Network of Built Environment Experts launched

The Cabe team at the Design Council has launched a network of 250 Built Environment Experts (BEEs) who will support its work delivering high-quality designed places throughout the UK. Hanif Kara (part of the design team for the UK Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo), Colin Haylock (Royal Town Planning Institute President), Liane Hartley (Co-founder of Mend and one of NESTA??s top 50 new radicals) and Sarah Foster (RTPI??s Young Planner of the Year 2010) are just a few of the 250 experts that will work to ensure that design plays a crucial part in the development of UK??s built environment.

Cabe??s new network is a broad and flexible group of highly respected specialists, drawn from a range of sectors. The network will provide multi-disciplinary support to communities, local authorities and developers involved in built environment projects.

Good design is fundamental to the production and maintenance of high quality places – it enthuses, inspires and encourages people to participate in the planning process to create unique places in which people choose to live and work.

The new BEEs network will support the Cabe team to deliver quality services to its clients, helping them to balance diverse and competing needs. Whether it??s supporting Cabe??s Design Review service or getting stuck in with community engagement work, the BEEs will provide independent advice to challenge, encourage and support Cabe??s clients to make the right design decisions.

Cabe??s BEEs will not act as consultants, and will not be chosen by the client. They will be assigned to the client by the Cabe team and their task is to mentor design procurement, deliver training on the role of design in neighbourhood planning, and participate in the crucial Design Review process. Partnership and collaboration will be key to delivering these services.

Nahid Majid, director of the Cabe team at the Design Council, comments on the launch: ?Cabe??s Built Environment Experts (BEEs) make up an unparalleled network to provide design support to projects throughout the country. The BEEs represent the best in their network and can bring insight, innovation and best practice to the design projects that matter. We??ve signed up people from architecture, planning and infrastructure backgrounds, as well as academics, health specialists, and community engagement workers, to bring an informed expert viewpoint and help Cabe champion good design.??

Cindy Walters and Michál Cohen of award winning architectural practice Walters & Cohen are among the new appointments, commenting on their inclusion in the network Cindy Walters said:  ?Michál Cohen and I are delighted to be part of the BEE network and look forward to helping a range of client groups develop and deliver high quality designs.??