Kent Design Conference 2024

Join us on April 30

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Be part of the conversation shaping the future of Kent and Medway.

The Kent Design Conference will bring together the key players in the design, development and planning sectors in Kent and Medway for a day of learning, networking and creative exploration. The coming decades will see huge challenges and opportunities in the county, including housing delivery, placemaking, net zero carbon, and health and wellbeing. The conference will explore these topics through exciting panel discussions and presentations, complemented with practical how-to workshops.

The conference is run by Design South East in partnership with the University of Kent. It is part of our Kent Design learning network but is open to organisations and individuals from outside the network too.

Why attend?

The landmark event for the planning, design and development sectors in Kent and Medway.
Learn about the major developments and investments in the county.
Network with local authority officers, developers, architects, academics and other professionals.
Learn best practice in sustainable and healthy placemaking.
Help to shape the design and planning conversation in Kent through interactive workshops and Q&A sessions.

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Location

Sibson Building, University of Kent, Canterbury

Date & Time

April 30, 2024, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Conference Themes

Health and Wellbeing

Planning and design play a key role the health and wellbeing of the county's residents. We'll explore strategies and case studies for addressing health inequalities across the built environment.

Placemaking

Kent and Medway need to deliver great places, not just new homes. Placemaking is the central theme cutting across the Kent Design Conference.

Sustainability

From Net Zero Carbon to Biodiversity Net Gain, we can't separate sustainability from design and planning. Let's explore a future for the county that is sustainable and nature positive.

Schedule

AM: Panel Discussions

The morning's panel discussions will provide a wide-ranging update on the developments and projects planned for the county and how they are contributing to a sustainable future.

9:00 AM

Registration, refreshments and networking

9:45 AM

Welcome and Introduction

10:00 AM

Panel Discussion: Setting the Scene

This panel session will set the scene for the conference and introduce the relevance of the three themes for Kent: Sustainability, Placemaking, and Health & Wellbeing.

Speakers:
Julia Thrift, Town and Country Planning Association
Joanne Preston, Office for Place
Ross O'Ceallaigh, Design South East

10:40 AM

Panel Discussion: Creating Sustainable New Communities

Speakers:
Joanne Cave, David Lock Associates - Strategic Sites in Kent
Julia Wallace, Otterpool Park LLC - Otterpool Park Garden Town
Paula Hirst, Disruptive Urbanism - Port of Dover Masterplan
Mark Pullin, Ebbsfleet Development Corporation
Nick Pollock, Duchy of Cornwall - South East Faversham

11:25 AM

Break for refreshments

11:45 AM

Panel Discussion: Regenerating Town Centres

Speakers:
Ben Coleman, PJA - Movement and Public Realm Strategies
Chloe Street-Tarbatt, University of Kent - Chatham Intra Historic High Street
Simon Thomas, Canterbury City Council - Future Opportunities for Canterbury
Annette Russell, Margate Creative Land Trust - Arts-led Regeneration
Matt Rain, Folkestone and Hythe District Council - Effective Digital Engagement

12:30 PM

Panel Discussion: The Future of Rural Communities and Landscapes

Speakers:
Rebecca Lamb, Sevenoaks District Council - Planning for Rural Communities
Bridgette Macilwaine, Bee Wain Design
Elizabeth Milne, Kent County Council

1:00 pM

Break for Lunch

Buffet lunch will be provided in the foyer.

PM: Workshops

In the afternoon, attendees will have the choice of two rounds of concurrent workshops. These workshops will allow attendees to go deeper on a range of topics and interact with expert guest speakers.

Workshops Round 1

1:45 pM

Option 1: Design Codes in Kent - Lessons Learned

Speakers:
Scott Adams, BPTW - Chatham Design Code
Duncan Berntsen, Medway Council - Chatham Design Code
Andrew Dobson, JTP - Coding across Kent

Option 2: Nature Recovery and Biodiversity Net Gain

Speakers:
Eleanor Trenfield, EDLA - Lessons from BNG in Practice
Elizabeth Milne, Kent County Council

Workshops Round 2

2:45 PM

Option 1: Healthy Placemaking - The Way Forward

Claire Pamberi & Paul Clarke, Kent County Council
Sophie Ward, Active Kent and Medway
Ben Coleman, PJA

Option 2: Decarbonising New Development

Speakers:
Henry Jones, Corstorphine & Wright - Case Study in Low Carbon Architecture and Circular Economy
Rachel Toms, Sustrans

3:35 PM

Break for Refreshments

3:55 PM

Closing Panel: Bringing it All Together

This final discussion will bring together panellists from public and private sectors, academia and Design South East to summarise the learnings from the day and reflect on the way forward for Kent and Medway.

Panellists:
Jon Tricker, PJA
Chloe Street Tarbatt, University of Kent
Helen Goodwin, Design South East

4:30 - 5:00 PM

Foyer open for networking

Speakers

Below are some of the fantastic speakers you can expect to hear from at the conference. This list will grow over the coming weeks as more speakers are confirmed.

