Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor for Planning, Skills and Regeneration, London, shares the City of London’s approach to ensuring design principles are embedded in future plans, all of which has been driven and supported by London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan
The recent draft London Plan is the overarching spatial strategy for the future growth and prosperity of the city over the next 25 years. This new plan positions good design principles at its heart.
It also advocates for ‘Good Growth’ that promotes new design-led development opportunities to accommodate London’s growing population while making sure that London’s special character and liveability is maintained and enhanced and that benefits are felt by all Londoners.
The Mayor’s planning team works proactively with developers, local authorities and other stakeholders to achieve the best possible planning and design outcomes for all development proposals that are referred to the Greater London Authority. Of key importance to achieving this is to engage with applicants at the earliest possible stage, before an application is submitted, to ensure that good design principles are embedded from the outset.
The detailed policies of the new London Plan provide a strong framework for measuring and assessing each application. These include requirements for activating the ground planes of buildings with public facing uses, a contextual approach to forming an appropriate scale and massing to buildings, securing high standards of residential amenity and the best quality of architecture and placemaking.
To support and help to deliver quality in the built environment, the Mayor has launched the Good Growth by Design programme and appointed 50 Design Advocates who are all recognised and experienced experts in the fields of urban design, architecture, sustainable and inclusive design.
To support and help to deliver quality in the built environment, the Mayor has launched the Good Growth by Design programme and appointed 50 Design Advocates who are all recognised and experienced experts in the fields of urban design, architecture, sustainable and inclusive design.
They provide support to the Mayor, myself and our planning team by providing scrutiny to the Mayor’s investments, decisions and policies, by developing design research and policy for the most pertinent issues facing London’s built environment and promote and advocate for the design sector in London. Initial investigations have included developing the Mayor’s approach to housing design, the circular economy of the built environment, the diversity of the built environment profession and promotion of quality procurement.
As part of this programme, the Mayor has also placed an increased emphasis on the role of design review in London, making it mandatory when development that is above a stated height or density, or where schemes benefit from Mayoral investment or land.
A new London-wide panel has been established—the ‘London Review Panel’—and has provided reviews for high-profile projects like the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street and the regeneration of Crystal Palace Park.
The ‘London Quality Review Charter’ has also been launched which looks to promote consistency and quality across the London borough’s design review panels. Looking ahead, an audit of borough level design review panels is being undertaken. This will reveal the extent and quality of design review of major schemes across London and make recommendations for providing additional support where needed. This helps ensure the boroughs have the design expertise to meet the added design scrutiny that is required to deliver genuinely well designed places and buildings for the years to come.
Image Credits
Jules Pipe portrait provided by Mayor of London’s Press Office
London city skyline / Shutterstock