Planning applications for schools in Lambeth A guide
Karthaus Design for Lambeth Council 2015 Original document size A5
Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide additional guidance to those making detailed planning applications for schools in Lambeth, both new buildings and extensions to existing. This guide does not supercede the planning validation checklist which is available on the Council’s planning website. Rather, the purpose is to provide additional guidance, particularly focusing on some common issues which may result in applications being declared invalid, delayed or rejected. Each and every situation is different. The Council’s own validation checklist seeks to cover all circumstances and the resultant impacts of proposals that should be assessed and mitigated. The validation checklist, however does not explain the iterative process of designing a building that results in a planning application and so merely checking the list is not always sufficient. This guide raises a series of questions about common issues that should be asked during the design process and if followed through, should result in a well-thought out proposal, supported by appropriate studies. It should not be considered comprehensive. The guide has been prepared for the Council by an Architect and it refers to the RIBA plan of work. This does not mean that the RIBA plan of work has to be followed, or that an Architect must lead the design process, but it provides a useful basis to illustrate the design steps that should be completed prior to making a planning application.
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Contents
Design process:
4-5
RIBA plan of work
6-7
1. Preparation and brief
8-9
2. Concept design
10-11
3. Developed design
12-13
Planning application
Common issues:
14-15 Transport 16-17
Sustainability & ecology
18-19
Design and consultation
References & checklist
20-21
Key references and links
22-23 Summary checklist
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Design process: RIBA plan of work
The RIBA plan of work is a useful document to refer to as it is organised according to work stages (0-7) that apply across the whole of a design team. It summarises the work that should be undertaken and the typical outputs and decisions at each stage. Commonly schools will be procured under design and build or development agreement contracts, where the construction contractor or development partner is responsible for the design of the building. The RIBA plan of work is designed to facilitate this. The plan of work does not need to be followed slavishly and it is not a requirement for submitting a planning application, but by following the processes thoroughly in the relevant stages, applicants can have confidence that the design will be sufficiently resolved for a planning application. Generally, a planning application is made at the end of stage 3 (developed design), once the concept design has been coordinated with engineering and other requirements. If an application is made earlier than this in the design process, special care should be taken to ensure any issues that may affect the external appearance of the building, or other aspects relevant to a planning application have been addressed. Normally the Council will have completed Stage 0 (strategic definition) by making a business case for the new school and setting the tender requirements and objectives in the tender documents.
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Extracts from the RIBA Plan of Work used with permission.
Stage 1
http://ribaplanofwork. com Stage 1 involves the clarification of the brief and preparing the design team. Although the brief may be expressed in existing tender documents, it is important for applicants to go through this process to test assumptions.
Preparation and Brief Task Bar
Tasks
Core Objectives
Develop Project Objectives, including Quality Objectives and Project Outcomes, Sustainability Aspirations, Project Budget, other parameters or constraints and develop Initial Project Brief. Undertake Feasibility Studies and review of Site Information.
Procurement
Variable task bar
Prepare Project Roles Table and Contractual Tree and continue assembling the project team.
Programme
Review Project Programme.
(Town) Planning
Pre-application discussions may be required during this stage to discuss and determine the suitability of Feasibility Studies.
Variable task bar
Stage 2 is the concept design stage, where the brief is given a particular form in relation to the site and other factors.
Variable task bar
Suggested Key Support Tasks
Prepare Handover Strategy and Risk Assessments.
Agree Schedule of Services, Design Responsibility Matrix and Information Exchanges and prepare Project Execution Plan including Technology and Communication Strategies and consideration of Common Standards to be used. The support tasks during this stage are focused on ensuring that the project team is properly assembled and that consideration is given to the handover of the project and the post-occupancy services that are required.
Sustainability Checkpoints
Task Bar Core Objectives Information Exchanges Procurement (at stage completion) Variable task bar
Stage 3 is the next, completed design stage beyond concept design, when the design is fully coordinated with the fundamental structural and services schemes. This level of coordination is required prior to a planning application otherwise changes may necessitate a new planning application.
