Chatham Design Code

Setting the scene for urban renaissance

Bringing ‘urban dentistry’ to Medway to help guide high-street development towards positive outcomes.

Commissioned by Medway Council, LBY Architects contributed to a long-term design strategy to shape the future of Chatham town centre. The Chatham Design Code outlines a series of urban design principles, building typologies and spatial frameworks, all developed to support vibrant regeneration while maintaining a strong sense of place.

A Strategic Framework for Growth

Medway was one of 25 locations across England to receive grant funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) for the creation of an exemplary design code. The process included extensive consultation with stakeholders and local planners, positioning the code as a key decision-making tool for future development briefs and planning approvals.

LBY’s role included spatial testing, architectural massing, and urban form studies for a number of critical town-centre sites, including prominent High Street frontages and complex back-land areas.

Architectural site plan drawing of Chatham Center, showing building layouts, roads, and landscaping with trees marked in yellow.

Testing Ideas Through Urban Design

The design code introduced bold, forward-thinking regeneration ideas, such as:

  • Replacing obsolete infrastructure – including the removal of outdated multi-storey car parks along a dual carriageway called The Brook to make way for mixed-use development

  • Introducing a vibrant building mix – with active ground-floor uses and residential floors above

  • Reconnecting the town – through new landscaped corridors from the railway station to the River Medway, improving pedestrian safety and enhancing the sense of arrival

The proposals also integrate new public spaces, improved view corridors, revised traffic circulation, and a broader urban ecology to create a more walkable and attractive centre.

The Code’s recommendations and guidance is now applied by Medway Council to current and future planning applications for Chatham.

The front cover of the Chatham Centre Design Code, featuring a Illustrated map of Chatham, depicting buildings, people, trees, water, and ships in a colourful landscape with hills and a lighthouse.
Page titled "About this document" explaining it's developed by Medway Council and partners for a local design code in Medway, UK, with logos of Medway Council, Create Streets, HTA, Urban Movement, and Lyall Bills & Young Architects at the bottom.
Table of contents page with sections on vision and guidance, coding plan, and masterplanning areas, including subtopics and page numbers.
Information panel detailing Chatham 2050 Vision with sections on Heritage Maritime City, Vibrant City of Culture, Green Sustainable City, Healthy & Connected City, and City to Learn and Grow.
Map of Chatham area highlighting key locations including the River Medway, Riverside Gardens, St. John's Square, High Street Square, and Rain Gardens.
Overview page of Chatham Design Code focusing on public space and nature, highlighting areas such as embracing river medway, connecting open space network, bringing in nature, celebrating heritage, and playful vibrant spaces.
Map of Chatham's urban development plan highlighting areas like Heritage Maritime City, Green Sustainable City, Vibrant City of Culture, City to Learn and Grow, and Healthy & Connected City, with river and transportation routes.
Map of Chatham with coding zones marked by different colors and patterns, showing city center, town center, neighborhood, village, business, industrial, open, and rural areas based on Medway Coding Plan.
Map of Chatham area types and coding plan with color-coded zones and key.
Page from a Masterplanning Areas document discussing strategies for land use and development, including sections on specific masterplanning areas, design principles, and guidelines.
A map showing outlined masterplanning areas and design code boundary in an urban area near water and green spaces.

The details

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Client: Medway Council
Location: Chatham, Kent
Completion: 2024

APPROACH & INFLUENCE

Project Type: Urban regeneration, strategic urban design

Design Approach: Contextual integration, strategic placemaking, urban renewal

LINKS

medway.gov.uk/chathamdesigncode

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