The brief is an assumption
Test it before executing it.
Perspectives
Development,
in context.
Positions on the decisions that shape a development before they become expensive to reverse.
01 · Positioning
Positioning is not what is said about a development after it is designed.
It is part of deciding what should be designed.
Before a design team is briefed, a development needs a position: what it should be, who it is for, where it sits in its market, and what should distinguish it.
They also determine what the development should deliberately not be.
The brief is an assumption.
From market to feasibility
01Market
02Target audience
03Positioning
04Project DNA
05Product
06Brand strategy
07Design
08Amenities
09Pricing
10Cost
11Development economics
12Feasibility · tested again
02 · Brand strategy
Brand fit before brand name.
A recognised brand does not automatically add value to a development. It adds value where it strengthens the case, and it costs money whether it does or not.
The question is not which brand can be brought to the project.
Does this development need a brand, and if it does, which brand belongs here?
The brand-fit test
01Project DNA
02Target audience
03Location
04Product
05Price positioning
06Design language
07Experience
08Commercial economics
09Operating model
03 · Product & Experience
Amenities should be designed for the project, not copied from the market.
Every significant amenity carries a set of questions. Does the target customer value it? Does it support pricing or absorption? How much saleable area does it consume? What does it cost to build and operate?
Every design decision has a commercial consequence.
The commercial test
01User need
02Project DNA
03Positioning
04Space consumed
05Capital cost
06Operating cost
07Service charge
08Commercial value
04 · Wellbeing
One layer, running under the whole development.
Considered as a layer rather than a category, wellbeing touches decisions that are made long before any facility is specified.
Each is a design decision with a cost and a commercial consequence.
Natural lightAir qualityAcoustic comfortThermal comfortNatureMovementPrivacySocial connectionMaterialsIndoor / outdoorRestorationUser experience
05 · How we think
Seven positions.
Every mandate.
These positions apply across the work, regardless of where Code Capital enters a development.
Every drawing is a cash flow
A design decision is a commercial decision.
Deliverable is not viable
A well-built project can still be the wrong project.
Influence falls as cost rises
The ability to shape a development is greatest at the start.
Structure decides behaviour
How land, capital, risk and returns are shared determines behaviour.
Risk transferred is not risk removed
Risk placed where it cannot be managed returns priced.
The case has to survive the project
When an assumption moves, the case is tested again.
Editorial index
Perspectives
01
New perspectives are being prepared.
Future articles will be added here as they are published.
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Development,
in context.
A future record of Code Capital's thinking, delivered by email and archived on the site.
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