69. QUALITYREVIEWER
UNDERSTAND THE PLACE
1. Site and context appraisal
2. How policy and guidance apply
UNDERSTAND THE PROPOSAL
3. Concept
4. Impact
5. Design quality
6. Team
UNDERSTAND THE IMPLEMENTATION
7. Execution
8. Management and maintenance
MAKE THE DECISION
9. Information and advice
10. A balanced decision
70. 1. What is special about the place?
2. How should policy and guidance be applied?
3. What is the design concept?
4. How significant is the scheme‟s impact likely to be?
5. What are the design‟s strengths and weaknesses?
6. Does the design team have the right skills and
approach?
7. How can we ensure that the design will be well
executed?
8. Is the scheme likely to be well managed and
maintained?
9. Do we need more information and advice?
10. Is the design good enough?
77. Impact
How significant is the site? Is
development here likely to have
an important
social, economic, environmental
or cultural impact?
What will be the impact of this
particular development proposal
will be, at any scale from local
to national?
79. Design quality
Movement and legibility
Space and enclosure
Mixed uses and tenures
Adaptability and resilience
Resources and efficiency
Architecture and townscape
80. Diagrams • Concept: landscape and built form
• Micro-climate
• Movement: pedestrian and
vehicular routes
• Uses, tenures and densities
• Views
• Building lines along the street
• Building heights, roofline, skyline
and massing
• Public space, private space and
ambiguous space
• Front doors
• Dead frontage: blank (or mainly
blank) walls at ground floor level
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88. Design quality
Movement and legibility
Space and enclosure
Mixed uses and tenures
Adaptability and resilience
Resources and efficiency
Architecture and townscape
89. Movement and legibility
Who will be able to get around most easily and
reach their destinations most conveniently?
To whom will the development be easily
accessible?
Who will be made more or less welcome by
this development?
Who will be made more or less comfortable
and at ease by this development?
Will the development be part of a network of
connected streets?
90. Space and enclosure
Will the development
reinforce the street‟s
building line or erode it?
To what extent will the
building(s) help to
frame and enclose
streets and public
spaces?
91. Mixed uses and tenures
What will the development
do to promote mixed uses
and tenures at whatever
level (building, block,
neighbourhood or district)
is appropriate?
93. Resources and efficiency
Will the development use
resources efficiently?
Will it contribute to tackling
climate change, and to
adapting to and mitigating
its effects?
94. Resources and efficiency: what to ask
Orientation
• What is the site‟s main orientation?
• Will shading (trees or artificial shading) prevent
summer overheating?
• Will the development take advantage of prevailing
winds during warmer months and minimise wind-
tunnel effects during cooler months?
95. • Are public spaces likely to have a pleasant micro-
climate, without strong winds, glare or significant
over-shadowing?
• Are the buildings designed to maximise the
potential for passive solar gain?
• Are buildings designed for stack- and cross-
ventilation?
96. Energy
• Is there a site-wide energy strategy, based on an
energy hierarchy approach (reducing the demand
for energy; supplying as much as possible of the
energy requirement from on-site renewable or low-
carbon sources; and supplying as much as possible
of the remaining demand from off-site low-carbon
technologies, including decentralised and district
sources)?
• How does the energy strategy relate to the energy
strategy of the wider area?
97. • How will the energy demand for
heating, lighting, hot water and cooling
be minimised?
• Which renewable or low-carbon
energy solutions will be used?
• What level of analysis has been
undertaken to arrive at the proposed
solutions?
98. Drainage
• Has a sustainable drainage
system been prepared for the
site? If so, is it integrated into
the landscape?
• How will the development deal
with storm and rainwater run-
off?
• Is there a site-wide rainwater
recycling proposal? If so, does
it recycle used water or other
sources of non-potable water?
99.
100. Movement
• Will it be easy, safe and pleasant to walk or cycle
to shops, surgeries, a library and other amenities?
How long will it take?
• How will cycling and walking be promoted across
the site and to neighbouring areas?
• How close will the development be to bus and rail
services?
101. • How will residents be able to get to these
transport options?
• What is the overall car parking ratio for the
site? What will be done to reduce private
car use and to promote other forms of
transport?
• What provision is being made for a car
club, car club parking spaces and electric
car charging points?
102. Waste
• Has waste management for the site and within the
buildings been considered adequately (including its
visual impact)?
• Has adequate space been allocated for different
recycling methods used now and likely to be used in
the future?
• Will community-based waste collection systems be
provided?
• Will the waste collection system avoid adverse
impact on the public realm?
103. • Will automated waste collection systems or
other site-wide waste solutions be used?
• Will arrangements be made and facilities be
provided to collect separated waste streams?
• Will a construction waste strategy be
developed to minimise waste to landfill from
the site during clearance and construction?
• Is there a strategy eventually to achieve a
zero-waste policy?
104. Greenspace
• Is there a greenspace strategy for the
site?
• Will all residents be able to access
green amenity space easily?
• Has greenspace been designed to
facilitate walking and cycling across the
site?
• Will a productive landscape be
provided for food production?
• Will greenspace promote biodiversity?
105.
106. Standards
• What level of the relevant
environmental standard will be
achieved?
• Will privately owned and social
housing be built to the same
standard?
107. The Merton Rule
London Borough of Merton
At least 10 per cent of the energy
required by a new development must
be provided by renewable energy
equipment on site.
108. Order of preference
1. Reduce demand for energy
2. Efficient supply
3. On-site renewable generation
109.
110.
111. Eco-minimalism is not just about
good „green‟ value for money – but
good value for money as such. This
comes from eschewing overblown
and often overspecified technology
in favour of sound science, common
sense and good housekeeping.
Howard Liddell, Gaia
112. Combined heat and power
Is there a suitably constant all-year
demand for the hot water?
121. Architecture and townscape
How successfully will the
development be integrated into
its setting?
How well will the building relate
to human scale and the scale
of its surroundings?
How attractive will the
development be?
131. Information and advice
Obtain any further information that the
previous stages have shown is needed
for a proper assessment of the proposal
132. Getting help with the assessment
• ATLAS
• BREEAM and other environmental
assessments
• Building for Life
• Code for Sustainable Homes
• Design Quality Indicator
• Design review
• Secured by Design
134. 1. What is special about the place?
2. How should policy and guidance be applied?
3. What is the design concept?
4. How significant is the scheme‟s impact likely to be?
5. What are the design‟s strengths and weaknesses?
6. Does the design team have the right skills and
approach?
7. How can we ensure that the design will be well
executed?
8. Is the scheme likely to be well managed and
maintained?
9. Do we need more information and advice?
10. Is the design good enough?
