Guidance

National design guide

This guide illustrates how well-designed places that are beautiful, enduring and successful can be achieved in practice.

Documents

National design guide

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email [email protected]. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

The national design guide sets out the characteristics of well-designed places and demonstrates what good design means in practice.

It forms part of the government’s collection of planning practice guidance and should be read alongside the separate planning practice guidance on design process and tools.

See also the National Model Design Code and Guidance Notes for Design Codes.

Updates to this page

Published 1 October 2019
Last updated 30 January 2021 + show all updates
  1. Amended to align with National Model Design Code and Guidance Notes for Design Codes, published separately.

  2. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page