GLVIA3-based Townscape and Visual Impact Assessments by Chartered Landscape Architects, for town and city-centre schemes, conservation areas and taller buildings across England, Scotland and Wales.
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A Townscape and Visual Impact Assessment (TVIA) tells the council how a proposed development would change the character of a town or city, and how it would change the views that residents, workers and visitors experience. It is the urban counterpart of a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA), following the same method set out in the Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, Third Edition (GLVIA3), applied to streets, spaces, buildings and skylines rather than fields, hedgerows and hills.
Every TVIA we produce is prepared by a Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute with over 20 years of experience in the UK planning system. We assess townscape character at the scale that matters to your scheme, from the wider town to the street and the plot, and we test the proposal in the views that officers, conservation officers and committee members will care about most.
For a fuller introduction, read our guide: What is a TVIA?
Councils usually ask for a townscape and visual impact assessment where a scheme could alter the established character or skyline of a place. Typical triggers include:
A TVIA is not a heritage impact assessment. Heritage assessment considers the significance of heritage assets and the contribution their setting makes to it; a TVIA considers townscape character and views. Where both are needed, we work alongside your heritage consultant so that the two reports tell a consistent story.
Planning policy and designations, conservation area appraisals, published character studies, and our own townscape character areas defined by street pattern, building height and grain, materials, open space and use.
A Zone of Theoretical Visibility where the scheme is tall enough to need one, identification of visual receptors, and viewpoint photography from public streets and spaces, agreed with the council in advance.
Visualisations prepared in-house in line with Landscape Institute Technical Guidance Note 06/19: 3D wirelines, photomontages and survey-verified Accurate Visual Representations where the views call for them.
The sensitivity of each character area and the magnitude of change, leading to a clear judgement of the significance of effects on townscape character.
Effects on each viewpoint and receptor group, including how the scheme sits on the skyline and relates to landmarks and listed buildings in the view.
Early input on height, massing, roofline and materials, so that the scheme the council sees has already been tested in the most sensitive views.
Our assessments consider effects at completion and, where planting or public realm forms part of the scheme, once it has established. For most buildings the effect at completion is the key judgement, and we say so plainly rather than relying on planting that will not change the view.
Your site location, the drawings or 3D model, and any pre-application advice from the council.
We confirm the fee, the viewpoints and the type of visualisations, and agree them with the council where appropriate.
A GLVIA3-based assessment with figures and visualisations, ready to submit with your application.
Fixed fees based on the scale of the scheme and the number of views.
All quotes are fixed-fee and tailored to your scheme. See our full pricing, including wirelines and photomontages.
A Townscape and Visual Impact Assessment (TVIA) assesses how a proposed development would affect the character of a town or city and the views people experience within it. It applies the method set out in the Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, Third Edition (GLVIA3) to the built environment: the layout of streets and spaces, building heights and grain, materials, skylines and the way places are used and experienced.
Councils typically ask for a TVIA for taller or larger buildings in town and city centres, schemes within or next to a conservation area, development in the setting of listed buildings, rooftop extensions, and proposals that would appear in important local or strategic views. A TVIA is also commonly provided as the townscape and visual chapter of an Environmental Statement for EIA development in an urban area.
No. A heritage assessment considers the effect on the significance of heritage assets, including through change to their setting. A TVIA considers effects on townscape character and on views and visual amenity. The two often overlap, particularly in conservation areas, so we coordinate closely with your heritage consultant so that the two reports are consistent and do not duplicate one another.
Yes. We prepare visualisations in-house in line with the Landscape Institute’s Technical Guidance Note 06/19, from annotated photographs and 3D wirelines to photomontages and survey-verified Accurate Visual Representations (AVRs), depending on what the council and the sensitivity of the views require.
Yes. In London, TVIAs often need to address the London View Management Framework as well as local borough views and conservation area appraisals. We agree the viewpoints with the borough at the outset so that the assessment answers the questions officers will ask.
Our Townscape and Visual Impact Assessments start from £2,950 + VAT. The fee depends on the scale and height of the scheme, the number of viewpoints and the type of visualisations required. Every quote is fixed once the scope is agreed.
We require a minimum of 15 working days from instruction to delivery of a draft report, longer where survey-verified views are needed. If your programme is tight, please tell us at enquiry stage and we will do our best to accommodate it.
Townscape and visual impact assessments prepared for planning applications in historic town and city centres.
A TVIA for the remodelling of a locally listed Art Deco building in a conservation area, with a new rooftop hotel extension. Read the case study.
A TVIA for a mixed-use scheme in a historic Thames-side town, surrounded by conservation areas and listed buildings. Read the case study.
Need an assessment for a rural or edge-of-settlement site instead? See our LVIA consultants page.
We work across England, Scotland and Wales from our three regional offices.
Prefer to talk it through? Call or email and we will respond the same working day where possible.
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