Glossary Terms

Making frontages ‘active’ adds interest, life and vitality to the public realm. This means:

Making journeys by physically active means like walking, wheeling or cycling, rather than motor vehicle.

The desirable or useful features of a building or place which support its ongoing use and enjoyment by building occupants, residents, visitors, workers etc. It is usually understood to mean visual and aural amenity. Factors relevant to amenity include the general characteristics of the locality (including the presence of any feature of historic, architectural, cultural

Parts of the local area that share common features and characteristics. Common rules and parameters can then be applied to each area type.

Architectural composition in which elements and parts of the building are expressed logically, distinctly, and consistently.

Boundaries and edges are an integral part of the urban design process, defining the limits and transitions between different spaces, providing a sense of place through visual, social, and physical cues.

The core of a building is usually a square or rectangular concrete tube which houses its interior elements such as staircases, lift shafts and pipes.

Scale is the height, width and length of each building proposed within a development in relation to its surroundings. This relates both to the overall size and massing of individual buildings and spaces in relation to their surroundings, and to the scale of their parts. It affects how a space can be used and how

Form is the three-dimensional shape and modelling of buildings and the spaces they define. Buildings and spaces can take many forms, depending upon their: size and shape in plan; height; bulk – their volume; massing – how bulk is shaped into a form; building lines – the alignment of building frontages along a street; and

Character includes all of the elements that go to make a place, how it looks and feels, its geography and landscape, its noises and smells, activity, people and businesses. This character should be understood as a starting point for all development. Character can be understood at three levels; the area type in which the site