Materials Guide for Cornwall

Tender description

Cornwall’s distinctive character is strongly shaped by its geology, settlement pattern, traditional materials, and landscape features (including Cornish hedges). The Council has a range of guidance, including a Distinctiveness Framework, Design Guide and Cornish Hedges Guidance, but existing use of materials and the achievement of locally distinctive and appropriate contemporary interpretations is variable. The Council seeks a practical, visually clear code to guide better design and decisions including the use of materials and colour by planners, designers, builders, communities, and applicants, ensuring development complements local character, is affordable and resilient to our climatic conditions while meeting climate and circular-economy ambitions. We want to commission a collaborative team (a technical specialist in construction materials/heritage/sustainability and an artist/illustrator/visual communicator) to develop an illustrated Materials Guide/Design Code that helps to create the conditions for achieving better and more distinctive development in Cornwall. The guide will: • Link explicitly to, and build upon, the Cornwall Stone and Slate Guide. • Provide zone-based guidance for the use of suitable complementary materials and colour palettes across Cornwall’s geological/distinctiveness zones based on the type of stone and slate predominantly found in that location. • Evaluate climate resilience and the carbon impacts of recommended established and emerging construction materials that might be applicable in the geological zones. • Collate and expand existing research and guidance on appropriate materials and construction types for Cornish hedges across Cornwall’s different character areas. • Encourage innovation, allowing the careful introduction and assessment of new/low carbon materials and systems and different ways of using traditional materials. Keywords: Materials Guide, Publication, Design Code, evidence base, Local Plan