Stage 2
UK Government Information Programme Exchanges Variable task bar
(Town) Planning Variable task bar
14 Suggested Key Support Tasks
Task Bar Core Objectives Sustainability Checkpoints Procurement
Variable task bar
Concept Design
• Confirm that formal sustainability targets are stated in the Initial Project Brief. • Confirm that environmental requirements, building lifespan and future climate parameters are stated in the Initial Project Brief. • Have early stage consultations, surveys or monitoring been undertaken as necessary to meet sustainability criteria or assessment procedures?
Tasks
• Check that the principles of the Handover Strategy and post-completion services are included in each party’soutline Schedule of Services. Prepare Concept Design, including proposals for structural design, building services outline specifications andbeen preliminary Cost • Confirm that thesystems, Site Waste Management Plan has implemented. Information along with relevant Project Strategies in accordance with Design Programme. Agree alterations to brief and issue Final Project Brief. Initial Project Brief.
The Procurement activities during this stage will depend on the procurement route determined during Stage 1. Required.
Review Project Programme.
Stage 3 The RIBA Plan of Work 2013 enables planning applications to be submitted at the end of Stage 2. However, this is not the anticipated norm, but rather an option to be exercised only in response to a specific client’s needs and with due regard to the associated risks.
Developed Design
Prepare Sustainability Strategy, Maintenance and Operational Strategy and review Handover Strategy and Risk Assessments. Undertake third party consultations as required and any Research and Development aspects. Review and update Project Execution Plan. Consider Construction Strategy, including offsite fabrication, and develop Health and Safety Strategy. During this stage a number of strategies that complement the design are Tasks These strategies consider post-occupancy and operational issues prepared. along with the consideration of buildability. Third party consultations are Prepare Developed Design, including coordinated and updated proposals also essential. for structural design, building services systems, outline specifications, Cost Information and Project Strategies in accordance with Design •Programme. Confirm that formal sustainability pre-assessment and identification of key areas of design focus have been undertaken and that any deviation from the Sustainability has been reported and agreed. The ProcurementAspirations activities during this stage will depend on the procurement •route Has determined the initial Building Part L assessment been carried out? duringRegulations Stage 1. • Have ‘plain English’ descriptions of internal environmental conditions and seasonal control strategies and systems been prepared?
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Design process: 1. Preparation and brief
Whilst a tender will normally include a brief and a proposed site, applicants should carry out their own brief and analysis of the site as part of a feasibility study. An important activity at this point is to plan out the process to the submission of a planning application. Project objectives, quality objectives, project outcomes and sustainability targets may be included in the Council’s tender documents, but they should be reviewed by the applicant so that clear and measurable targets and any implications for planning identified. The process for meeting any particular standards such as BREEAM should be understood so that adequate time in the process is allowed. Every site is different and whilst school designs have a degree of standardisation, access, topography, previous uses, ecology, surrounding uses, townscape and planning designations can all be constraints to which a design must respond. A feasibility study should begin with a site analysis before options for the location and configuration of access, building, playspace and carparking are considered. The feasibility study will help to identify what specialist studies and related mitigation measures may be required to support a planning application. The feasibility study should form the basis of preapplication meetings with the planning department and should be summarised in the Design and Access statement, to explain the logic behind the design proposals.
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1. Preparation and brief Checklist:
i. Make a project programme up to a planning application •
Is there sufficient time to carry out the steps in the design process to ensure a valid planning application?
•
Are any surveys or investigations required that are time-specific (eg. protected species ecology surveys)?
ii. Check the project objectives, quality objectives and project outcomes or criteria in the tender document. •
How will these be measured?
•
What are the design implications, particularly relating to planning?
•
Are other staged approvals or checks required prior to a planning application, eg. BREEAM?
iii. Carry out a feasibility study: •
Undertake a site analysis, considering the nature of the site itself as well as the surrounding context.
