Lansdowne Design Code Bournemouth, UK
The Lansdowne area of Bournemouth functions as a hub for employment and third-level education uses serving the wider conurbation.
It sits between the train station and the ‘old’ town centre, serving as Bournemouth’s ‘front door’ to visitors and tourists. Recent and past decisions have undermined its potential to create either a positive first impression for visitors, or a high-quality environment for the people who live, work and study there, however, because development proposals for tall buildings are coming forward on a piecemeal basis and BCP’s aspirations for design quality are not being met.
The Design Code draws upon an in-depth study of the area’s historical evolution and its urban morpohology
Corstorphine & Wright were engaged by BCP Council to address these issues and guide future development through the preparation of a Design Code. The Design Code is being produced under the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLHUC) pathfinder programme to test the application of its National Model Design Code (NMDC), and has been peer reviewed by the Office for Place and the Design Council.
The purpose of the Design Code is to set clear guidelines and establish mandatory and advisory requirements for new development and the public realm within a well-structured Urban Design Framework.
Its function will be to mediate between the site-wide design strategies set out in the Urban Design Framework, and applications for planning consent. Whereas the Urban Design Framework and its underlying vision sets out aspirations for what the place will be like, the Design Code provides a detailed Regulatory Framework showing how those aspirations are to be achieved through clear and enforceable design parameters relating to movement, nature, built form, identity, public space and sustainability, as the area transitions to higher densities.
