Buildings and spaces: why design matters · Buildings and spaces: why design matters. CABE 1 Kemble Street London WC2B 4AN T 020 7070 6700 F 020 7070 6777 E [email protected]

Buildings and spaces:why design matters.

CABE1 Kemble StreetLondon WC2B 4ANT 020 7070 6700F 020 7070 6777E [email protected]

Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment

The government’s advisoron architecture, urban design and public space

‘We know that good design provides ahost of benefits. The best-designedschools encourage children to learn. The best-designed hospitals helppatients recover their spirits and theirhealth. Well-designed parks and towncentres help bring communities together.’

Rt Hon Tony Blair MP October 2000

‘There have been some excellentexamples of urban regeneration in recent years...but we still seem to fallshort of what’s been achieved in citieslike Stockholm and Berlin. Our objectiveshould be to spread the best... beyond a few flagship projects and into every corner of our great cities.’

Rt Hon David Cameron MPSeptember 2005

Contents

2 Foreword

4 Health

10 Education

16 Homes

22 Crime prevention

28 Environment

34 Community

40 Economy

46 Where CABE comes in

48 Where MPs and peers come in

50 Contacts

52 References

2

Foreword

Britain is witnessing its largest publicbuilding programme for a generation.Every city, town and neighbourhood will see a marked change in its fabricover the course of the next decade.

The ambitious programme is producing100 new hospitals, 3,000 new doctors’surgeries and the transformation ofthousands of schools across the country.Equally significant are the one millionnew homes being built in the south and the renewal of thousands more inthe north.

And of course there are the 2012Olympics. Exciting plans will see boththe creation of world-class sportingvenues and unprecedented regenerationto the east of London.

Taken together, this programmerepresents an extraordinary opportunityto transform the fabric of the nation. It is an opportunity we must seize now,by promoting the very best inarchitecture and design quality at alllevels. The design of homes, towns andcities affects everyone.

The places and spaces being creatednow must produce environments thatpeople can thrive in and take pride in for generations to come.

At CABE, we strongly believe that design quality cannot be an optionalextra. This short booklet, producedespecially for MPs and peers, offers you evidence for why we think goodarchitecture and design matter. We hope you find it useful.

John Sorrell CBEChair, CABE

‘Nurses constantly see howthe design of their workingenvironment impacts onstaff and patients...campaigning to place thishigher up the healthcareagenda is crucial and couldmake a dramatic difference.’Dr Beverly Malone general secretary Royal College of NursingNovember 2003

Healthcare

Healthcare

The NHS plans to open over 100 new hospitalschemes by 2010. A smallinvestment in good designcan have major benefits.Patient recovery times can be reduced by well-designed healthcarebuildings, while attractive,functional workingenvironments help recruitand retain hospital staff.

� Eighty six per cent of directors ofnursing say that hospital design is‘very important’ or ‘important’ inrelation to the performance of nurses,with the most crucial aspect being thedesign and organisation of thehospital environment.1

� Over 90 per cent of nurses and all directors of nursing believe that a well-designed environment issignificantly linked to patient recovery rates.2

� The architect of the Advance DentalSurgery in Chelmsford, Essex, hascalculated that the building’s designgains an extra hour in work efficiencyeach day - that’s six weeks a year -producing a significant return on the investment.

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‘School buildings shouldinspire learning. Theyshould nurture every pupiland member of staff. They should be a source ofpride and a practicalresource for the community.’ Department for Education and Skills, February 2003Education

Education

Government investment inschool buildings reached£5.5 billion in 2005/06. This included £2.1 billion for the Building Schools forthe Future programme,which aims to renew orrebuild every secondaryschool in England within 15years. Building good designinto classrooms has asignificant impact on pupilachievement and behaviour.

� A UK study of pupil performance has found that capital investment in school buildings had the strongest influence on staff morale,pupil motivation and effective learning time.3

� Studies on the relationship betweenpupil achievement and behaviour havefound that test scores in well-designed buildings were up to 11 percent higher than those in poorlydesigned buildings.4

� Approximately 60 per cent of studentsand staff have indicated that thequality of the building design had apositive impact on their choice ofuniversity.5

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‘We all have to startdemanding more, raisingexpectations and coercingbuilders into building homesthat suit our needs.’ Wayne Hemingway designer and chair Building for Life initiative

Homes

Homes

The success or failure of a community isunderpinned by the qualityof the housing and thespaces around it. Good architecture affectsour quality of life as well as property values. Yet CABE’s ongoinghousing audits have foundthat more than nine in ten new developments fail to measure up ondesign standards.6

� A MORI poll has revealed that nearlythree in four members of the publicbelieve that well-designed houses will increase in value more quicklythan average.7

� Properties adjacent to good-qualityparks have a 5 to 7 per cent premiumcompared to identical properties in the same area outside the vicinity of the park.8

� Good design is at the heart of the new planning system. Planning policymakes clear that ‘good designensures attractive, usable, durableand adaptable places and is a keyelement in achieving sustainabledevelopment. Good design isindivisible from good planning’.9

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‘In an environment which is well designed, attractive,clearly defined and wellmaintained, people are likely to take pride in their surroundings...feelcomfortable and safe andhave a sense of sharedownership and responsibility.’Association of Chief Police OfficersMarch 2004

Crimeprevention

Crime prevention

Reducing crime rates is not just about more policeand CCTV. It is also aboutgood design. The quality of public space andbuildings sends a clearmessage about how muchan area is valued and caredfor. It sets the standards of tolerable behaviour in the community and preventsfurther decline.

