Active frontage

The design of frontages can add interest, life and vitality to the street and public realm. Frontages are considered active if they have:

• Frequent doors and windows without blank walls
• Articulated façades with bays and porches
• Lively internal uses visible from the outside, or spilling onto the street
• Concentrations of activity at particular points.

Adaptive reuse

The process of reusing an existing building in a different capacity to its original use.

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)

Biodiversity Net Gain delivers measurable improvements for biodiversity by creating or enhancing habitats in association with development. Biodiversity Net Gain can be achieved on-site, off-site or through a combination of on-site and off-site measures.

Conservation Area

Areas identified as being of special architectural or historic interest.

The London Borough of Bexley has 23 Conservation Areas, please check with Development Management to ascertain if your proposals is located within one.

Circular economy

A circular economy is an industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design. It replaces the linear economy and its 'end of life' concept with restoration, shifts towards the use of renewable energy, eliminates the use of toxic chemicals and aims for the elimination of waste through the design of materials, products, systems that can be repaired and reused. - Source: LETI Climate Emergency Design Guide

Design and Access Statement (DAS)

A report submitted to accompany and support a planning application that outlines the social, visual and physical impact of a proposed development, with reference to how the development sits within, and draws from, its context.

Defensible space

A buffer zone created between a development and the public realm to provide privacy to residents, particularly those in ground floor accommodation.

Dual aspect

A dual aspect dwelling is one with opening windows on two external walls, which may be on opposite sides of a dwelling or on adjacent sides of a dwelling where the external walls of the dwelling wrap around the corner of a building. - Source: Housing Design Standards LPG

Green infrastructure

A network of multi-functional green space, urban and rural, which is capable of delivering a wide range of environmental and quality of life benefits for local communities.

Green roofs (used interchangeably with biodiverse roofs)

A rooftop fully or partially covered with plants and/or vegetation.

Habitable room

A habitable room is one used, or intended to be used, for dwelling and domestic purposes. The use of habitable room is subject to its context and applicants should refer to individual Building Regulation Approved Documents for clarity.

Highway

A way over which members of the public have a right to pass and repass, either on foot or dependent on suitability, in a vehicle motorised or otherwise.

Listed Building

A listed building, or structure, which has been placed on the statutory list (the National Heritage List for England - NHLE) which is maintained by Historic England.

Statutory listing covers 3 grades, being Grade I, Grade II* and Grade II. Grade I listed buildings are of exceptional interest; Grade II* are particularly important buildings which are of more than special interest; and, Grade II are of special interest. Most buildings and structures are Grade II, with examples which are of particular historic or architectural interest being graded higher.

Any works, generally speaking, which would involve the alteration or extension to a listed building would require the benefit of Listed Building Consent.

Legibility

How easy it is for people to understand and find their way around a place and how memorable it is.

Major project

Any application that involves:

• Mineral extraction
• Waste development
• Residential development of 10 or more dwellings
• Residential development on a site area of 0.5ha or more and the number of dwellings is unknown
• Development of floorspace of 1000m2 or more
• Development on sites over 1ha.

Massing

A building's three dimensional shape, made up by its height, width, depth and form.

Microclimate

The distinct weather pattern in a small, localised area, differing from the broader regional climate due to factors like shade, surfaces, or elevation, affecting temperature, humidity, and wind.

Operational carbon (kgCO2e)

The carbon dioxide and equivalent global warming potential (GWP) of other gases associated with the in-use operation of the building. This usually includes carbon emissions associated with heating, hot water, cooling, ventilation, and lighting systems, as well as those associated with cooking, equipment, and lifts (i.e. both regulated and unregulated energy uses). - Source: LETI Climate Emergency Design Guide

Public realm

Publicly accessible spaces between buildings allowing movement and interaction.

Retrofit

The process of adding new or modified components or systems to an existing building to improve its performance, efficiency or safety.

Spatial hierarchy

The relationships between buildings and the spaces between them created by the scale, layout and architectural expression of buildings and the spatial qualities of the public realm.

Street scene

The appearance of all elements of a street, including the carriageway, footway, cycle paths, street furniture, planting, trees and the buildings or structures along its edges, particularly the composition of buildings on each side of the street.

Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS)

Features designed to reduce flood risk, which are built to receive surface water run-off, such as constructed wetlands, permeable surfaces, retention ponds, green roofs and swales.

Whole life carbon

This includes embodied carbon, as defined above, and operational carbon. The purpose of using whole life carbon is to move towards a building or a product that generates the lowest carbon emissions over its whole life (sometimes referred to as 'cradle-to-grave').
- Source: LETI Climate Emergency Design Guide