South Gloucestershire Council - Design Advisor
Increasing housing density and quality around Bristol's urban fringe
Project information
Client
South Gloucestershire Council
Location
West of England
The Challenge
South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) is preparing its new long-term development plan, which needs to accommodate 10,000 new homes between 2025 and 2040. Over half of these are expected to come from expanding existing towns and villages. SGC asked us to review the masterplans submitted by developers and promoters for these sensitive sites. The goal was to rigorously test the quality, ambition, and design principles of these proposals, ensuring they maximise housing capacity and land efficiency without compromising on build quality or local landscape character.
Our Role
We designed a review process to audit the submitted masterplans against best-practice principles. In collaboration with specialist council officers, we critiqued the strengths and weaknesses of the developers' proposed designs. We then analysed SGC’s housing delivery over the last 20 years to establish a baseline for standard developer practices—looking closely at build speeds, housing density, and land use. Combining these insights with national best practices, we produced 'proof of concept' designs using modern neighborhood layouts and varied home types. These demonstrated how the developers' sites could be redesigned to achieve higher efficiency and better quality.
The Outcome
Our work provided SGC with stronger, evidence-backed concept plans that secure more high-quality homes while using less land. Completed on schedule, these revised plans enabled SGC to submit its housing strategy on time and avoid costly delays under updated national planning rules.
