The South West Design Review Panel is an independent panel of professional designers who offer a review service to the development industry. Primarily the panel are asked to comment upon schemes that are in development prior to planning submission.
Individual panels generally consists of 6 members who are chosen from a range of architects, urban designers, landscape architects, engineers, ecologists & other development specialisms. These members are chosen for their specific expertise relating to the scheme being considered. The sessions are chaired by Jonathan Braddick who founded the South West Design Review Panel.
Local Authority Planning Departments often lack the expertise to critique schemes put before them. Planning Officers are highly trained professional planners, however they are not qualified architects, yet they are often expected to decide upon the design merits of complicated architectural schemes. The design review process can be used to bolster and support planning officer resources which are often stretched in terms of determining detailed planning application.
As a member of the panel I particularly enjoy the process of working alongside planning officers and my fellow professional peers to debate & consider schemes by other designers. Understanding the working methods of other architectural practices & how they have formulated their own working ethos’s is hugely beneficial to my own continuing professional development. Offering guidance to less experienced designers whilst encouraging a collaborative approach to design is something we also promote as a practice at Grainge Architects.
Often schemes are brought to DRP a number of times before the proposals are judged to be acceptable to the panel.
As a practice we also encourage our own clients to use the panel as a firm recommendation of support from the DRP can only strengthen our chances of gaining planning permission
The following short clip shows our own experience of working with The Devon & Cornwall Design Review Panel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyvBsuAk1ZA
Further info on the South West Design Review Panel can be found at: