News

Design Code agreed at Millbrook Proving Ground

The critical first planning condition for development of four individual sites edging Millbrook Proving Ground in Central Bedfordshire has been discharged by Central Bedfordshire Council. The Design Code, prepared with be1 Architects, is accompanied by a set...

Tackling mental health issues with the help of Green Care

There is ample evidence that economic stability and growth in cities, along with social security, are directly linked with the amount of green space available. Urban green space is, however, under threat from development pressure and massively reduced council maintenance …

The Landmark Practice – Architectural Graphics Services

Landmark has provided specialist in-house graphics services alongside our other technical teams since when we set up the Practice in 1985. Now, with hugely increased workflow and ever increasing demands for our graphic design and visualisations services, we have …

EIA Screening – can local effects be ‘significant’?

If there is any aspect of EIA that keeps lawyers busy, it is EIA Screening.  Although making an application for a Screening Opinion is a straightforward process, there are potential ‘elephant traps’ along the route. They are commonly simple procedural matters,...

Shared Space – reducing the dominance of motor vehicles

Does shared space still have a place in urban design? A movement away from car dominance in our urban areas is a progressive and positive step, but shared space needs to be delivered thoughtfully to achieve the intended benefits to society.

Putting a Price on Ecosystem Services

There has been a lot of recent media coverage of the wide range of environmental factors that affect human health, including the urgent need to bring air pollution down to within legal limits and the effect of exposure to urban environments on mental...

Short-sighted Government housing policy will not meet objectives

The National Policy for the Built Environment Committee was appointed on 11 June 2015 to consider the development and implementation of national policy for the built environment.  The function of Lords Select Committees is not to shadow the work of...

The Lawton Report, Five Years On

In the autumn of 2010 the report ‘Making Space for Nature: A review of England’s Wildlife Sites and Ecological Network’ (the Lawton Report) was submitted to the Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The report was chaired by...

Landscape and Visual Impact (LVIA) – practice update

In summary, the purpose of the LVIA process is to inform accurate decision making, so it is important that the LVIA report is proportionate to the development proposed. Huge tomes produced for small scale assessments are both unnecessary and costly, and will probably alienate readers, local residents and local authorities alike. The most important attributes of LVIAs are clarity, transparency and accessibility.

Branching out – The future for street trees

As concerns grow about the quality of the urban environment in towns and cities throughout the world, the importance of protecting and expanding urban forests can only increase. Trees make people happier. This is something we intrinsically understand, from walking down a leafy urban street and exploring quiet woodland, but there is also a wide range of academic evidence to support this statement. Since studies completed by Ulrich in the 1940s, showing hospital patients recovered faster in rooms with views of trees, the medical evidence for the value of street trees has grown. As well as overall wellbeing, the evidence points to the health benefits of living in areas with abundant street trees range ranging from lower instances of skin cancer to improved mental health.

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