NIC Design Group - Survey and call for case studies |
Developing and embedding project-specific design principles
The National Infrastructure Commission’s Design Group was established in 2019 to inspire renewed ambition for the quality of the UK’s infrastructure. Made up of ten design professionals and chaired by Sadie Morgan, the group’s mission is to inspire, promote and champion design excellence in all nationally significant infrastructure projects.
In 2020, the Design Group published the Design Principles for National Infrastructure: climate, people, places and value. Government endorsed these principles, which were kept deliberately high level, so that they could be applied across all economic infrastructure sectors.
But it is crucial that individual projects also develop more detailed, project-specific principles. These can provide a common understanding of a project’s ambition, and the role that design will play in delivering it.
Therefore, in the second National Infrastructure Assessment, published in October 2023, the Design Group recommended the development of guidance that explains how design leaders, using an effective, structured process, should develop and embed project-specific design principles. The Group would like to see the Infrastructure and Projects Authority incorporating this guidance within its assurance review regime by 2024.
As part of the development of this guidance, the Design Group is seeking the input of economic infrastructure professionals, across all sectors, who have used, or are interested in using, project-specific design principles to improve project outcomes for people, place and the environment.
The Design Group is also seeking case studies of economic infrastructure projects that have used, or are using, project-specific design principles to improve outcomes. If interested, you can submit your project for consideration to be a case study on the next page.
This survey will close on 28 February.