� Research from London shows that 39 per cent of women feel unsafe inthe capital’s green spaces, and 89 percent say more staff would help themfeel safer. CABE is campaigning for on-site staff in every significanturban park in England during daylight hours.10

� Birmingham City Council has achieved a 70 per cent drop in theftfrom shopping bags by increasing the lighting of the city’s street markets and widening footpaths from two to three metres.11

� Research from Northampton hasshown that crime is reduced in areas where the front windows of houses face each other across the street, creating a system of‘mutual surveillance’.12

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‘Good design ensuresattractive usable, durableand adaptable places and isa key element in achievingsustainable development.’Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2005Environment

Environment

Good-quality design canencourage living andworking patterns that meanless car use, reducedconsumption of naturalresources and increasedbiodiversity. This will be good news for future generations.

� Compact neighbourhoods thatintegrate parking and transportinfrastructure encourage walking and cycling – resulting in 43 per centless fuel consumption.13

� Brighton’s Jubilee Library, winner of the 2005 Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award, has halved carbon emissions and can recycle rainwater, making it one of the country’s most energy-efficient public buildings.

� The new Home Office buildings incentral London have gained a‘BREEAM’ certificate of environmentalexcellence. They are split into threeblocks, each with an atrium providingaccess to natural light. They alsoincorporate low-energy technology.

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‘Communities are aboutmore than just buildings. We need to create high-quality public spacethat is inspiring as well as safe, accessible and sustainable.’ Rt Hon. Tessa Jowell MP culture secretary February 2006

Community

Community

Good design should not be confined to iconicbuildings in big cities. High-quality publicbuildings and open spaces,where local residents canmeet and socialise, givecommunities a sense ofpride and belonging.

� Ninety-one per cent of people thinkthat well-designed and maintainedparks affect their quality of life.14

� Peckham Library in south London,winner of the 2000 Stirling Prize forarchitecture, has seen annual visitsincrease from 171,000 to 500,000, and book loans rise from 80,000 to317,000 over the same period.15

� A survey of disabled and deafLondoners has found that accessibilityproblems prevent more than half fromvisiting friends and prevent 40 percent from visiting a tourist attractionor going shopping.16

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‘After nearly 50 years offrustration, we realised...thatthe message on design andcreativity and its importanceto the quality of life and the economy in our countryhad been well understood by the government.’Sir Terence Conran, designerDecember 2005Economy

Economy

Investment in the layout ofthe working environmentcan directly affect thesuccess of a business. Itcan act as a powerful wayfor a company to project itsbrand, as well as deliveringhigher staff productivity.And good urban designboosts the economic well-being of our towns and cities.

� Local business in Coventry city centre have benefited from a 25 per cent increase in visitors onSaturdays after the local authorityimproved pedestrian walkways, built a new civic square andrepositioned street furniture.17

� Birmingham has risen from thirteenthto third in a poll of best places to shopsince the arrival of its new Bullringcentre and flagship Selfridges store.18

� Nearly half of British managers wouldgive up a week’s annual leave for abetter office, and many would give up£1,000 in salary or the benefits ofprivate medical insurance in exchangefor upgrades to their workspace.19

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Where CABE comes in

CABE is the government’s advisor on architecture, urban design and public space.

Each year, we advise on 500 projects in250 different local authority areas. Todate, we have influenced over £20 billionof government spending on buildingprojects. And 95 per cent of people whoread our publications say they put ouradvice into practice.

HealthThe hospitals and primary care buildingswe have seen will have an impact on upto 20 million people each year, acrossnine regions. CABE’s design reviewpanel has commented on proposals for43 hospitals and other health buildings.20

EducationWe have given design advice on over 300 Sure Start projects and 181 schoolbuildings. The primary and secondaryschools we have seen will impact onaround 130,000 people each year.21

Homes CABE is working with the majorhousebuilders to improve the design of new homes across the country.Through our Building for Lifeprogramme, run in partnership withindustry, we set standards and showcasehigh-quality new developments.

Parks and spacesWe encourage excellence in theplanning, design, management andmaintenance of parks and public spaces.More than nine in 10 local authoritiesfind our advice useful.22

Skills and learningWe run professional training to help buildcapacity and supply learning resourcesfor schools. And we fund a nationalnetwork of architecture and builtenvironment centres, helping to reach aquarter of England’s population.

Design championsTwo thirds of local authorities have nowappointed a ‘design champion’, mostly asthe result of a CABE initiative.

