New South Wales Projects & Sites
RTA Publication:
Beyond the Pavement RTA urban design policy, procedures and design principles
introduction / overview / images / Projects
Landscape Architect: Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW
Research and Communication project
Overview
- Beyond the Pavement RTA urban design policy, procedures and design principles’ is the RTA’s urban design policy which applies to all road, bridge, cycleway and bus projects large or small in urban or rural contexts at the planning design or implementation stage.
- It has been developed and written over a two year period by the RTA’s Urban Design Section with advice and input from planning, environmental, road design, communications and road safety experts in the RTA.
- [NB The Urban Design Section in the RTA is comprised of landscape architecture, architecture and planning professionals, it is managed by an AILA registered landscape architect. The urban designers referred to in the document are professional urban design, landscape architecture and architecture companies. Urban design is the approach and process used by the RTA to ensure that design direction is given to projects by landscape architects, urban designers and architects. (see item 2.2.4 page 20).]
BUDGET
The project was produced in house by the Urban Design Section as such there is no easily identifiable budget for the work.
SPECIAL FACTORS
- The policy is the culmination of 10 years of work developing & refining procedures, engaging landscape architects and urban designers, auditing completed projects and implementing research.
- It is NSW Government policy and must be implemented on all projects carried out by the RTA, its contractors and sub contractors. This amounts to over $2 Billion of work per annum.
DESCRIPTION UNDER CRITERIA:
Demonstrate a deep understanding of the craft of landscape architecture.
- ‘Beyond the Pavement RTA urban design policy procedures and design principles’ provides a policy that allows landscape architects to realize their full potential in shaping the road transport environment. It provides them with an opportunity to comprehensively get involved with all aspects of a road project at any stage in both urban and rural environments.
- The nine principles (page 34) established in the document, although interrelated, provide a breakdown of how the landscape architect can influence a project and utilise their craft and skills to greatest possible effect. Influencing the location the alignment, the form, the architecture and the landscape of a road corridor.
- In this respect the policy is unique amongst other roads authorities as there is no area of infrastructure design in the RTA that the landscape architect cannot influence – subject to their own limitations and experience.
Application of best practice techniques including New Directions and Innovations.
- The document makes reference to many best practice approaches and has drawn from work by Ian McHarg, Kevin Lynch, Peter Calthorpe, Alan Jacobs, Jonathan Barnett and many other thinkers and best practice documents around the world. The document pushes in new directions with particular regard to landscape architects contributing to safer roads through the principle to create a self explaining road design (Principle 8, page 80).
Clarity of purpose and process (methodology).
- Section 2 of the document focuses solely on process and how and when designers should get involved with projects. It is written as a guide to both the consultant and client to ensure good collaboration and a shared understanding.
Suitability of outputs for intended audience
- The terminology is generally straightforward and where complex defined. The document is comprehensively illustrated with diagrams and photographic examples showing precedents of how to do things …. or not.
Quality of content, outcomes and presentation.
- The document is divided into three sections dealing with policy, process and product. The photographs provide a clear indication of the minimum intended outcomes and process diagrams illustrate the steps and stages that need to be followed. The whole policy has been designed and laid out by graphic designers in a simple style. Three edits focusing down from structural reviews to detailed grammatical checks have been carried out by professional copywriters.
Addressing the AILA Landscape Principles
Value our landscape
Fitting projects sensitively into the built and natural context is one of the three overarching themes of the document (pages 8 & 9).
All of the nine design principles incorporate respect for the landscape either built or natural with principles four, five, six and nine directly relating to existing landscape factors such as landform, natural heritage, biodiversity and landscape asset management.
Principle six pays particular attention to the adaptive reuse of natural and cultural heritage and encourages designers and the client to consider the retention of as much of the existing landscape, where it is of value, as possible.
The processes ensure landscape architects are involved at site selection and route options stages and the policy requires landscape architects to be involved in landscape character and visual impact assessment as well as community consultation.
Protect› enhance› regenerate
The policy is underpinned by three themes of sustainability, cost effectiveness and safety. Strategies and guidelines are presented in order to ensure these strands of concern are integrated into projects.
The process of integrating assessment and design is explained so that assessment informs design and design is developed to avoid and minimise impacts – a positive feedback loop. (2.2.6 & Appendix B)
New challenges are set in terms of achieving robust and durable design solutions (principle 9) that use existing built and natural fabric (principle 6)
Design with respect
The policy provides direction in a number of innovative approaches, for example:
The second objective – contributing to accessibility and connectivity (pages 8 & 9) - and principle three provide direction in terms of ensuring that places function well for the community so that people can move easily and with choice through the built environment in well designed, safe and attractive facilities.