Joanne Cave

Chair, David Lock Associates

Joanne is a qualified planner and urban designer. With over 25 years of professional practice, Jo is still motivated by the idea that new and necessary development can enhance rather than detract from the quality of life in our towns and cities.

Simon Thomas

Head of Planning, Canterbury City Council

Simon has been Head of Planning at Canterbury City Council for the past 9 years. He has extensive experience working in Kent, having previously worked at three other local authorities: Folkestone, Thanet and Medway.

Chloe Street-Tarbatt

Head of School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Kent

Chloe Street Tarbatt is a registered architect who continues to combine practice with teaching. She has a particular interest in working on architectural projects that bring communities together and play a larger social role in society.

Scott Adams

Urban Design Director, BPTW

Scott has over 20 years of international design experience and is a leading expert in design coding. He is currently co-leading the creation of a design code for Chatham in Medway as part of the DLUHC Pathfinder programme.

Duncan Berntsen

Senior Urban Design Officer, Medway Council

Duncan has over 40 years of experience in public, private and academic interdisciplinary roles in service of the built environment. Recent activity includes co-leading the Pathfinder awarded to Medway Council by DLUHC to develop a Design Code for Chatham using the National Model Design Code.

Eleanor Trenfield

Founder and Director, EDLA

Eleanor is a landscape architect and Founder and Director of EDLA. EDLA specialises in exceptionally creative Landscape Design and Strategic Landscape Planning, guided by a vision rooted in respect for the landscape, sustainability, and aesthetic sensitivity. During the conference, she will discuss Nature Recovery and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), shedding light on recent guidance and looking to move beyond the metrics for long-term impact.

Julia Thrift

Director, Healthier Place-Making, Town and Country Planning Association

Julia Thrift is Director of Healthier Place-making at the TCPA (Town & Country Planning Association) where she works to facilitate collaboration to create well-designed places, spaces and buildings that make it easier for people to live healthier lives.

Annette Russell

Executive Director, MArgate Creative Land Trust

Annette leads the UK’s first Creative Land Trust outside London, working to deliver affordable creative workspace in Margate. She spent 20 years managing projects and people in the publishing, art and music industries, before a transformative stint in council led regeneration focusing on workspace, high streets and economic development.

Paula Hirst

Director, Disruptive Urbanism

Paula is a leading strategist and advisor for places undergoing transformational change. She is currently the Masterplanning Lead for the Port of Dover.

Rebecca Taylor

Partner, JTP

Rebecca has over 25 years’ experience designing and delivering residential and mixed-use neighbourhoods. At the conference, she will be sharing lessons learned from JTP's design codes in Kent.

Mark Pullin

Head of Planning and Place, Ebbsfleet Development Corporation

Mark is overseeing and enabling the delivery of a Garden City in North Kent. Mark is responsible for the local planning function along with the delivery of various place based projects including the environmental agenda and inclusive growth.

Julia Wallace

Placemaking Director, Otterpool Park

Julia is Placemaking Director at Otterpool Park LLP, leading on planning, masterplanning, design, community facilities and communications for the 10,000 home Garden Town.

Nick Pollock

Head of Planning, Duchy of Cornwall

Nick has nearly 30 years of experience delivering housing and mixed-use developments, including a decade of work with the Duchy of Cornwall.

Jon Tricker

Placemaking Director, PJA

Jon brings 25 years’ experience in transport masterplanning, development planning, transport assessment and urban realm design.

Ben Coleman

Associate Director, PJA

Ben has over 13 years’ experience of urban design and transport planning. He has recently led several projects for town centres in Kent.

Claire Pamberi

Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Manager, Kent County Council

Claire promotes the work of Kent County Council’s services through Strategic Planning projects and Local Plans across the County. Claire is also committed to building relationships between different stakeholders to ensure that the best outcomes are achieved and to ensure that sustainable and healthy places are created.

Henry Jones

Partner, Corstorphine & Wright

Henry is an Architect, Certified Passive House Designer and Associate at Corstorphine & Wright with over 15 years’ experience in professional practice. At C&W he works across scales and sectors, specialising in sustainable design and innovation. His current focus and passion is designing for the Circular Economy.

Joanne Preston

Research Lead, Office for Place

Joanne is an architect and urban designer. She is the Research Lead at the Office for Place, a new arms-length body to the Department for Levelling up Housing and Communities, which will help neighbourhoods to create beautiful, successful, and enduring places that foster a sense of community, local pride and belonging.

Chris Lamb

Director, Design South East

Chris chairs and facilitates Design South East’s conferences and roundtables, speaks at regional and national conferences and contributes to publications. Chris has a particular interest in and ability to foster and facilitate dialogue and collaboration across sectors and between local authorities, the development sector and communities.

Helen Goodwin

Head of Design Advice, Design south East

Helen is an architect with a background in anthropology. She works closely with local authorities and their stakeholders to oversee and develop design support and enabling programmes, championing our values of collaborative, multi-disciplinary dialogue and cross-sector knowledge sharing.

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