15 November 2011

IDC SA partners with UK Design Council

The South Australia Government has announced new ties to the UK, establishing the country’s first Design Review program based on the successful model of the UK’s Design Council. Ben Morgan reports.

As one of Australia's leading design bodies, the Integrated Design Commission of South Australia (IDCSA) has announced a pioneering new partnership with the British Government's Design Council.

The partnership will see the establishment of a Design Review program for strategic development schemes in South Australia, and particularly in the capital. As the first of it's kind in Australia, it will draw upon the Design Council's expertise to establish a formal review program.

Design Review involves a professional review of proposed design schemes in the early stages – usually when a developer first tables their scheme. Following the review, the panel will present recommendations on the project. The whole process aims to create better public and private spaces, improving quality of life for the people who use them.

The current South Australian Government Architect and head of IDCSA, Benjamin Hewett, will lead the Design Review program devised by the Design Council, whose members have already spent significant time in Adelaide training IDCSA staff and panellists.

"Design crosses boundaries and borders and is the creative force that turns new ideas for a better world into a reality," says Chief Executive of the Design Council, David Kester.

"This new partnership between the Design Council and the government of South Australia will spread the many benefits of good design to communities and improve our everyday lives."

The announcement comes ahead of Adelaide's joint meeting of all State Government Architects at the end of 2011, in which a major focus will be ways the country can better promote "world class urban design and architecture" – sitting well with the new partnership.

Former SA Premier, Mike Rann commented: "How we [Adelaide] design, plan and build our public spaces, our buildings and products, contributes to our exceptional quality of life.

"This agreement with the UK's Design Council represents a unique design partnership across cultures, time zones and latitudes."

Design Council
designcouncil.org.uk

Integrated Design Commission of South Australia
integrateddesign.sa.gov.au