•
Is the site in or near a conservation area or other designation?
•
What is the nature of the surrounding buildings, their design and their uses?
•
Are there any special topographic, environmental or ground conditions, utilities, etc.?
•
Referring to the validation checklist at this stage is a useful prompt.
•
Finally, test different options for site layout and record these for inclusion in the design and access statement.
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Design process: 2. Concept design
The feasibility study should provide a firm basis for a concept design. This should take the functional requirements (space, facilities, access etc) and organise them according to a concept about how the school will work within the site and its context. This may begin from a ‘standard’ school design, but a certain amount of re-organisation is inevitable to respond to the specific site constraints and opportunities. Without a conceptual design, this process tends to result in an unresolved building. A conceptual approach will respond holistically to all the site constraints and opportunities together. Consultation with end-users at this stage is essential to enable a proper understanding of the operational requirements of the school and of any unusual circumstances. A workshop using a site model and simple foam blocks to test different configurations and ideas at the earliest stage will draw out a great deal of important information for the design process. Aspirations for the type of environment to be created can also be clarified in this way. Again, recording this properly for inclusion in the design and access statement is essential. The validation checklist also highlights many areas of statutory compliance linked with a planning application. Many of these require specialist surveys, together with mitigation proposals integrated in the planning application. A preapplication meeting should help confirm the requirements.
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2. Concept design Checklist:
i. Develop a conceptual response to the site that holistically addresses the constraints and opportunities •
Can the concept be clearly and succinctly described in a drawing?
ii. Explore the concept and functional arrangements with the end-users and client in one or two workshops, using simple models including of the site and immediate context. •
How will the user’s aspirations for the school be met through the design?
iii. Document the conceptual design for inclusion in the design and access statement •
Is there a clear logic behind the design?
iv. Arrange a pre-application meeting to confirm the application requirements •
identify site investigations, surveys and mitigation measures that will be required for planning.
•
Check Lambeth’s Local Plan for specific requirements eg. living walls and roofs
v. Identify all the areas of design coordination that will be required in the next stage •
How does the interior planning relate to the exterior form, cladding, glazing etc? What external elements are required, such as plant, signage, canopies etc?
vi. Review the environmental and sustainability standards to be met •
Will any provisions have implications for a planning application, such as solar panels, grass roofs etc. ?
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Design process: 3. Developed design
Prior to submitting a planning application, the design must be sufficiently resolved and coordinated across structure, services, fabric and future management / operations so that the design can be captured in ‘frozen’ drawings at a scale of 1:50. This generally means the building plans and elevations should be accurate to +/- 50mm. In some sensitive areas, even greater accuracy may be required and specific heights and dimensions precisely indicated. Although some ‘rule of thumb’ design can be sufficient in detailed internal areas, applicants need to be sure that the required thermal, structural and other standards of building control and any other standards can be met within the parameters of the planning application drawings. Elevational drawings need to show the materials to be used and locations of all external elements. The drawings should include the context, so that the building’s relationship with its surroundings can be clearly understood. Further information may be required, especially in sensitive contexts or conservation areas, including specific details or materials, though these can often be conditioned as reserved matters to be discharged at a later date. Main signage should be shown as well as landscaping, fences and street furniture.
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3. Developed design Checklist:
i. Co-ordinate the design across the different disciplines to achieve a resolved scheme. •
Consult with the end users and client. Is the scheme suitable for their needs?
•
Seek agreement to submit the planning application.
ii. Prepare a design and access statement, recording the design process followed to date and the basis for the proposed scheme. •
The design and access statement should also contain Computer Generated Images of the proposal in its context from key views so that the public can understand the proposal.
iii. Complete required surveys, studies, assessments and statements in support of the planning application. •
A planning statement should be included to relate the proposal to local, regional (GLA) and national planning policies.
•
Refer to the planning application validation checklist from Lambeth Council
iv. Arrange a further pre-application meeting to confirm the draft planning application contents if appropriate, including any heads of terms for planning clause items (eg. section 106 / highways / CIL etc.)
v. Review the planning application against the brief to ensure compliance
vi. Compile the planning documents together with the correct fee (see fee calculator in the references) and submit the application.
