Reports & Resources
Explore our work from previous projects.
Search our extensive back catalogue to learn more about what works in design, including emerging trends and practice, as well as policy position papers about how to increase its use.
Getting the big picture right: a guide to large scale urban design
3 March 2010
Large scale urban design is about the bigger picture. It deals with the economic, social and environmental issues over large areas that cannot be solved through local action. This guide outlines a new approach to large scale urban...
Design out crime: alcohol-related
1 March 2010
There are plenty of opportunities for designers to create solutions to alcohol-related violence and for the drinks industry to commission them. Doing so could help make safety from crime a selling point and make it harder for the...
Creating excellent primary schools
23 February 2010
There is a clear link between well-designed primary schools and pupil performance and behaviour. Successful school design is the result of hard work and collaboration between designers, contractors and visionary, committed...
Our school building matters
22 January 2010
A toolkit to help teachers make the most of the learning opportunities created by building a new school or refurbishing an existing one. The quality of the buildings and spaces where we live and learn has a profound impact on all...
Design Industry Research 2010
15 January 2010
In autumn 2009 the Design Council conducted its second comprehensive survey of the UK design industry. This survey covered 2,200 design businesses including in-house design teams, design consultancies and freelance designers...
Adapting public space to climate change
15 January 2010
Climate change is a clear and present reality that means warmer and wetter winters, hotter and drier summers, rising sea levels and more extreme weather. Even with efforts to cut carbon emissions, change is inevitable – so...
Community-led public spaces
6 January 2010
People want a greater say in how their local parks and public spaces are managed and, as budgets tighten, local authorities want to maximise the help that communities can offer. However, transferring the ownership and management...
Supermarket-led development: asset or liability?
6 January 2010
Can supermarket schemes be both commercially viable and good for the local community? Well-designed supermarket developments can be an asset to a community, bringing jobs and investment. But many transpose an out-of-town model...
Simpler and better homes
1 January 2010
Is it too much to believe that all new homes can be good enough everywhere? Why has this proved so difficult in the past and what can we do to change it? In this report, Design Council Cabe argues for the use of a minimum design...
How can we help people make their homes more energy efficient?
1 January 2010
In 2010, Design Council ran a design workshop with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to look at how to encourage the adoption of home insulation and other low-carbon home modifications. This joint proposal How...
Who should build our homes?
15 December 2009
CABE has commissioned six experts with strong views to tell us what they would change to deliver more and better housing. The housing boom was all about chasing volumes and shareholder return and, far too often, delivering poor...
Future health
17 November 2009
This report explains how good design makes healthy places by bringing together what CABE knows about sustainable, health-promoting design with the latest thinking about individual health and well-being. Drawing on examples and...