Design action

We work throughout the South West region, often in collaboration with the Architecture Centre for Devon and Cornwall (ACD+C) and Creating Excellence offering conferences, seminars, lectures, training and CPD opportunities, visits and study tours, and links to sources of information and guidance.

We work in partnership with regional agencies and professional institutions in the region such as the RIBA and the RTPI, and nationally with CABE.

In 2010 the two architecture centres in the South West will collaborate to deliver a programme of work supported by the CABE regional funding programme. The Architecture Centre in Bristol will lead on work to promote engagement with design review, working with ACD+C and the South West Design Review team to:

• Demonstrate effectiveness and promote use of the South West Design Review Panel to local authorities design teams and client bodies.

• Showcase schemes where regional design review has made a real difference, either through an improvement in outcome or by supporting a local authority in backing a brave or innovative scheme.

• Communicate lessons learned from design review both locally and nationally.

We will also be working with ACD+C and CABE to deliver a number of training and networking opportunities for Building for Life accredited assessors in local authorities throughout the South West. This is part of an overall programme of BfL training which the two centres are developing for local authorities, RSLs, client bodies and communities.

The Architecture Centre is part of Design South West, an alliance of organisations, who promote design quality in the built environment. Coordinated by Creating Excellence following the publication of ‘Designing our Environment - towards a better built environment for the South West’, they support the implementation of a series of actions to address key priorities for design in the region. Regional design review and design enabling are two of mechanisms which are helping to achieve great design.