In order to deliver the step change set out in the Sustainable Communities Plan, CABE and English Partnerships worked with Communities and Local Government to explore how design coding can be used to accelerate the delivery of housing, while achieving high standards of design. Matrix Partnership was appointed to the Design Code Enabling Panel, to assist in investigating the various models of developing, adopting and implementing design codes.

The project involved informing emerging Government policy and best practice guidance on coding, whilst working closely with Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and Transform South Yorkshire, the housing market renewal pathfinder body, to help pilot the introduction of design code for Rotherham Town Centre.

The design code focuses on the Westgate area of the Town Centre, a 12ha site occupying a strategically important position between the shopping core and the River Don. The code provides the basis for dramatically re-orientating the town towards the waterfront, inject new life into the Town Centre and reposition it in market terms. Following adoption by the Council, construction is underway on implementing Phase I.