Design must be embedded throughout infrastructure project life cycles in a holistic way, according to new guidance from the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC’s) Design Group.
The guide, Project Level Design Principles, was launched by the group’s chair Sadie Morgan at the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) in Leeds and sets out a structured process for applying tailored principles at every stage of infrastructure projects.
It includes Lower Thames Crossing, Tideway and Sizewell C as case studies for their adoption of design principles at an early stage.
The NIC said the guidance builds on its design group’s high-level design principles which are climate, people, places and value. The guide lays out a structured process for applying more bespoke principles throughout project lifecycles.
The guide calls on project leaders to ensure commitment from senior leaders to use a structured design process, to put principles in place before taking other decisions, to ensure the tailored principles support the widest range of outcomes beyond operational functions, and to revise the principles as new information becomes available.
Morgan said that following the design process outlined in the guide can “generate support for schemes from stakeholders, deliver the widest possible benefits, facilitate a smoother planning and consenting process, and avoid costly problems later in the project lifecycle”.
National Infrastructure Commission chair Sir John Armitt said: “Our latest National Infrastructure Assessment envisages around £70bn of public and private money being invested in infrastructure each year during the 2030s and 2040s.
“Before then, at least 17 new major electricity transmission projects and nine water resource projects will be required before this decade is out.
“If these projects are to be successful, and meet public, political and investor expectations, they must have a focused attention on design – in its widest sense – at every single stage.”
In a statement, the NIC said: “The UK government’s National Infrastructure Strategy, published in 2020, committed to embedding good design in all major infrastructure projects.
“The strategy requires all NSIPs to have board-level design champions in place and to have regard to the Commission’s design principles.”
The NIC’s Project Level Design Principles guide was authored by Morgan as well as London Legacy Development Corporation director of design Peter Maxwell, LDA Design director Alister Kratt, Network Rail professional head buildings and architecture Anthony Dewar, Fereday Pollard director Clare Donnelly, Expedition Engineering senior director Judith Sykes and Madeleine Kessler Architecture principal Madeleine Kessler.
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