By Neil Turner, Howarth Litchfield
I welcomed the comments made by Michael Gove in November when he penned a forward to a think tank Policy Exchange document, ‘School of Place’. He suggested that opposition to new housing could be reduced, if there was a greater focus on design and the ‘heart and soul’ of places.
The report criticised both the quality of modern architecture, as well as ‘indifferent or insipid planning’, going on to ask for a new school of architecture that focused on the recovery of traditional architecture .
The document, and Mr Gove, have certainly created a debate. The document covers a few major issues and who could disagree with a comment that puts design as a priority in all buildings in this country and most definitely housing. The country has a wonderful heritage of building styles and inspiring examples of architecture from Roman times through to the 21st century.
Each era has its place and we must balance the need to retain our heritage whilst allowing good architecture to develop to support the needs and requirements of the present time .
Within Britain, we often appear to have a schizophrenic view towards design, especially on new housing. We have enormous pressures to build more housing to accommodate current needs, yet find endless reasons not to achieve targets or face endless delays due to a slow planning system.
The report highlights that a recent poll stated 84% of people preferred a traditional style in contrast to just 16% preferring a modern style. Of course, it depends on what questions were asked to obtain these results as interest in modern design has never been stronger with TV shows, magazines and demand for self-build housing. More and more people want to build a house, fit for the modern way of living.
So how do we square this circle of design scrutiny? I am not going to say we should all be building mock Georgian housing, nor that every new house should be shiny metal and plate glass walls. The challenge is to make all designers – of whatever style allegiance – and developers, create housing that is fit for its place, using materials that are appropriate to the area and so have character.
The key is ‘character’, often a better word than design. A new house in an estate should have character and that includes its wider setting, landscape and road layouts . Mr Gove is correct in asking questions about how we can improve this.
I don’t think we can blame planning departments, architects or developers for the absence of this quality. I think that it is a larger society question about how to encourage everyone to build with an eye to good design, quality or character – or whatever term you want to give it.
If we want the quality and character of our built environment to improve, then we need to pay for it and there lies the pressure. We need a proactive national planning system that rewards innovation, improves environmental standards, and champions character and design. How we do that and meet current needs is not an easy task. At least debating it is a good start.
