Place-making and design

Countryside Properties is an industry leader in design quality and place making, and holds a sector leading four CABE Building for Life Gold Standards. We believe that investment in high quality design generates economic, social and environmental value and is highly important in achieving sustainable development.

Improving people’s quality of life

We aim to achieve our objective through ‘contributing to the creation and improvement of residential communities and work places in an environmentally and socially responsible, sensitive and sustainable manner’.

The Group recognises that good design:

• Makes our homes more desirable.
• Can substantially improve people’s quality of life.
• Creates a positive long-term legacy.
• Increases a sense of civic pride.
• Improves safety and security.
• Generates a feeling of belonging that helps to enable the development of community groups.

In addition, access to green infrastructure such as open space, allotments and parkland can help to improve our physical and mental health by encouraging us to walk more, to play sport or simply to enjoy a green and natural environment. It is for this reason that we are supporting Natural England’s Natural Development Project which aims to respect ‘natural signatures’ and to demonstrate how its contribution can improve urban regeneration. This will be achieved through highlighting best practice and raising the standard of design and delivery for green infrastructure.

Before policy dictated it, we ensured that our affordable homes were fully integrated with our homes for sale. This remains of course and we make sure that they are not recognisable by their built form or appearance. Indeed, mixing uses brings a vibrancy to an area and through creating better places to work we are also demonstrating that well located and designed workplaces are good for employees, businesses and the wider environment.

In addition to creating a high quality environment, we consider the sustainability impact of design on the buildings we develop and on the places in which they are located, to the benefit of our customers and users. This is principally achieved through the application of BREEAM and the Code for Sustainable Homes, and previously EcoHomes. The lifecycle impact of the homes and buildings are also considered to ensure the respective impacts are reduced.

During the reporting period we decided not to continue our membership of the Next Generation Partnership, primarily because its benchmarking did not take sufficient account of the place making agenda or the concepts of community building. We are confident in time that the Partnership will reconsider the scope of its survey and include such important aspects as they underpin the development of sustainable communities.

Working with our stakeholders

Our team has the commitment and experience to make it happen and every home, commercial building, open space, community facility and street is carefully planned and designed with attention to detail. We work with leading architects, and consultants, such as Feilden Clegg Bradley, OSP Architecture and HTA, as well as our specialist in-house planning and design teams, to deliver individual design solutions that work within their local context to create places of character.

We have many years experience in planning and delivering design principles such as Design Codes and Design & Access Statements which we believe should be flexible rather than prescriptive. We take a holistic view which is highly preferable to the tick-box approach which is currently all too prevalent. We engage and collaborate with local authorities, Housing Associations and local communities formally and informally through meetings, discussions and workshops to enhance understanding and trust.

Climate change adaptation

We are developing climate change adaptation strategies through the masterplanning of our sites and ‘future proofing’ the built forms. For example, our masterplans include low lying, green spaces to absorb flooding with minimal damage, as well as providing amenity space and improved habitats to enhance bio-diversity areas.

The Group recognises that the principles of good design, solar orientation and the provision of comfortable microclimates for residents, requires careful consideration and will become increasingly more important as climate change modelling demonstrates greater variation in seasonal weather patterns.

Recognition

Our high quality approach to design quality is widely recognised by our stakeholders. Since 2001 we have received more than 130 awards for design quality. During this reporting period design awards received include:

• Building for Life Silver Standard for Stone Rise, Dartford. We have received ten Building for Life Standards for design and place making excellence, including a sector leading four Golds and six Silvers.
• Housing Design Project Award for the regeneration of Canning Town & Custom House, London.
• In the Mail on Sunday British Homes Awards Sedgwick Street in Hackney was commended in the Affordable Housing Development of the Year category and Stone Rise, Dartford was commended in the Small House category.
• Regeneration Development of the Year for Mann Island, Liverpool in the Property Week North-West Property Awards.
• Winner of the Regeneration category in the RICS East of England Awards for Accordia, Cambridge.
• Commended in the Residential category of the Norwich Society Design Awards for Nu Centrale, Norwich.

Code for Sustainable Homes & BREEAM

The Group continues to engage in open and constructive dialogue with Government and its advisors, in particular the Zero Carbon Hub and the UK-Green Building Council. We believe that the sharing of our experiences of delivering homes in accordance with BREEAM and the Code will help improve the revisions to the various Standards, Codes and Approved Documents.

As reported previously, we believe along with our peer group that Code ambitions should be aligned with the target for all non-domestic buildings to be zero carbon by 2019. This revised trajectory aligns with the forthcoming European Directives and would importantly allow sufficient time for research, development and testing to ensure the reliability of new homes in future. Even, though the Code was introduced in 2007, best practice has yet to be established, and many organisations including the NHBC Foundation have called for further investigations into the impacts of delivering such innovative homes.

Indeed, the requisite innovations and practices carry high levels of risk which needs to be fully understood and mitigated, as far as is possible, in a timely manner. It is pleasing to note that the Government recognises the contributions that existing homes and building must make to the Low Carbon Transition Plan. Indeed, the flurry of new policy and consultation document publication post the reporting period reflects the broad nature and the complex stakeholder engagement that is required in meeting the long-term objectives to stabilise climate change. Moreover, the affects of rising average global temperatures, increasing risks of energy security and water scarcity have potentially significant effects for the homes and workplaces that we build, live and work in, therefore we are keen to future-proof our developments in the appropriate manner, with quality of place making being central to our vision. We believe that we must get to zero carbon responsibly. Looking forward, we will continue to ensure that our industry delivers sustainable places, homes and buildings that improve people’s quality of life, minimises impact on the environment and are financially viable.

The Codes are useful in signalling future regulatory requirements. However, we are concerned that much of their criteria, particularly the Code, are repeated in Planning and/or Building Regulations, which is resulting in unnecessary accumulative regulatory burden. This is adding significant additional costs, which is of course having a negative impact on the delivery of much needed new homes.

It is pleasing to note the future introduction of 'Feed in Tariffs' and also the proposed 'Renewable Heat Incentive'. This is welcome and should help in delivering higher levels of sustainability for new development. Indeed, given the Government's aspiration for 'Allowable Solutions', this may also help support wider community benefits, such as investments in low and zero carbon community heat infrastructure.

BREEAM, which includes EcoHomes, has been the recognised industry tool for assessing the environmental performance of new homes and commercial buildings for some years. We have had a long-term commitment to BREEAM/EcoHomes which has been unsurpassed in our sector. In this reporting period some 93% of the homes we built, both affordable and for sale, achieved at least a 'Very Good' or better EcoHomes and a Code rating of at least Level 3. This is greatly assisting us in developing solutions to meet different levels of the Code and BREEAM. We have a residential development programme of 17,800 units that will achieve at least a Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3 rating and in addition we have a commercial development programme of over 4.9 m sq ft that will achieve a minimum BREEAM 'Very Good' rating.

Cost savings

We are continuously evaluating where added value is being delivered most effectively and in 2009 we saved £2.8 million through sustainability and related supply chain improvements and a further £2.4 million in 2008.

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Sir Terry Farrell CBE, Principal, Terry Farrell & Partners

Mann Island, Liverpool

Sedgwick Street, Hackney, London

Nu Centrale, Norwich, Norfolk

Canning Town, Newham, London

Phoenix Apartments, Chertsey, Surrey