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Where MPs and peers come in

MPs and peers can help develop the way the public sector, businesses and thewider community think about the designof our towns and cities.

You can raise awareness about thebenefits of quality design, challengeexisting approaches that don’t work, andpush for stronger recognition of designquality at every stage of policy formation.

If you want to find out more about CABE or how we can help you, contact our chair, John Sorrell, at 1 Kemble Street, London WC2B 4AN,telephone 020 7070 6700, email [email protected].

What you can do

� advocate the appointment of senior-level design champions in both publicand private sector, and ensure that the local authorities in your areaappoint one

� nominate good developments in yourconstituency for national designawards, such as the Prime Minister’sBetter Public Building Award,organised by CABE and recognisingexcellence in building design

� if new schools are being built in yourconstituency under the BuildingSchools for the Future programme,ensure that design quality is on theagenda of heads, governors and localeducation authorities

� encourage local councillors,especially those on planningcommittees, to use the resourcesavailable from CABE to help informtheir decisions.

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Contacts

Government departments

HealthDepartment of Healthwww.doh.gov.uk

EducationDepartment for Education and Skillswww.dfes.gov.uk

Homes and communityOffice of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM)www.odpm.gov.uk

Crime preventionHome Officewww.homeoffice.gov.uk

EnvironmentODPM (see above) and Department forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairswww.defra.gov.uk

EconomyHM Treasurywww.hm-treasury.gov.uk

CABE’s sponsor departmentDepartment for Culture, Media and Sportwww.dcms.gov.uk

Related organisations

Architecture and Design Scotland0131 556 6699www.ads.org.uk

Civic Trust 020 7539 7900www.civictrust.org.uk

Design Council020 7420 5200www.designcouncil.org.uk

Design Commission for Wales029 2045 1964www.dcfw.org

English Heritage020 7973 3000www.english-heritage.org.uk

Landscape Institute020 7299 4500www.l-i.org.uk

Royal Institute of British Architects 020 7580 5533www.architecture.com

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References

1 The role of hospital design in the recruitment, retention

and performance of NHS nurses in England,CABE/PriceWaterhouseCoopers study 2004

2 Attitudes towards hospitals, CABE/ICM study, 2003

3 Building performance: an empirical assessment of therelationship between schools capital investment andpupil performance, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (2000)Research Report No 242, in The value of good design,CABE 2002

4 The value of good design, CABE, 2002

5 Design with distinction: the value of good buildingdesign in higher education, CABE 2005

6 Housing audit: assessing the design quality of newhomes in the North East, North West and Yorkshire &Humber, CABE 2005

7 Public attitudes towards architecture and the builtenvironment, CABE/MORI 2002

8 Does money grow on trees? CABE Space 2005

9 Planning policy statement 1 (PPS1), ODPM 2004

10 Women in London, Greater London Authority, researchreport (2004) by MORI, cited in Parks need Parkforce,CABE 2005

11 The human deterrent, Conolly, P, in Regeneration andRenewal, 4 October 2002 pp16-17, cited in The value ofpublic space, CABE 2004

12 The value of good design, CABE 2002

13 Professor Peter W. Newton cited in The value of urbandesign New Zealand Ministry of the Environment 2005

14 Public attitudes to architecture and public space:transforming neighbourhoods, MORI researchcommissioned by CABE, 2004

15 London Borough of Southwark, 2002/03 figures,sourced from www.southwark.gov.uk

16 Moving towards equality for disabled and deafLondoners, The Greater London Authority’s DisabilityEquality Scheme, 2005

17 Managing urban spaces in town centres – good practiceguide, Department of Education and The Association ofTown Centre Management,1997

18 Experian survey, 2004

19 The MT workspace satisfaction survey, with ICMResearch, Management Today, June 2003, cited atwww.design-council.org.uk

20 Average number of patients per year plus staffestimated as 350,000 for hospitals and 10,000 forprimary care buildings. Figures taken fromwww.doh.gov.uk

21 Numbers based on 600 per school, an average figuretaking Primary and Secondary school sizes fromwww.dfes.gov.uk

22 CABE Space evaluation, 2005

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Credits

Published in 2006 by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

Graphic design: johnson banksPrinted by Cantate on Starfine environmentally friendly paper.

Black and white photography: Michael Harding Colour photography: Michele Turriani,except page 6, Mark Ellis and Ashley Bingham, ICD ltd;page 12, Pauline Lord.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, copied ortransmitted without the prior written consent of thepublisher except that the material may be photocopied for non-commercial purposes without permission from the publisher. This document is available in alternative formats on request from the publisher.

‘Design is not incidental to moderneconomies but integral; not a part ofsuccess but the heart of success; and not a sideshow but the centrepiece.’

Rt Hon Gordon Brown MPSeptember 2005

‘I believe that design plays an importantpart in our everyday quality of life. It defines our homes, our communitiesand our own space in a way which isboth very personal and fundamental to a good society.’

Sir Menzies Campbell MPJanuary 2006

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