Making Great Places

Jim McMillan RIBA

Assistant Director of Development

The bad old days……..The Ridings, Oldham

Selwyn Street, Oldham

Building for Life Gold Award winner

What our tenants say they want?

1. Repairs2. Quality housing3. Value for money4. Being kept informed5. Tenant enforcement

But what does this mean?

Beyond the doorstepWhat adds value to a house?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Imp

ort

an

t in

cu

rre

nt h

om

e

Source: Savills Research

Mostly outside the home

Mostly inside the home

So don’t forget the neighbourhood

How do we achieve good design?

Set a clear Brief

Get the team right

Get the Process

right

Good Design

Set a clear Brief

Good Design

External Standards

Sustainability Strategy for new build housing

2010

Sustainability Strategy for new build housing

2010

BME Design Guide

2010

BME Design Guide

2010

EMPLOYERS REQUIREMENTS

NEW BUILD FOR RENTREVISION D

2010

EMPLOYERS REQUIREMENTS

NEW BUILD FOR RENTREVISION D

2010

Internal Standards

But you could still get this!

“Good design is not an optional extra, it is an integral part of the success of any project”

“Well designed housing is a fundamental right of everyone”

Raising the bar

•Context

•Clairty of design

•Architectural ambition

•Access and inclusion

•Sustainability

•Detailing and materials

•Maintenance

•Structure and services

Building for life

• Environment and community• Character• Streets, parking and pedestrianisation• Design and construction

‘Improving quality of life through design’

Standard house plans

• Foolproof(?) way to avoid non-compliance

• House Plans not Types

• Still allows the designer lots of freedom

Get the team right

Good Design

Get the team right

• A skilled team will optimise designs and maximise value

• Team selection based on best value not cheapest

• Get a mixture of experience and fresh ideas

• Past schemes are a good indicator (but a bad scheme could be the clients fault)

Designers - OJEU Selection

• A legal requirement but also an opportunity to see who’s out there

• Build knowledge sharing and joint research events into the framework

Design Competitions

• Brings in ‘young blood’ and fresh ideas

• Can be hard work and not always suitable

• Assess the benefits before committing

• Don’t presume what you will get because you probably won’t get it

Woodward Place

Guest Street

Get the Process

right

Good Design

Project Journal• a briefing, benchmarking and learning tool

• requires the team to agree outcomes at project inception

• review at key stages in the course of development.

• learning is captured and fed back to future schemes

PROJECT JOURNAL

Devon Street Oldham

PROJECT JOURNAL

Devon Street Oldham

Design Champion – high level commitment and guidance

• Promoting a design ‘culture’• Networking with bodies such as

CABE/Design Council, HCA, RTPI• Research and development• Organising training and study

visits of best practice examples • Disseminating learning from

previous schemes• Selecting suitable design teams

Design Reviews • Can preview new projects or review

finished schemes

• Allows Architects to see the work of their peers

• Lets development staff know what their colleagues are up to

• Helps improve presentation skills in a ‘friendly’ environment

Design training • Building for Life • Code for Sustainable Homes• Modern Methods and ‘lean’ Construction• Renewable Technologies• Specific Product presentations• Planning and Building Regulations• Contract Law• Health and Safety

Study Visits and Away Days

Nothing beats seeing the real thing

Set a clear Brief

Get the team right

Get the Process

right

Good Design

To Recap…

•External standards

•Internal standards

•Design specific brief

•Project journal

•Design Champion

•Design reviews

•Design training

•Study visits

Work with an agreed panel

Competitions bring fresh ideas

Partner with ‘good’ developers

Share knowledge between consultants

Contractor is part of team

Emperors new clothes?

Is it very different from this?

Compared to this?

Thanks for listening

Jim McMillan RIBAAssistant Director of Development

James.mcmillan@greatplaces.org.uk

www.greatplaces.org.uk