Designing Houses, Creating Homes
01 July 2008
A+DS Chief Executive Sebastian Tombs contribution to recent Scottish Federation of Housing Associations magazine.
As the Scottish Government’s champion of excellence in
design of the built environment, Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS) has
worked in a number of sectors in the last 3 years to support the creation of
buildings and places of which the nation can be proud.
One of the key sectors for A+DS is housing and regeneration as, along with education and healthcare buildings, these are the places that can have the biggest impact on our day to day lives. As the national champion we seek to inspire and advise (and, yes, sometimes cajole) clients, developers and architects to strive for the best design possible for their project.
The national policy which created A+DS in 2005, SPP20, tasked us to take forward our efforts through design review, enabling and research programmes. We also have specific agreements in place with the Scottish Government’s Health and Education Directorates to provide specialist advice in their fields. Also in partnership with the Scottish Government, we are working with the six Urban Regeneration Companies (URC), providing enabling support to keep design quality at the heart of their agendas.
Our work is not just restricted to the public sector; we are taking part in ongoing discussions with the Government and Homes for Scotland to devise robust criteria for determining the qualities necessary for a good housing developments – implementing the key place making aims of Designing Places and other planning advice notes.
Quality social housing development has been led for well over a generation by the Housing Association movement in Scotland. The aspirations of the SFHA, Committees and staff have been consistently high, aiming to provide places of quality for their tenants and communities. It is important to build on the skills and experience of the associations as the future of social housing develops – and we can all learn from exemplary schemes such as Fairfield in Perth or Lorn in Rothesay – in seeking to apply best practice across the country.
What role is there then for A+DS in supporting the efforts and ambitions of Housing Associations in delivering regeneration and quality places and homes? Principally, we can support these efforts as the national champion for excellence, highlighting for both national and local decision-makers the value and benefits of good design for communities. Research carried out for A+DS showed that a clear majority of Scots believe that well design streets and public spaces can help deter petty crime and anti-social behaviour. Additionally, some 86% agreed that well designed public spaces actively encouraged civic pride.
This year we will also be publishing the lessons we have learned from 3 years’ worth of design reviews on masterplans and housing. These two areas are of clear interest to those looking to develop social housing in the future. Another key piece of work from A+DS that will be delivered this year will be on Sustainability, another fundamental issue in quality design. By disseminating this evidence we hope to provide Housing Associations, and other stakeholders in the built environment, with tools they need to create the quality places we all desire.