The Phoenix Design & Access Statement
Writing, editing and delivery of the Phoenix Design & Access Statement – part planning document, part manifesto.
The Phoenix Lewes is a sustainable brownfield redevelopment on a former industrial site by the river Ouse, aiming to create a new “five-minute neighbourhood” with up to 700 timber-framed homes, community spaces, health centre, river walk, and jobs. It focuses on shared living, renewable energy and walkability. It is led by Human Nature, for whom I ran communications between 2021 and 2025.
Drawing on my experience as a publisher I helped Human Nature – working with external consultants – to deliver the DAS for the project. The document acted as part planning document, part manifesto, demanding better and more sustainable development.
This formed part of a wider body of work for the organisation, including assisting with delivery and business plans, a manifesto on housebuilding, and numerous pitches and tender documents, including investor-facing documents.
The document has been widely shared and celebrated. The partner of a multi-award winning architectural firm described it as the “benchmark for new development plans, designs and writing” and asked his team to study it carefully. Juliette Mitchell, author of Storytelling Manual for Architects, described it as the “best I have ever seen.” You can read it in full here.
The Phoenix received widespread media coverage and multiple awards. It was described by The Guardian as “an environmentally sound model to rescue Britain’s broken private property sector” and by The Times as a “trailblazing model for how the UK might meet its net-zero goal”.