Enquiry by Design
The Enquiry by Design (EbD) process is one of the Foundation’s key planning tools, and the framework by which our values are disseminated to influence future development of the built environment. A collaborative planning approach devised and promoted by The Foundation, Enquiry by Design is often used for substantial sites. A single event held over several days assesses a complex series of design requirements of a new or revived community.
The process brings key stakeholders together around
the same table, where problems can be aired as they arise and every
issue tested by being drawn. It can be used for the regeneration of
existing communities or the planning of wholly new developments. The
EbD also has an educational component, introducing the participants to
the concepts of traditional urbanism and helping to ensure that the
project is not only sustainable but relates locally.
By its nature, the Enquiry by Design approaches each brief as a new
design problem, and tailors a response appropriate to the dialogue between stakeholders. The Prince’s Foundation is a leading
exponent of this aspect of practice, and has successfully brought into
a single forum a broad spectrum of participants, to include,
critically, the local community, engaging them at the heart of the
design process.
The EbD is usually staged over five days and varies according to the
size and complexity of the site. The outcome is a vision that unifies
everyone involved in the development, including those who will
eventually give planning permission. This intense five-day workshop is
normally preceded one or more two-day scoping workshops, to gather
technical information, conduct a thorough physical analysis of the site
and its surroundings and produce a Pattern Book — a study of nearby
villages, towns and neighbourhoods which identifies prevalent local
spatial types which should be drawn upon for the design of the new
development.
The Enquiry by Design process as a planning tool - from the Whitenap & Hoe Lane EbD, Romsey and North Baddesley, November 2008
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Find out more about the Enquiry by Design and subsequent the masterplan for Ellon in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which won the prestigious “Scottish Award for Quality in Planning”.
Read the press release - 16 March 2009, and see a short video.
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