The Government Architect NSW (GANSW) is calling for built environment experts to join a pilot program that will see the establishment of a statewide design review panel.
The NSW State Design Review Panel (SDRP) pilot will take place over 12 months, and is being organized by GANSW on behalf of the Department of Planning and Environment.
Although a number of design review panels already exist in the state, there hasn’t yet been a uniform process for evaluating the design of state-significant projects, with major projects often having discrete design review processes.
The SDRP will be formed of a pool of 25 independent and expert members who will be called upon to form four-person, typology-specific panels chaired by the government architect or a nominated representative.
The panel, which will only be advisory, will provide feedback during the early stages of design to “promote improvements to the design quality of projects when changes can be made easily, rather than after a development application has been lodged.”
The panel will assess designs against the principles of Better Placed, the GANSW-authored architecture and design policy for the state that was released in August 2017
The document outlines principles, objects and directions for creating well-designed built environments.
The announcement of the state design review panel also follows the introduction of “good design,” “proper construction” and the “sustainable management of built heritage” in legislation, following amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 which passed through the NSW parliament in November.
Panel members will be appointed through an open tender process. Professionals who are registered with the relevant professional body in their home state are eligible to apply. Panellists will serve a two-year term were the pilot to be successful and the program made permanent.
The SDRP pilot will run from March 2018 to March 2019. Applications will close on 2 February 2018. For more information on the pilot, go here.
