The multi-scale method for planning and design means:
- Graphic documentation demonstrating spatial analysis, options, proposal design, and assessment is occurring at least at three different scales of concern, such as district, precinct and site, at the appropriate resolution for the stage.
- Evidence that decision-making and processes such as multi-criteria assessment, benefits analysis or options selection are informed by spatial information from multiple built environment scales and include indicative outcomes at the human scale.
- The multi-disciplinary project team includes at least one qualified design (architecture, landscape design, urban design) professional with project experience at multiple scales.
The graphic illustrates how multi-scale planning and design occur through project phases, from early concepts to construction documentation. At each stage, the project analyses, develops, and documents the proposal at three main scales of the district, precinct and street and includes a human-scale visualisation. Looking across the diagram, we see how the standard of design resolution and documentation at each scale increases as the project progresses. Looking up and down the columns of the diagram, we see how information at each scale informs the other scales and viability of the district network outcome. This example shows the evolution of a light rail project; however, the approach is universal for any road, street or infrastructure project.
Early concept phase
In the early concept phase, the planning and design are at a preliminary, sketchy stage, with route options or alternative solutions being developed and compared. Nevertheless, these network options are informed by basic spatial information at the block/street scale, such as the public road reserve width and topography.
At this early stage, ideas at the larger scale must be validated by conceptual design investigations at typical, important and potentially difficult locations at the street/site scale. Existing site photos are useful for conveying the existing site conditions but are not a substitute for testing proposals at this scale. Conceptual design at a smaller scale or the use of typologies is a relatively fast and affordable way to inform planning given the project uncertainties and investments in other project information. Design graphics at this stage can be qualified with phrases such as ‘indicative concept’ or ‘preliminary design investigations’.
Design at this stage is working to flush out the big issues:
- Is there space?
- What are the major property or land implications?
- What is the engineering viability?
- What are the place opportunities to meet other strategic goals?
Fast and informative communication outputs are preferable to detailed, rendered graphics that suggest a misleading level of design resolution. Design graphics can be sketches and hand-drawn markups at this stage, but they should be based on accurate cadastral base plans. The spatial reality is key, even at this stage.
Design development, detailed design and documentation phases
As the project progresses through the stages, more site information, stakeholder inputs, engineering and project requirements inform the proposal and the graphic information changes. Plans or sections that captured the basic spatial solution in the earlier concept phase become populated with more accurate details and design trade-offs in the design development phase, then transition to construction documentation as the proposal is finalised and certified as technically compliant.
In the design development and documentation stages, the cumulative effect of decisions made during design resolution at the street or site scale should also be considered at the larger scales. Details at the local scale can sometimes seem minor or insignificant as individual elements. But aggregated, the local scale creates the overall whole and ensures the original network or project vision is achieved. Keep in mind the old adage: ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts’.
Visual representation
At all stages, synthesising technical documentation into visual representations is an important requirement for multi-disciplinary design teams, decision-makers and the public. In early stages, hand-drawn, eye-level perspectives can suggest the potential character of the proposal in typical or important public locations without the expense or misleading certainty of photorealistic images. Photorealistic artist impressions are used in the design development and detailed design phase during increasing design resolution of architecture, materials and landscaping. Virtual reality experiences from digital models are another potential design tool and communication method. In the final stages, high and low-fidelity prototypes have multiple uses, such as testing constructability, resolving detailing and materials choices and user testing.