Healthy Place Making and the National Model Design Code: Aspects and Health & Wellbeing

Our National Model Design Code series focuses on content within the National Model Design Code, specifically centring on its illustrations (all provided with thanks and credit to Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) and how such design has the potential to influence the development of healthy places.

This item’s illustration for review:

“The built environment has a significant impact on people’s health and wellbeing. This relates across the design code with regard to walkable neighbourhoods, access to greenery and recreation, attractive buildings and public spaces, space standards, and strong communities” (The National Model Design Code).

Considerations such as daylight, aspect and privacy, noise, security and outdoor space all affect wellbeing.

In some instances, dual aspect development can provide a significant benefit and help address multiple of these considerations.

Demonstrated here, the dual aspect helps maximise light, provides views from within the property to outdoor spaces, and provides passers-by outside of the property with confidence which results from the natural surveillance of the public realm.

This creates a harmonious and mutually beneficial relationship between the public and private realm.

Further considerations on health and wellbeing are provided within National Model Design Code: Part 2 – Guidance Notes, with a specific focus on Health and Wellbeing provided in section H.2.

Do you wish to provide further comments on this illustration? We welcome additional commentary from Healthy Place Making users, so if you have thoughts on additional benefits of this design that haven’t been mentioned above, or suggestions on how the design could be further improved to support health, please let us know.

You can use the enquiry button at the bottom of this page to submit your thoughts. Don’t forget to let us know which page your comments relate to!