The idea of the self explaining road is emphasized (principle 8) whereby designers help produce road corridors that through their form and appearance encourage drivers to abide by the appropriate speeds and driving standards.
Principle five – responding to natural pattern - emphasizes the need to design road corridors that ensure continuity of natural systems that integrate natural patterns into road planning and that use natural characteristics in road landscape design.
Design for the future
One of the policy’s main principles is the need to contribute to urban structure and revitalisation (principle 1). This means that road’s authorities must consider the growth and form of towns and communities in the planning and design of projects so that they facilitate good urban development and well structured, interconnected, sustainable and attractive places.
The policy promotes design that facilitates walking, cycling and hence healthier lifestyles. Principle three explains how good connectivity for walking and cycling can be provided in the planning and design of transport systems.
Principle nine encourages designers to consider the burden on future generations for repair and replacement of infrastructure, promoting good quality design outcomes that have a long design life. Guidance is provided on robust durable design approaches that need minimal attention and are resistant to vandalism
Embrace responsive design
The RTA adopts a post completion review system whereby projects are reviewed and lessons are learnt to inform future work. The policy embraces this approach and item 2.2.10 asks for continuous learning in urban design. The diagram on page 18 explains the continuous learning cycle that the urban design section adopts in the RTA. Involvement in planning design and implementation phases leads to new research which leads to policy. Training is provided to project managers and the cycle goes on.
Promote environmental best practice through the landscape principles
Environmental best practice in line with the above principles is a theme that runs throughout the document. One of the three physical design outcomes required by the RTA is sensitivity to environments including the landscape and ecology. One of the three performance themes that run through all work is sustainability.
This requires:
- Durability and robustness - avoiding the energy and material use for rework and repairs.
- Value and usefulness - ensuring that energy and materials are wisely used.
- Good connections – avoiding excessive car use and promoting walking and cycling
- Using appropriate vegetation and all its ecological benefits in all work.
- Protecting and incorporating heritage into design.
- Providing public space
- Adaptively reusing built and natural form and materials
- Consideration of the road’s footprint on built, natural and community environment.
- Furthermore many of the document’s principles encourage best environmental practice. For example ‘Principle 5 responding to natural pattern’, requires a water sensitive design approach and the use of native species of local provenance. The document also cross references the RTA Landscape Guideline which discusses these issues in more detail.
Exhibit effective and programmed applied research
The policy is the result of a number of research projects carried out over a 10 year period in the RTA.
These are as follows.
Beyond the Pavement 1999 Urban and regional design practice notes
This was the first document to address urban design in the RTA it was the product of an extensive research an development project culminating in a series of practice notes and case studies. The document served the RTA well, but none of the case studies had been implemented and the practice notes were not policy. A period of post completion review and testing was needed to ensure a robust policy that would apply to all projects and all procurement methods.
Urban design audits
The first step in updating the 1999 document was the implementation of a series of urban design audits on the finished projects as illustrated in the document. These audits took over a year and were carried out on four projects of differing contexts and procurement methods. They were not published but caused concern and reflection in the RTA. They identified the need for an improved urban design process and further design guidelines.
Procurement process improvements
A key development in the improvement of process was the work done for Karuah Bypass. Working with the Government Architects Office, the RTA trialled a new style of urban design specification termed a ‘define and capture’ approach. This involved specifying performance requirements for design outcomes (the ‘what’ rather than the ‘how’) and ensuring all tenderers provided consistent clear diagrams and images demonstrating what they would build. This experimental approach worked well and enabled the RTA to manage the risky pre-award design approval required by the Department of Planning. The approach was refined and improved on subsequent projects and has been adapted for Alliance contracts. (For further information see page 30 of the document.)
Design Guidelines
Guidelines were developed from the RTA’s research and development program, including Bridge Design (with the Government Architects Office), Noise Wall Design (with Johnson Pilton Walker and recipient of AILA NSW award) and Landscape Design (with John Chang, former RTA landscape advisor).
A need for further involvement in ensuring best practice safety outcomes was also identified and a research project was commissioned on Self Explaining Roads and other design/ behavioral approaches to road safety. The findings, developed by the RTA and Kiah Infranet, went on to inform Principle 8 of beyond the Pavement – ‘Creating Self Explaining Road Environments’.
Future research
All these initiatives and projects shaped the development of the 2009 policy, which has in turn gone on to inspire further research studies. The RTA is currently examining its landscape carbon asset and is shortly to publish further research and guidance on water sensitive road design and guidelines to minimize vandalism through design.