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Design process: Planning application
During the period of the planning application, the drawings and documents will be publicly available for comment. It is normally helpful to support this process with a public display of the key drawings and information about the scheme. Depending on the scale and nature of the scheme, departments within and without the Council will be consulted on the proposals and may raise comments requiring further information or adjustments to the scheme. If these adjustments are relatively minor then they may be made as an update to the existing planning application. It is important that applicants are pro-active and responsive during this process to ensure it is conducted as smoothly and quickly as possible. The comments will be compiled into an officer’s report which will be presented to the planning commitee for decision. The planning officers and planning committee are entirely independent from the commissioning client and will scrutinise the scheme exactly in the same way as any other application. The decision must be based on an assessment of any impacts of the proposal and the measures to mitigate those. Relevant objections will be taken into account, as well as the local, regional (GLA) and national planning policies. Any planning consent will normally be accompanied with conditions that must be discharged to comply with the permission. These may include more details of the building design or material samples for approval.
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Planning application Checklist:
i. Support the public consultation process with a small exhibition of the scheme. •
A model of the proposal is usually very helpful in communicating the scheme to the public and showing the building within its context
ii. Provide information as requested to any queries and consider making minor amendments if requested.
Site and building models, Karthaus Design
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Common issues: Transport planning
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Transport is commonly a contentious issue in many planning applications and especially with schools, which are often located in busy, built-up areas and may have conflicting access and parking requirements. Depending on the scale of the proposals, either a full, formal Transport Assessment will be required, or a simpler Transport Statement may be adequate. This should contain a Transport Plan, which sets out the planned measures that will be implemented to minimise impacts on the transport network and to encourage more sustainable modes of travel. In a built-up area like Lambeth, use of public transport, cycling and walking should be actively encouraged both through the design of the school and by supporting measures provided once the school is in operation. This should include educational initiatives as well as parking and waiting controls in the roads immediately surrounding the school and may also include measures such as carsharing schemes. Parents dropping off schoolchildren by car commonly cause significant impacts on the street network and liason with the highways department is essential to the development of a coordinated travel plan. Encouraging walking and cycling must be integrated into the design of the school: the school gates should be welcoming to pedestrians, with appropriate crossings and waiting areas that don’t conflict with surrounding traffic. Secure cycle parking should be provided and shower facilities for staff should be considered. Schools also have daily lorry deliveries to the kitchens and less frequently for other reasons, so adequate access must be provided that doesn’t conflict with public entrances. Car parking should be based on a realistic assessment of needs.
Schools are often located in dense urban areas and on tight, residential streets. In the example above a narrow pavement means the potential for conflicts between pedestrians leaving or arriving at the school and passing traffic is high. The situation is worsened by a goods entrance located between two pedestrian entrances. The image below is of Iliffe street outside Crampton Primary School in Southwark. Here a streetscape design has been used both to calm traffic and to create a safe ‘spill-out’ space for the school, providing a much better environment. Copyright Google 2015
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Common issues: Sustainability and ecology
The tender brief should set out the performance standards to be met, together with any aspirations beyond these. BREEAM is a commonlyused benchmark for environmental performance. The assessment is based on a points system, that enables designers to choose options most suitable to the site, cost and other parameters. For this reason, an initial sustainability assessment should be undertaken at the feasibility stage with preferred options for compliance identified. Some measures are matters of detailed specification, such as specification of lighting or electrical goods that will clearly not impact on planning, whilst other measures such as solar panels or heat pumps will clearly need to be integrated in the planning drawings. It is important during the design development that a full compliance review is carried out to ensure that non-planning critical items can safely be relied on for credits so that the planning critical items do not have to be changed at a later date. Any site, even those and covered in buildings can provide habitats for wildlife and may harbour protected species, such as bats. Trees both in and immediately around the site may be protected and any water sources are often related to nearby habitats. A baseline ecology survey should be carried out if there is any likelihood of habitats that could be disturbed. Specific surveys may be required at specific times of the year, which can create a programme risk. The Council’s tree officer should be contacted for a site visit to review any trees that may be affected.
