Policy information sourced from the Hounslow Local Plan Part 1

CC2 - URBAN DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE

Our approach

We will retain, promote and support high quality urban design and architecture to create attractive, distinctive, and liveable places.

We will achieve this by

  • Ensuring proactive urban design forms an integral part of council development plans, programmes and processes, and prioritising design guidance for areas of change and intensification;
  • Working with applicants at an early stage (pre-application) to guide and shape the design of development proposals;
  • Reviewing built and proposed developments, decisions and advice to help raise design standards and awareness of the value of good design;
  • Working with housing providers to improve the design of estates as part of wider regeneration programmes;
  • Working with local communities to understand and improve the urban design of their areas through, for example neighbourhood plans; and
  • Using good practice guidance such as By Design, the Urban Design Compendium, the Mayor’s Housing Design Guide, Mayor’s Housing SPG, and Building for Life assessments.

We will expect development proposals to

  • Understand, integrate and where possible add to the natural landscape; including the topography, geology, existing features, landscape context, local flora and fauna and wider ecological setting of an area. Schemes should ensure that trees are suitably sited, protected during detailed design and construction, and provide amenity for the long term through effective maintenance arrangements;
  • Deliver the right land use mix, amount and density in the right places to support the rejuvenation of our town centres and the creation of healthy, diverse and varied places;
  • Create places that are easy to get to and through, foster active lifestyles, are easy to understand and navigate and feel safe during the day and night, with a particular focus on pedestrians and cyclists;
  • Function well in themselves and in their effect on surrounding areas, have a positive impact on the amenity of current and future residents, visitors and passers-by and help create Lifetime Neighbourhoods that foster social interaction and capital;
  • Respond meaningfully and sensitively to the site, its characteristics and constraints, and the layout, grain, massing and height of surrounding buildings. The orientation of buildings and uses on sites to make best use of opportunities for passive design and access to daylight/sunlight should be considered;
  • Provide a clear distinction between private, semi-private and public space, through an understanding of fronts and backs of buildings, ground floor uses, and continuity of street frontages and enclosure of space to help foster comfortable, usable and safe places;
  • Provide a high quality, comfortable, safe and attractive public realm, well-integrated into its surroundings through using clear, welldefined boundary and building lines to address and animate the public realm;
  • Ensure buildings and spaces are designed to stand the test of time and are easily adaptable and resilient to social, economic and technological change, and can accommodate movement and car parking in a safe and useable way;
  • Promote and support contemporary architecture that responds intelligently to current and future lifestyles, needs and technology, whilst ensuring it’s rooted in local context, at all scales;
  • Promote low carbon design and incorporate energy efficiency measures that are themselves well integrated into the design and appearance of the development;
  • Carefully consider external appearance, its composition and arrangement, through the use of high quality, durable materials and finishes and careful, considered detailing for building facades which add visual interest and richness to the street scene. A clear indication of how buildings are used and occupied should be presented, seizing opportunities for passive design wherever possible;
  • Be designed to mitigate noise and air quality issues which significantly affect parts of the borough;
  • Be designed so it is fully accessible to people with disabilities or impaired mobility;
  • Provide adequate outlook, minimise overbearingness and overshadowing, and ensure sufficient sunlight and daylight to proposed and adjoining/adjacent dwellings; reduce reliance on single aspect dwellings, particularly if north facing, within noise bands C and D (as defined in the Noise Supplementary Planning Document) or containing 3 bedrooms or more; provide adequate levels of privacy and minimise direct overlooking through the careful layout, design and orientation of buildings and spaces; and
  • Make well-designed provision for bicycles, and the acceptable storage of refuse, materials for recycling and composting and for convenient access for its deposit and collection in consultation with the council’s waste services. Enclosures should be robust, well ventilated and attractively integrated with the building and screened for privacy and security.

For more information please see the Hounslow Local Plan Part 1