National Model Design Code Pilot Case Studies
Evaluation and case studies from the first phase of our design code pilots.
Applies to England
To support the creation of more beautiful and sustainable buildings and places, government published the National Model Design Code, to support local councils and communities to set standards around design in their local area. We invited local authorities, through an expression of interest, to test the application of the National Model Design Code in their local area. In April 2021, 14 local authorities were selected to be part of the 6 month programme.
The University College London and PAS were appointed to evaluate the programme and produce a series of case studies to highlight the local authorities work and lessons to help local councils and communities in using the National Model Design Code and helping to set standards in good design.
View the full National Model Design Code Pilot Programme monitoring and evaluation.
Case studies can be found on the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) website. Each case study highlights the variety in scale, geography, context, focus and delivery for each example. They share key lessons and advice form the local authorities involved.
Not all participants prepared design codes and all the pilot projects were at different stages when the pilot started. These case studies are not a recommendation of best practice but seek to highlight the work the local authorities did as part of the pilot programme and the local authorities’ reflections on the programme and the design coding process.
The Case studies were prepared by: Matthew Carmona, Wendy Clarke, Sarah Carmona, Brian Quinn and Valentina Giordano of UCL, The Bartlett School of Planning, based on research commissioned and facilitated by the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) on behalf of the Department for Levelling up, Housing Communities (DLUHC) and Office for Place (OfP).