The approach to all new development in Uttlesford should be to create something that has a tangible benefit to the quality of life of the people who live and work within the district. Design should be considered as a social endeavour, crafting places which enhance people’s experience of the built environment.

This Design Code sets out an aspiration for high quality design throughout Uttlesford, setting a new standard for development and placemaking in the district.

Good design should consider how to create socially and commercially attractive places with a distinctive character and identity which enhance their surroundings. Projects should first consider people and how they live and work; next consider the design of places and spaces that support this and form the basis of urban structure, and then place / organise and design buildings to support it.

Healthy places and climate resilience should run as a golden thread through all design in Uttlesford. Healthy placemaking seeks to create development that enhances our everyday life through; being sustainable, healthy, social and environmentally resilient, accessible and community focussed.

Design proposals of any type, scale, or location, should strive for quality and challenge the norm, creating responsive outcomes which are embedded in their place. Design proposals should have full regard for the requirements and expectations outlined in this code.

The influence of place and landscape must be clearly illustrated in design outcomes proposed and supported by a compelling narrative to support the design intent.

The National Design Guide and the National Model Design Code

The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that creating high quality buildings and places is fundamental to what the planning and development process should achieve. The National Design Guide was published to set a national framework for the delivery of high quality design in new developments across the country.

The underlying purpose for design quality and the quality of new development at all scales is to create well designed and well-built places that benefit people and communities.

The aim of the National Design Guide and the National Model Design Code is to help local authorities and communities decide what good quality design looks like in their area based on the local aspirations for how the district shall develop.

The National Design Guide is structured around 10 characteristics of good design:

• Context - enhances the surroundings
• Identity - attractive and distinctive
• Built form - a coherent pattern of development
• Movement - accessible and easy to move around
• Nature - enhanced and optimised
• Public Spaces - safe, social and inclusive
• Uses - mixed and intrgrated
• Homes and Buildings - functional, healthy and sustainable
• Resources - efficient and resilient
• Lifespan - made to last

These address all elements of community, natural and built environment and cover all the cross-cutting issues like climate-change adaptation and healthy living. The ten characteristics reflect the Government’s priorities and provide a common overarching framework. These characteristics have directly framed the requirements, principles and guidance provided within this design code.

This Design Code works within the characteristics of the National Design Guide and the framework of the National Model Design Code.

Code Requirements

Proposals are expected to respond to the National objectives to create high quality buildings and places.

Proposals must deliver against the characteristics of a well-designed place set out by the National Design Guide.