Building for Life, Building for Life 12, Adeliladu am Oes 12 Cymru (Building for a Healthy Life Wales) and Building for a Healthy Life are design tools for improving the quality of new homes and neighbourhoods used across England and Wales. The current version in use in England is Building for a Healthy Life (2020 edition).
The tool has changed and evolved over its twenty years of existence. The tool was rewritten in 2012 and published under the name "Building for Life 12". In 2020, the tool was updated and renamed "Building for a Healthy Life". These changes have enabled the tool to remain relevant, well-known, and well-used in a constantly changing economic, political, and regulatory climate.
Building for Life 2001 - 2012 Building for Life was launched in 2001 as a tool for assessing the design quality of homes and neighbourhoods in England. It was initially developed by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) in partnership with the Home Builders Federation, the Civic Trust, and Design for Homes.
The Building for Life tool consisted of 20 questions, or criteria,CABE, Building for Life: The 20 criteria, 4 November 2008. to assess the design quality of new housing developments, resulting in a numerical score. The criteria reflect the importance of functionality, attractiveness, and sustainability in well-designed homes and neighbourhoods and were aligned to national planning policy at the time (which preceded the current National Planning Policy Framework).
This approach embodied by the criteria was based on national planning policy guidanceCommunities and Local Government, Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development, 31 January 2005.Communities and Local Government, Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing, 9 June 2010.Communities and Local Government, Planning Policy Statement 17: Planning for Open space, Sport and Recreation, 24 July 2002 and on urban design principles.CABE, , April 2000.Department for Transport, Manual for Streets, 2007, Thomas Telford Ltd, . The criteria also link to other standards for housing design, including the BREEAM EcoHomes standard, the Code for Sustainable Homes,Communities and Local Government, The code for sustainable homes: setting the standard in sustainability for new homes , 27 February 2008 Lifetime Homes,Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Homes, 16 Design Criteria from 5 July 2010 (REVISED) and Secured by Design.Secured by Design, Secured by Design, New Homes 2010
Following the global credit crisis, there were fundamental changes in national governance that led to the abandonment of the 20 point version of Building for Life in favour of a new 12 point version being created.
In 2021, Building for a Healthy Life was managed by Design for Homes and Urban Design Doctor with endorsement from the Home Builders Federation, Homes England, Urban Design Group, and Living Streets. Living Streets endorsed the tool in 2021 and its logo featured on the 2022 edition of Building for a Healthy Life.
Uses Uses for Building for Life include the following: The basis of development briefs written by developers and housing associations. A tool to assess compliance with quality standards, for projects being considered for public sector funding, or being built on publicly owned land. An assessment method included by local authorities developing local planning frameworks, core strategies and supplementary planning guidance. A framework for Design Teams to structure Design and Access statements supporting their planning applications. Assessments by local authorities during pre-planning discussions and in reviewing planning applications. An auditing and monitoring tool, to allow local and national government to audit the quality of completed projects. An award scheme aimed at showcasing and celebrating better quality housing projects after completion. A best practice resource, through the website and case study library.
History In 2001, the director of the Civic Trust, Mike Gwilliam, approached the Home Builders Federation with an idea to showcase the best of new housing. They shared with CABE the aim of promoting high quality design, and CABE's chief executive, Jon Rouse, supported the initiative. The three organisations entered into a formal partnership and invited architect and urban designer Sir Terry Farrell to chair a panel of experts to take the initiative forward.
This panel included Martin Bacon, David Birkbeck, Keith Bradley, Steve Lidgate, Kelvin MacDonald, Dr John Miles, Dickon Robinson, Jon Rouse, Julian Smith, Peter Studdert, and David Taylor.
The Building for Life campaign was launched on 11 September 2001 with a manifesto, aiming to promote design excellence, to showcase the best of practice in the house building industry, to understand the needs and aspirations of home buyers, and to identify barriers to good design in order to remove them.
At a meeting on 13 December 2001, Design for Homes became an advisor to the partnership in recognition for the considerable time and effort that David Birkbeck and Richard Mullane had contributed to the initiative. Subsequently, Design for Homes produced a website on behalf of the partnership, www.buildingforlife.org, showcasing 10 very different schemes showing how housebuilding could excel in many different ways, provided it had adequate urban design manners and reasonable public and private amenity.
