restoring lost public footpaths that connect to a site to have a positive impact on the wider community.
The Environment Agency has reported on the increasing need to manage water demands[2] and it therefore seems pertinent to consider the value in examples where wetlands are designed for in masterplans to capture and naturally store stormwater to replenish the underground aquifer, or examples of design codes that rethink how our buildings can capture and treat rainwater. Designing places and buildings in this way could be a solution to improving water supply in the long term.
Regenerative design in practice
Lichfields are assisting Latimer, who are the master developer, and their appointed design team, to bring forward the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community[3]. The Garden Community is the largest strategic allocation in the North Essex Authorities’ Shared Strategic Section 1 Plan for between 7,000 and 9,000 new homes, 25 hectares of employment land, university expansion land, community, leisure, retail and other associated uses and development. Regenerative design principles can be identified in the emerging Development Plan Document (‘DPD) for the Garden Community which sets out how the new Garden Community will be designed, developed, and delivered in phases, in accordance with a detailed set of principles. For example the emerging DPD’s vision for nature in the Garden Community is to “provide a natural support system for both people and wildlife” and the draft Illustrative Framework Plan shows thoughts on the development of an ecological network across the Garden Community in the aim to support native species to thrive and existing habitats to be enhanced and connected.
 

Challenges

In development and planning, regenerative design requires:
  • collaboration, commitment and the right expertise to grapple with environmental and societal challenges;
     
  • a multidisciplinary team to take a systems-based approach from the outset of a project and be driven by evidence and metrics that clearly define design principles and objectives;
     
  • teams need to use data and establish performance metrics to test ideas and be innovative. This is a key part of the process. In this way, regenerative design does not ‘fit’ a proposal to a site, it does the reverse and designs are truly context-led to restore and enhance existing systems;
     
  • to achieve the above, teams need an in depth understanding of place and communities. This is why continual engagement with communities and stakeholders is essential.
     
Regenerative design therefore is inherently complex and requires quite a considerable shift in mindset; it challenges us to re-examine how we view property, ownership, rights and public goods and asks questions such as what you might need to change in yourself, in your practice or the way you work with clients or stakeholders to be more outcome-driven.

Opportunities

Two key ideas to remember:
  • regenerative design can apply to projects of all scales. For strategic sites, regenerative design needs to be embedded into the masterplan and for smaller sites, from the initial scoping and site analysis stage.
     
  • Regenerative design can apply in plan-making. The legal and policy context for addressing the environment and climate change is evolving rapidly in the UK. For example, the Environment Act 2021introduced a number of new duties for local authorities which are of relevance to nature recovery and biodiversity[4]. These agendas are changing the approach LPA’s are taking to plan-making, shown by recent research findings from the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) [5]. PAS found that some LPA’s are suggesting that an alternative approach to plan-making would focus on environmental recovery and starting with a map, add designations, then green infrastructure and other environmental assets, and then consider how development can fit in.
     
 

Case Study: Colchester City Council’s Local Plan Review

Colchester have commenced work on a green network and waterways framework, to think about opportunities to enhance the green network and waterways through the Local Plan Review Issues and Options consultations. Such opportunities will then be considered alongside the sites submitted as part of the Call for Sites process. This is so that new housing allocations, which will be needed as part of the Local Plan Review, could facilitate new green spaces including creating better linkages between existing green spaces and waterways for the benefit of people’s health and wellbeing and for wildlife. This is a great example of how plan-making can take a regenerative design approach towards the environment and create synergies between local plan objectives.
 
     
Final thoughts  
Regenerative design as a practice is evolving and another part of the puzzle will be how we retrofit our existing built environments and adapt systems in order to make them regenerative. Nevertheless, it is encouraging and exciting to think that local plans in the near future could not only support regenerative design practice but also promote it. It seems that now is the time for regenerative design be more mainstream and adopted more widely.

 

 

[1] RIBA Journal article

[2] Securing England’s water resources: right now, and for the future - Creating a better place (blog.gov.uk)

[3] HOME - Tendring/Colchester Borders Garden Community (tcbgardencommunity.co.uk)

[4] https://www.local.gov.uk/pas/topics/environment/nature-recovery-local-authorities#what-is-nature-recovery-and-why-is-it-so-important

[5] https://www.local.gov.uk/pas/topics/environment/planning-better-environment/how-can-we-plan-better-environment#5-what-does-this-mean-for-plan-making

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Trends in achieving good design

