Workshop Content: Preparation Guidelines
Criteria for selecting a project
- Sufficiently large to require consideration of urban structure
- Complex, with a range of uses, and presenting a design and development challenge
- High profile and/or representative of typical projects in the locality
- Type: Greenfield, infill or town centre
Guide to information required
The information required will include anything relevant to the development of the site, but is likely to include the following.
Detail should be limited to key characteristics and issues as the information is to be quickly assimilated by workshop participants and used in a series of relatively short workshop sessions.
1. Site History
- Origins of the site
- Relevant historical events and heritage features
- Recent development and activity history
2. Existing on-site conditions
- Notable physical site characteristics
- Topography
- Opportunities and constraints
- Existing buildings and activities
3. Site ownership
- number of owners
- nature of ownership of adjacent sites
4. Physical context
- Surrounding activity
- Access and roading infrastructure
5. Local Authority Plans and Policies
- Relation to growth strategy
- Zoning – site and surroundings
- Height, coverage and any other relevant restrictions
6. Directions for a Design Brief
- Likely development
- Past development proposals
- Local Authority intentions
- Developer intentions
This brief should be relatively open, recognizing that part of the workshop project is for participants to identify a possible brief for the site.
Prepare
Powerpoint Presentation
- 20 minute (max) presentation to describe and introduce the project, covering the points noted above.
- Include base plans in full and in relevant parts in the presentation.
- Show key photographs of defining features and characteristics of site and surroundings – 10 maximum.
A Powerpoint presentation is required so that the entire workshop can be briefed as a group.
The presentation will be descriptive., and for simplicity might usefully follow the sequence of information required above.
One page project case study summary
As an A4 sheet for quick reference, this highlights the key points and parameters from your presentation
Its purpose is to be a quick reference memory aid for tutors and workshop participants.
Base plans for design studies
- Site in its wider context (regional structure plan) at 1:20,000 – 1:5000 scale depending on project.
- Site base plan at 1:2000-1:500 scale depending on project.
As a guide for what to include in the site base plan, the context in site plans should extend at least the dimension of the site in each direction past the edge of the site.
