Each year we design and deliver 1,000-plus homes with the Knowledge Hub and its focus on sharing insight ensuring we capitalise upon this practical experience. Knowledge Hub shapes our research profile: as well as capturing our design and construction intelligence for use on future projects, it also guides our publications output which cover a variety of topics, from estate regeneration, post-occupancy evaluation and local solutions to the housing crisis and suburban densification.

Knowledge Hub provides technical advice to our concept and planning teams and keeps the whole practice abreast of technical and regulatory developments. This means that every client and project benefits from the full range and depth of our accumulated skill and talent.

From concept to completion and post-occupancy evaluation, our Knowledge Hub champions, who are embedded within our design team workshops to provide constructive critique and creative input, coordinate a range of design review and audit processes for every project.

Knowledge Hub explores the quality of our work through six main action areas:

• concept design reviews with our partners
• sounding wall presentations for discussion with the whole practice
• pre-application and planning design reviews with selected partners and design guardians
• pre-construction, tender and construction stage design reviews and technical audits
• post-completion debriefs and, where clients wish, satisfaction and feedback surveys

Knowledge Hub also develops and maintains PTE’s core library of design and construction components which helps us to optimise site value for our clients.

We achieve this through a process of ‘’intelligent replication’’ – using our own standard design components, perfected over many years, and recombining them in creative ways to produce locally distinctive homes and places. Site-specific variations produce visual richness and popular placemaking.

Standard components range from construction details through plan elements (stairs, balconies, bathrooms, kitchens, cores etc) up to standard house types and modular apartments.