All design articles
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CommentCan the London Plan deliver?
Ben Derbyshire reflects on Sadiq Khan’s latest policies to boost housebuilding in the capital
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CommentWhy co-design is a critical tool for inclusive housing development
Tom Greenall and Jane Wong introduce a new online co-design resource intended to support more inclusive and meaningful community participation in the development process
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CommentLocal communities can mistrust CGIs if they appear unrealistic
Residents and other stakeholders are forced to rely on visual representations of planned schemes when forming opinions. It is crucial they send the right message, writes Vasilena Bocheva
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CommentPutting children and young people at the heart of housing design
Dinah Bornat explores how housing design can better meet the needs of younger generations
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In Focus‘Because the spaces work for children, they work for everyone’ - how Camden’s Whittington estate fosters a community for all ages
Mary Richardson talks to two architects who have made a film about the child-friendly estate where they live, to find out what’s so special about its design
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NewsHousing design advisory body Office for Place to be shut down, Pennycook announces
Interim chair Nicholas Boys Smith said move to scrap body risks ministers “marking their own homework” on housing design
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CommentBuilding 1.5 million homes: how do we ensure quality of life in the government’s housing drive?
As ministers seek to increase housebuilding they must remember that rapid construction without planning for sustainability and wellbeing leads to poor outcomes, writes Matthew Morgan
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NewsThinktank warns Labour against ditching ‘beauty agenda in dash for units’
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner says word is too ‘subjective’
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CommentWhat should co-design in the local planning process look like?
Rather than standardising physical parameters, authority-wide design codes should be utilised by the next government as a “patchwork of participation”, writes Ben Derbyshire
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CommentHow tenure-blind design can help chip away at social housing stigma
‘Poor doors’ can reinforce segregation based on economic status, but there are often good reasons why affordable housing is kept separate from market sale homes. This circle can be squared, writes James Zamchick
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NewsBuilding Safety Regulator confirms ’full’ designs not always needed for building control approval
Official says designs with ‘holes’ can receive approval in some circumstances
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CommentNotions of 'beauty' should not be too prominent in our planning system
Beauty in design is important but so are lots of other factors, argues Ben Derbyshire
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NewsGreen light for British Land’s revised Canada Water plans
Second staircases added to five-block scheme resulting in the loss of nearly 40 homes
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In FocusSandbach saga: meet the housebuilder standing up to Michael Gove
In the latest example of the housing secretary intervening in planning on design grounds, we talk to Colin Muller of Muller Property Group, about the Sandbach development in Cheshire East which has been called in
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NewsGove to re-think controversial decision to block Berkeley Homes scheme
Housing secretary to quash original decision and think again after realising local land supply data is out of date
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NewsHousing secretary blocks ‘generic’ Berkeley Homes scheme on design grounds
164-home scheme in Kent refused against planning inspector’s advice
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CommentBeware of beauty as a utopian cure-all for development
The lessons from history show us that single-minded zealotry can have unintended consequences for housing developments, warns Ben Derbyshire
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In FocusWhat the second staircase rule would mean for high-rise blocks
Michael Gove announced plans just before Christmas for mandatory second staircases in towers over 30m. But what impact is this likely to have?
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CommentWhat should a new ‘school of place’ look like?
Michael Gove’s backing for a new architecture school has drawn criticism but Ben Derbyshire believes it could also offer opportunities. Here he looks at what should be on its curriculum
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CommentThe importance of designing homes for social value
Amid the ‘wild west’ environment of ESG reporting, we must take a step back and think about what social impact really means when designing housing schemes, writes Jo Cowen