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A site analysis should inform the choice of sustainability measures employed in a school design. Many sites will have potential habitats for protected species, which represent constraints, but also opportunities. Ecology provides an important educational resource in cities if integrated into the design concept at an early stage. In the example below, solar photovoltaics are combined with a biodiverse roof habitat.
http://www.greenroofers.co.uk
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Common issues: Design and consultation
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The cost, programme, performance and flexibility pressures on schools mean that there is a tendency towards standardisation in school buildings. Nonetheless, each school is located in a specific place, with a particular community and an individual ethos with which the staff and pupils can identify. Each school therefore has to develop its own ‘character’. This is not opposed to standardised solutions, but it means at the very least, the design process has to adapt and adjust a standard solution to suit the particular circumstances. Early consultation with the end-user staff team and especially the school leadership if known, can help to integrate some of this character into the concept design. The end users’ aspirations for the kind of environment that suits their style of teaching can help to give the entire design of the building its own identity and civic presence. This does not need to mean additional cost, but can be purely about the arrangement of spaces, the choice of colour palettes and materials. At the same time a school should not be designed too specifically as the building has to be flexible and should last longer than any one set of teaching staff. If such a process of engagement through the early stages of design can be demonstrated in a design and access statement, it will not only result in a better building, but will present a strong case for why the building is designed in the way that it is, which will support a positive outcome.
Working models are a useful and tangible way of engaging end users in the design process.
RSA Transitions workshops, Karthaus Design
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Key references and links
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1. Lambeth Council’s planning page for access to policy, guides and validation checklist http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control 2. Lambeth Council’s Local Plan was adopted in 2015 and as well as covering planning policy, contains important guidance on the requirements for planning applications, including in areas such as sustainability and transport. http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning-policy/ lambeths-local-plan-guide 3. National guidance on travel plans and transport assessments: http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/travel-planstransport-assessments-and-statements-in-decision-taking/ 4. RIBA plan of work - page enabled to generate project-specific workstage plans http://www.ribaplanofwork.com 5. BREEAM homepage - industry standard, credit-based sustainability assessment tool http://www.breeam.org 6. Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) http://www.cieem.net 7. Consultation in design homepage - a starting point for planning stakeholder consultation in a design process http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Consultation_process 8. Manual for Streets 2 - Government guidance on streetscape design https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/manual-for-streets-2 9. Government information about primary and secondary school design https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/primary-and-secondary-schooldesign 10. ‘Which Contract?’ useful guide to different procurement routes and contracts http://www.ribabookshops.com/item/which-contract-5th-edition/77974/
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Summary Checklist
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1. Preparation and brief i. Make a project programme up to a planning application ii. Check the project objectives, quality objectives and project outcomes or criteria in the tender document iii. Carry out a feasibility study 2. Concept design i. Develop a conceptual response to the site that holistically addresses the constraints and opportunities ii. Explore the concept and functional arrangements with the end-users and client iii. Document the conceptual design for inclusion in the design and access statement iv. Arrange a pre-application meeting to confirm the application requirements v. Identify all the areas of design coordination that will be required in the next stage vi. Review the environmental and sustainability standards to be met 3. Developed design i. Co-ordinate the design across the different disciplines to achieve a resolved scheme ii. Prepare a design and access statement, recording the design process followed to date and the basis for the proposed scheme iii. Complete required surveys, studies, assessments and statements in support of the planning application iv. Arrange a further pre-application meeting to confirm the draft planning application contents if appropriate v. Review the planning application against the brief to ensure compliance vi. Compile the planning documents together with the correct fee
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Karthaus Design RIBA Chartered practice www.karthaus.co.uk for Lambeth Council 2015