Key principles of good urban design had been documented in a variety of ways including in By design: urban design in the planning system towards better practice (2000).:
Objectives of Urban Design
Character A place with its own identity Continuity and enclosure A place where public and private spaces are clearly distinguished Quality of the public realm A place with successful outdoor areas Ease of movement A place that is easy to get to and move through Legibility A place that has a clear image and is easy to understand Adaptability A place that can change easily Diversity A place with variety and choice
Aspects of Development Form
Layout: urban structure The framework of routes and spaces that connect locally and more widely, and the way developments, routes and open spaces relate to one another Layout: urban grain The pattern of the arrangement of street blocks, plots and their buildings in a settlement Landscape The character and appearance of land, including its shape, form, ecology, natural features, colours and elements, and the way these components combine Density and mix The amount of development on a given piece of land and the range of uses. Density influences the intensity of development, and in combination with the mix of uses can affect a place's vitality and viability. Scale: height Scale is the size of a building in relation to its surroundings, or the size of parts of a building or its details, particularly in relation to the size of a person. Height determines the impact of development on views, vistas and skylines. Scale: massing The combined effect of the arrangement, volume and shape of a building or group of buildings in relation to other buildings and spaces Appearance: details The craftsmanship, building techniques, decoration, styles and lighting of a building or structure. Appearance: materials The texture, colour, pattern and durability of materials, and how they are used.
In 2002 the criteria used for the case studies were:
Continuity and enclosure Legibility Character Ease of movement and layout Connections Travel choices Streets and spaces Density and mix Maintenance Safety Disabled access Parking Community facilities
The case study selection criteria needed to codify what was being celebrated. There was a need to clearly state on what basis the case studies were chosen. A set of questions was produced turning principles from several publications into shorthand, notably English Partnerships' "Urban Design Compendium", By design: urban design in the planning system towards better practice, and Urbed's "Building the 21st Century Home". The author of these was Design for Homes' David Birkbeck who worked with CABE's Dr Edward Hobson and proposed them to Home Builders Federation's Mark Rice. These 20 questions were eventually published as the Building for Life criteria in July 2003, following input from the Civic Trust's Liz Wrigley and CABE's Alex Ely.
In 2003, ten housing developments were celebrated with the Building for Life awards, on the basis of their good performance against the Building for Life criteria, and Wayne Hemingway replaced Sir Terry Farrell as chairman of the panel.
Over the period 2004 to 2007, Building for Life was used as the basis for the first national audit of housing design quality, which highlighted the inadequate quality of much of England's newly built housing.CABE, , 30 September 2004.CABE, , 1 November 2005.CABE, , 8 February 2007.
While Building for Life was initially applied to completed housing developments, in 2003 CABE also developed and encouraged its use as means of achieving good design during the planning process.
English Partnerships adopted Building for Life for use as a standard in September 2005, requiring proposals for development on land they owned to achieve 14 out of the 20 criteria at tender disposal stage. They also required schemes to be submitted to the Building for Life awards when they were 50% complete.English Partnerships Places Homes People, Policy Guidance, English Partnership's Quality Standards - delivering quality places , revised from November 2007.
In April 2007, the Housing Corporation published its design and quality standards,Housing Corporation, Design and Quality Standards, April 2007. which incorporated Building for Life as the assessment method for the external environment. All new homes which received grant funding through the National Affordable Housing Programme were required to achieve 12 out of the 20 criteria. The Housing Corporation also carried out an audit of the quality of affordable homes built prior to the adoption of the new standards.Housing Corporation, Affordable Housing Survey: A review of the quality of affordable housing in England , 2008. The Housing Corporation also published guidance from HATC Ltd on how to achieve the requirements of Building for Life, aimed at housing association Development staff i.e. project managers rather than designers.Housing Corporation, Achieving Building for Life
In 2008, the Department for Communities and Local Government commissioned CABE to check on progress and provide an independent view of quality in the Thames Gateway. CABE carried out a quality audit using Building for Life. The government's aspiration was that in 2010, no scheme in the Thames Gateway should achieve fewer than 10 criteria out of 20, and at least 50% of schemes should achieve more than 14 out of the 20 criteria. By 2015, 100% of schemes in the Thames Gateway should achieve a score of 14 out of the 20 criteria.
In 2008, the government requested that local authorities use Building for Life to measure progress in improving design quality. In July of that year, Building for Life criteria were incorporated into the revised list of core output indicators published by the Department for Communities and Local Government, upon which local authorities were required to report.Communities and Local Government, Regional Spatial Strategy and Local Development Framework Core Output Indicators – Update 2/2008