The Royal Institute
of British Architects (RIBA) has published its response to the government’s Building
Better, Building Beautiful Commission report.
The architects’ body
has called on the Commission to move away from style debates and focus instead
on the key issue – increasing the delivery of well-designed, safe and
sustainable homes that people want to live in.
The RIBA has
consistently argued that focusing on ‘beauty’ is a distraction. High-quality
design – rather than prescriptive ideals – should be at the heart of any
approach to delivering new housing.
The RIBA recommends
that government:
- Urgently addresses the
resource gap in local authority planning departments, particularly the
shortage of qualified design expertise
- Mandate the use of Post
Occupancy Evaluation for any housing projects that receive public funding
to provide more sustainable, long-lasting homes
- Undertake a review into
procurement through design and build contracts to address the risks and
shortcomings that this creates in new housing. This should include
ensuring that design architects are retained throughout a project, at
least in an advisory role
- Support the recommendations
of the recent Letwin Review relating to windfalls for
landowners from land values and promoting greater diversity in the housing
market
- Allow local authorities to
mandate the use of design review for projects to evaluate the quality of
new buildings
- Incorporate the Nationally
Described Space Standard into building regulations
- Put an immediate end to
housing being delivered under permitted development
RIBA President, Ben
Derbyshire, said: “Architectural style is subjective and should certainly not
be the defining measure of a successful home or community. We know that the
route to solving the housing crisis and improving the quality of new housing is
substantial policy change, and that should be the focus of the Commission’s
efforts.
"The majority
of the UK’s new homes have not been designed by an architect and there is a
serious lack of qualified design expertise in local government. The only way we
will end poor-quality developments is by resolving some of the grass roots issues
– including investment in the planning system and engaging more talent in the
design and development of new housing.”
