Salford Design Review Forum sets tone for city’s future

As one of the first authorities in the North West to establish an independent design review panel, Salford is committed to championing the highest standards of design across new development within the city, writes Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett.

Salford has seen transformational development across the city over recent decades. Across MediaCity and Salford Quays, Greengate, Chapel Street, and The Crescent, we have championed high-quality placemaking and worked proactively with development partners to realise this, achieving best practice examples that are featured in the National Design Guide.

A good example of this success is the recently completed Eden – a LETI Pioneer commercial development designed to be net zero carbon in operation and champion sustainability and resource efficiency – and Greenhaus, which is the first and largest Passivhaus-standard affordable housing development in the North West.

As a council we are committed to achieving the highest standards of design and sustainability in new development and that’s why we’re establishing the Salford Design Review Forum.

Design review panels have proved invaluable in championing high-quality design and placemaking, and are well-established across authorities in London and the South East. In the North West, we have Places Matter, which we have found a valuable resource for design review services, but we can see tangible benefits in establishing a design review process for Salford.

We’re seeking to appoint a cohort of 20–30 built environment professionals to join the forum who will peer review emerging development proposals across the city, typically at the pre-application stage. The role of the forum will be to constructively challenge developer teams to achieve the best possible design outcomes for the city and its communities. Salford has always taken a proactive approach to working with developers and the Design Review Forum will reflect this collaborative approach.

Our vision for the future is bold, continuing the large-scale regeneration but also supporting good growth and a good home for all, and building a fairer, greener, healthier, and more inclusive Salford.

With an excellent supply of prominent development sites, high levels of demand for housing and commercial space, and a growing reputation in the investor market, we also have a series of large-scale regeneration projects in the pipeline. This includes the £2.5bn transformation of Salford Crescent, the expansion of MediaCity, delivery of Port Salford, and the redevelopment of Salford’s town centres.

There are huge opportunities for new development across the city. Given this scale of change and the legacy it will leave, it’s vital that new development achieves the highest standards of design and sustainability and delivers real placemaking.

We need to be creating places that truly enhance our residents’ quality of life, places that afford exceptional working environments for businesses and their employees, and places that celebrate our culture and grow the city’s visitor economy. Integral to this will be delivering development that achieves net zero carbon and helps to address the climate emergency, and development that is accessible and inclusive.

We’re confident that the development community will embrace Salford’s Design Review Forum and recognise the benefits of having an independent forum that is fully engaged with and appreciate Salford’s context, and our shared vision for the future of the city. Independent peer review by respected built environment professionals at an early stage in the design process will provide positive and constructive challenge to developer teams. It also presents the opportunity to establish a consistency in our approach through the design review process, an approach that will afford greater clarity and confidence for developers.

It will typically be larger-scale schemes that will be reviewed by the forum, however observing and engaging with the design review process will provide an opportunity to further strengthen the design skills of our planning officers and ensure there is consistency in our approach to design across the city at all scales of development. While the council will retain ultimate discretion as decision-making authority, the advice of the forum will be a material consideration in determining planning applications. Officers, together with the Planning and Transportation Regulatory Panel, will have regard to this in their decision making.

Joining Salford’s Design Review Forum presents an exceptional opportunity to shape the future of design and placemaking across the city and we’re looking to appoint a cohort of built environment professionals with design expertise across a range of disciplines who also reflect the diversity of the city’s population.

We’re seeking applications from architects, urban designers, masterplanners, landscape architects, and conservation and heritage specialists who share Salford’s passion and pride.

Salford is at the forefront in pioneering the establishment of its own independent design review forum within the North West, and I’m genuinely excited to see the change that this will bring about as part of a collaborative approach to working with the development community to achieve the best possible design outcomes for the city and its people.

Salford is currently inviting applications from built environment professionals to join its design review forum – find the details here.

• Paul Dennett is Salford City Mayor