Senior Urban Designer

Lead Careers

Greater London

Hybrid

GBP 45,000 - 55,000

Full time

3 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Career progression

Professional development

Team socials

Work-life balance

Job summary

Lead Careers, on behalf of a well-established landscape architecture and urban design practice in London, seeks a Senior Urban Designer. You will balance residential layouts with placemaking, streets, landscape, drainage and delivery, taking ownership of layouts and ensuring practicality and beauty.

The role requires strong design and delivery skills, with experience in masterplanning and detailed layout design, and offers hybrid working and a clear path for career progression across varied UK

Qualifications

Strong experience in residential urban design and masterplanning.
Portfolio showing viable, deliverable residential layouts.
Experience from feasibility to detailed design and planning support.

Responsibilities

Lead residential layouts from brief to key planning stages.
Present design proposals to clients and authorities.
Coordinate multidisciplinary teams to resolve design and technical issues.

Skills

Residential design

Urban masterplanning

Detail layout design

Site analysis

AutoCAD

Education

Urban Design degree (preferred)

Tools

AutoCAD

Job description

Role - Senior Urban Designer

Location - London

Salary - £50K

Our client, a well-established landscape architecture and urban design practice is looking to add a Senior Urban Designer to its team. They work across a varied range of projects throughout the UK and offer a friendly, collaborative environment with good opportunities for career development and progression.

The ideal Senior Urban Designer will have strong design skills, but just as importantly, know how to make residential layouts actually work. This means being able to balance development numbers and commercial requirements with good placemaking, streets, parking, landscape, drainage and the various technical constraints that come with a site. At Senior level, the role needs someone comfortable taking ownership of a layout, spotting what isn't working and finding practical solutions, while still making sure the end result is well designed and deliverable.

Senior Urban Designer Essential Requirements

Residential Design Experience
Strong professional experience in residential urban design, masterplanning and detailed layout design, ideally gained within a consultancy, housebuilder, developer or multidisciplinary practice
A portfolio demonstrating commercially viable, technically considered and deliverable residential layouts across a range of development sizes
Experience taking projects from early feasibility and capacity testing through concept masterplanning, layout development and detailed residential design
Good understanding of the priorities and commercial requirements of housebuilders, developers and land promoters

Residential Layout & Placemaking

Strong understanding of residential layout principles including street hierarchy, blocks, plots, frontage, building lines, density, enclosure and movement
Ability to maximise development potential while maintaining strong placemaking, landscape and urban design principles
Good understanding of how housing mix, density, development capacity and design quality work together
Confidence resolving detailed layout issues including parking, servicing, refuse, cycle storage, amenity space, gardens, overlooking and separation distances
Ability to interpret site constraints and opportunities and turn them into practical, coherent and deliverable layouts

Technical & Planning Knowledge

Good working knowledge of the UK residential planning and design process, including experience supporting planning applications.
Practical understanding of highways, street design, parking standards, drainage, utilities and other technical considerations affecting residential layouts
Experience coordinating input from highways, drainage, landscape, ecology, arboriculture, BNG, utilities and other technical disciplines
Ability to identify design and technical conflicts early and work with the wider team to resolve them
Experience producing or contributing to framework plans, parameter plans, Design and Access Statements, design codes and other planning material

Design & Software Skills

Strong AutoCAD skills with the ability to produce accurate and well-resolved residential layouts efficiently
Good graphical and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate ideas clearly through plans, diagrams, sketches and written material

Senior-Level Experience

Ability to lead residential projects and take ownership of layouts from the initial brief through key planning stages
Confident presenting and discussing design proposals with clients, local authorities, consultants and other stakeholders
Experience coordinating multidisciplinary teams and balancing competing design, planning and technical requirements
Ability to review junior team members' work, provide guidance and manage multiple projects, deadlines and priorities
Good commercial awareness, including an understanding of project scope, programmes, resources and client requirements

Desirable Experience

Degree or postgraduate qualification in Urban Design, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Planning or a related discipline, with professional accreditation or progress towards it desirable
Experience working with housebuilders, land promoters or residential developers, ideally including large residential developments, urban extensions or new settlements
Experience with outline, reserved matters and full planning applications, design codes, BNG, SuDS, green infrastructure and landscape-led masterplanning

On Offer