Guidance on design code contents
This guidance sets out possible contents for a design code, modelled on the ten characteristics of well-designed places set out in the National Design Guide.
About the guidance
The guidance is based on the key characteristics of context, movement, nature, built form, identity, public space, and use. Other sections dealing with homes and buildings, resources and lifespan provide important considerations in achieving design quality and should be used to inform the content of local plans, design codes or guides depending on local circumstances. These themes are interconnected, and users of this coding process should be mindful about the ways that they interrelate.
When preparing a code, it is essential that decisions are made in response to an overarching vision for the place.
The guidance sets out the potential content of a design code. It provides both a framework and some sample content from which design codes can be developed and adapted, to address the particular context to which the code will be applied.
Effective design codes are:
- simple, concise and specific; and
- rely on visual and numerical information rather than detailed policy wording.