The development of a Design Statement is intended to assist NHSScotland Boards in using good design to get the most out of their development projects. These project specific Design Statements should both link into and inform the further development of the Boards Design Action Plan which sets the strategy for all the Board's developments. The Design Statement is a means of setting out the Board's objectives for an individual project in a series of agreed statements of intent and then defining a benchmark for how the physical result of the project will help deliver those objectives. The benchmarks should not require a pre-determined design outcome, but provide the parameters for what success might look like. The third part of the Design Statement is a plan of action for how the objectives and benchmarks established for the project will inform key decisions throughout the project including the development and consideration of the business case, and the eventual evaluation of the project's success.
Guidance on the form and content of a 'Design Statement' is included at Appendix C, some help in developing the 'non negotiable is included in Appendix D. Example Design Statements are included at Appendix E as a illustration of the anticipated scope and content of the developed document.
It is proposed that the Design Statement should be the first design control document produced for the project which can, and ideally should, also be used as:
• a briefing tool: to describe the design intention, or design vision (perhaps being included in the HLIP), and subsequently be developed into the design brief, supplemented by more detailed briefing materials such as schedules of accommodation, key adjacencies and room data sheets as and when prepared. This area of briefing has been identified as frequently underdeveloped and therefore the introduction of Design Statements is intended to address this.
• a communication tool: to communicate the direction of the project to stakeholders and allow some early view of the benefits to assist both in building momentum, obtaining buy-in and in allaying the concerns that often accompany the commissioning of a new facility.
• a promotional tool: to stimulate interest in the market in the direction and viability of the project; and to motivate the market to bring its best and most appropriate skills to the table.