TrustNews Sep 22
Appealing Design - part 2
Richard Baker considers the use of words to assess design
ln the June issue of TrustNews, the Chairman sought an explanation of what 'good design' means. The issue also featured an article about a report published in April by Place Alliance, entitled Appealing Design.
Sir Henry Wotton, a diplomat educated at Winchester College, published The Elements of Architecture in 1624. Wotton said that, "Well building hath three conditions: firmness, commodity and delight", a quote often attributed to the first century Roman architect, Vitruvius.
Houses Ridding Court, close to Kingsgate. A response to context with careful detailing and selection of materials. Photo R. Baker
This simple and classical description of the three elements that a designer of buildings has to consider is still valid today. Four centuries on, another element that has to be considered when designing a building is context. The impact that a building will have on its surroundings. This is an issue that has today become central to the planning process.
In 2020 the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) stated (para.134) that, "Development that is not well designed should be refused, especially when it fails to reflect local design policies and government guidance on design."
The research carried out by Place Alliance is based on design-based planning appeals. Since the revised guidance in the NPPF in 2020, appeal decisions indicate that there is a movement into a new era in which design quality should be prioritised by all local planning authorities when determining planning applications.
Multi-storey car park Barfield Close. A stand-alone functional building, whose structure in time will be covered in climbing plants. Photo R. Baker
Design is a process for producing something, be it a jug or a skyscraper. The aspect of 'delight' in Wotton's three conditions is the most elusive to define. It is the external appearance of a building that is in the public domain and is a material planning consideration. A number of factors combine to produce appearance - size, scale in relation to the human being and context, proportion, materials and colour. Proportion is the relation of the various parts or portions of a building one to another. The rules of proportion followed by Greek and Roman architects were used for 'classical' buildings. No formulae were used for the proportions of Gothic buildings. Contemporary architecture does not follow any precise rules of proportion, and is dependent on the judgement of the designer. We exercise this judgement with the human face. The proportion and size of the ears, eyes, nose and mouth to the size of the human head determine attractiveness. This judgement is not without subjectivity. In the east, for example, the large western nose is regarded as being ugly.
Seeing comes before words: the child looks and recognises before it can speak. The Trust, councillor and planning inspector first see plans and elevations of a planning application. Judgement of what is seen then has be put into words. The same applies to an art or film critic. The choice and meaning of words then become critical when assessing the visual quality of a building in terms of its appearance and the impact it will have on its surroundings, and deciding if it is well designed or not well designed.
The Place Alliance research was based on an analysis of design-based large scale housing development appeals. Appeals after the revised NPPF design guidance in 2020 show a change of mood, that rejects poor and mediocre design. Examples of this are reasons that are both specific and wide ranging. The words chosen by planning inspectors to describe what is considered to be good and bad design are varied and a selection is offered here.
Housing at King's Barton. The density and uniformity of form and materials has a major visual iimpact on the surrounding countryside. Photo R. Baker
Use of a mansard roof on a four storey block of flats - uncharacteristic and anti-contextual.
Remodelling of a police station - replacement of bands of glazing with recessed areas of dark cedar cladding, small window openings and bands of blue grey cladding would lead to a heavy, oppressive, almost monolithic feel and emphasise its incongruity in a more traditional setting.
High rise flats - out of character with its low rise suburban context.
480 flats in three blocks from 9-20 storeys - lack the exuberance and ambition that the best of Brighton's seaside buildings exhibit.
90 houses on farmland on the edge of a village - the relatively tight-knit pattern and density of development would be urbanising and contrast unsympathetically with the scattered arrangement of buildings which characterise this part of the landscape.
55 homes in a village - use of concrete roof tiles and wire cut bricks are not characteristic of the area and their use would render the scheme incongruous at the entrance of the village.
19 storey tower and its impact on the surrounding areas - the Inspector argued that there is a tension between identifying a building as an exemplary piece of design, which is an objective finding based on established architectural principles,* and adorning a building with the epithet 'beautiful', which is a subjective one. The inspector found that the building would attain a very high standard of design which is sufficient.
Design is one of many issues that have to be considered when commenting on and determining a planning application. It is to be hoped that the quality of the constituent elements of firmness, commodity, delight and context that combine to produce buildings, will be assessed and given increasing importance in the decision-making process.
*in view of my comments on proportion, it would be useful to know the source of these principles.