Trends in achieving good design

Charlotte Walker 25 Jan 2023
The importance of good design and the delivery of beautiful places continues to gain momentum in planning; equally, the ways in which good design is being achieved is through increasingly collaborative processes.
Looking back, the 2019 RTPI report and survey[1] highlighted how planners across the UK consider design quality to be important in planning and discussed how design quality can be improved. Then at a national level, 2021 saw a drive from UK Government to create high-quality places; the NPPF was revised to increase focus on design quality for delivering ‘beautiful’ and ‘sustainable’ places and the new National Model Design Code was published to provide detailed guidance on the production of design codes, guides and policies.
In London, good design has become integral to the planning process and ways to improve design quality through the development management process are increasing. The Design Council[2] state that design review is a well-established way of improving the quality of design outcomes in the built environment, and it is now recognised in the National Planning Policy Framework. In 2020, the GLA reported that 83% of Local Planning Authorities have either established or begun to develop Design Review Panels (DRPs), as well as ‘Quality Review ‘or ‘Place Review’ Panels[3]. These Panels comprise independent, multidisciplinary professionals and support local authorities in evaluating schemes (often large and strategic in nature) at the pre-application stage by providing advice to improve development proposals.
The question is how do we keep striving for good design? In a recent GLA survey of design review in London, 60% of respondents reported that DRPs often comprise of professionals who are not representative of the communities they serve. In addition, it is difficult to recruit suitably qualified professionals onto a DRP who are from the boroughs they serve, especially if a DRP is run by an external provider. Moreover, Place Alliance reported in 2021 that only a fifth of local planning authorities in England engage communities in the design process and that proactive community engagement in design is minimal[4].
This question brings Community Review Panels (CRPs) into the picture - another way good design is being achieved. Since 2020, five additional CRPs have been established in London from the first being Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation Community Review Group which began operating in November 2018[5]. CRPs are groups of ten or more local volunteers who do not need experience or knowledge in planning or architecture. They are appointed to reflect the demography of the areas and chaired by a professional engagement expert. CRPs review development proposals at pre-application stage and their detailed comments and understanding of the locality are given weight in the planning process and can influence outcomes. Frame Projects, a design focused project management consultancy, reports that CRPs are seen as innovative and that local planning authorities are expressing an interest in establishing one, with Ealing Council now having the first borough-wide community review panel in London[6]. Whilst this blog looks at London examples there are good examples across the UK, some of which include new community groups set up to guide the design of new developments in their local areas following funding from DLUHC’s 2022 The Design Code Pathfinder Programme[7].
Nevertheless, there are other initiatives focusing on getting young people interested and involved in development proposals in their communities. The November 2022 Inspire Future Generations Awards[8] in London showcased how young people are adding value to the design process. The awards celebrate and recognise initiatives that work with children and young people to engage in and advocate for a better built environment. The awards gave prominence to a wide range of projects including the My Place Finsbury Park Pilot in Harringay London and the Kingston Riverside Regeneration Project in London, which were shortlisted for best youth community engagement award. Both are examples of how to successfully regenerate neighbourhoods and estates by involving and empowering young people in the discussion of change where they live. Estate regeneration is a growing sector and as highlighted in our Lichfield’s Insight[9], such projects involve complex considerations and effective communication among landowners, decision takers and particularly residents. Therefore, what made these two initiatives stand out was their ability to capture what young people value in their local areas such as particular landmarks, public spaces, and perceptions of spaces, then to maintain and enhance those attributes in the design process. An example of how this was achieved was through the early initiation of co-design and placemaking research approaches where young people’s local knowledge and thoughts shaped the design process. The benefits are wide reaching from supporting community cohesion to promoting inclusive design and designing multigenerational spaces. Moreover, the projects present educational opportunities and raise the profile of property and construction as career option for young people.  
The award ceremony firstly showed that initiatives for young people to input into the design and planning process is increasing and gaining popularity and secondly, that these initiatives have tangible outcomes and influence development projects. Whilst initiatives to involve young people in urban regeneration and the design and planning process are not completely new (see The London Legacy Development Corporation’s Legacy Youth Voice established in 2008[10]), more opportunities exist for such initiatives as local planning authorities and public commissioning organisations are increasingly driving development. Public Practice explains that more local planning authorities are delivering housing schemes, regeneration projects, and are often acting as the master developers; with this change, there is a renewed interest and ambition within local planning authorities to foster or bolster their design culture. Redbridge Council are a prime example of this and in September 2022 partnered with the large UK developer Countryside to regenerate Ilford Western Gateway and deliver a new thriving and sustainable town centre for local communities. Part of the project will involve establishing a Youth Council and a Legacy Committee (Community Board), both with decision-making responsibilities to shape the design of the project. 
It's evident that the community review model is expanding. Input into the design and planning process through more formal platforms and collaborative initiatives for communities - and now more so for young people - is exciting and something to be encouraged. Lichfields have seen this from being part of the Teviot Estate project team, bringing forward housing association Poplar HARCA and Hill Group’s new mixed-use regeneration scheme in Tower Hamlets. Poplar HARCA have set up a Youth Empowerment Board (YEB) in the aim of 16 to 21 year olds influencing the regeneration and design process. For local planning authorities there also appears to be potential benefits from such design engagement and input with young people. The opportunity to discuss and contribute leads to design development influenced by local knowledge across all ages with a real experiential understanding of place as local people are often best placed to know what development is appropriate for their area.
The views of all generations, including future generation, are key to successful regeneration projects and therefore initiatives focusing on young people influencing the design of development proposals offers much to the question of how we keep striving for good design. The design of development proposals is an iterative process, and these examples show that forms of youth and community design input in the planning process could result in more successful development proposals. Ensuring that development proposals respond to local needs, challenges and opportunities is important and design input from both young people and communities seems to be increasingly explored to achieve this. Perhaps such input can support and feed into the DRP process? As built environment professionals, let’s hope 2023 continues to see more collaboration between organisations, companies and local planning authorities on creating platforms for communities and young people to input into the design and planning process.  

[1] RTPI | RTPI design quality

[2] ​Design Review: Principles and Practice - Design Council

[3] 2020 Placeshaping capacity and design review survey (london.gov.uk)

[4] The Design Deficit | Place Alliance

[5] Community Review - an overview | Frame Projects (frame-projects.co.uk)

[6] Community Review - an overview | Frame Projects (frame-projects.co.uk)

[7] Communities empowered to shape design of neighbourhoods - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

[8] Inspire Future Generation Awards — Thornton Education Trust

[9] Great Estates: Planning for Estate Regeneration in London (lichfields.uk)

[10] Legacy Youth Voice | Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

 

Image Credit: PTE Architects 

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