Delivering high quality design in the public sector

Jon Rouse, CABE chief executive to 2004, on why a shabby building equals in most people's minds a shabby service.

Pollsters seem to be in general agreement that election campaigns, even of this length, have very little impact on people's voting habits. Elections consistently throw up the same central issues. A recent MORI poll shows 65% of voters citing health and 52% of voters citing education as one of their priority issues, up from 59% and 43% in 1997. The quality of public services is directly linked to perceptions of quality of life.

One of the most immediate and tangible demonstrations of an investment in public services is the quality of the buildings where these services are delivered. A shabby building equals in most people's minds a shabby service. We are currently in one of the largest public building programs for a generation. There is a commitment to hundreds of new schools, hospitals, and police stations across the country. London will see over the next five years a host of small, medium and major new and refurbished public buildings.

At the same time the format of public services is changing, with an emphasis on one-stop shops, in an effort to make these services more customer focused. For example there is currently a programme to merge job centres and benefit agencies into shared offices. This not only means that the two services are in one place, but it aims to encourage people who would otherwise be focused on claiming benefit, back into the environment where the focus is on joining the job market. Design plays an important role in removing the stigma often associated with these offices, making them places of optimism and opportunity, rather than last resorts, which is too often the case. The different customer base also throws up new issues; to be frank how do we create a safe welcoming environment for the single mother with two children in tow, which can also cope with the desperate alcoholic who has spent this week's money. These types of design solutions cannot be delivered at the drop of a hat. There needs to be proper consultation with the end users and staff and a real understanding of the local situation.

Technology is also changing the way we deliver public services. In election timescales, in May 1997 the total number of text messages was zero, at this election it will be about 25 million a day. Unfortunately our public buildings are having problems keeping pace with these technological developments. Some health care designers have claimed that we are building new hospitals without the adaptability to take on board today's technology, let alone 10 years time. At the same time do school buildings have the flexibility to deliver the increasing IT skills that will be demanded of all school leavers?

A Department for Education and Employment report, by Pricewaterhousecoopers, this year demonstrated how improvements in the physical environment of schools are linked to better performance of teachers and pupils. There were significant efficiency savings as teachers spent less time patrolling hidden corridors and recesses and more time teaching. Perhaps more importantly a calmer, more secure and professional environment resulted in clearly measurable improvements in the children's educational performance. Many of these changes result from small, well considered, improvements. To quote one of the teachers in the report 'the impact on motivation and quality of teaching has been huge with the greatest lift coming, paradoxically, from the small scale rationalisations of accommodation.'

We need to stop seeing buildings in isolation. These public projects are often at the scale of new neighbourhoods, rather than buildings. Central London over the coming years will see the redevelopment of 3 major hospital sites, each of which will have a significant impact on their surrounds. For example what happens to St Mary's site next to Paddington station is not just about new hospital buildings, but about how that whole area works, and the links between a major transport hub and surrounding development sites. Across town in Whitechapel the redevelopment of the Royal London has to be seen as an investment into the quality of life for this very deprived neighbourhood. This does not just mean a better hospital, but an uplift to the quality of the surrounding public spaces. It is public knowledge that CABE has concerns about the University College London redevelopment on Euston Road, which we believe will do little to make this a more attractive area for pedestrians. On the outskirts of London criticism has been directed at some NHS Trusts for encouraging car congestion, without adequate promotion of 'green' transport solutions.

Getting the right design takes time. There needs to be a proper understanding of the service you want to deliver and the needs and aspirations of the end users of the building. The government's commitment to investment in new public buildings is welcomed, and also politically astute. However the real political pay back will be in ensuring that these buildings deliver popular, successful services, which the local community values. Crumbling, cramped eyesores being finished off just in time for a new election in four years time would not be the wisest of political moves.