The Guinness Partnership Design Guide, published in February 2021, is Guinness’ key document for development partners, design teams, consultants and employees creating homes with the long-established customer service business.

Written, edited and designed by the Knowledge Hub and communications team at Pollard Thomas Edwards, the guide, following workshops and feedback sessions with The Guinness Partnership, reworks previous iterations of the guide. As well as shaping the content around customer needs – and away from compliance – PTE emphasised a new approach to placemaking founded upon socially and environmentally sustainable design.

The guide establishes new placemaking principles to help shape The Guinness Partnership’s vision for the 2020s and beyond. It presents clear, unambiguous guidance covering everything from site layout and refuse storage to façade design, communal spaces and the everyday interior details – natural light, storage space, noise mitigation - that combine to make a great modern home. Alongside, the guide presents commentary written from a resident’s point of view and regular Do’s and Don’ts – photographic examples of what and what not to do when it comes to design and specification.