Evidence for municipalities

For councils and planning authorities: what residents say about new traditional buildings, and what the research shows about their value to a place. All of it is correlational, and each finding carries its caveat.

Designed for a long life

We design for a 100-year life. Behind a traditional facade, insulation and building services are designed to meet current energy standards, and we choose materials and details that can be repaired rather than replaced. This is our approach, not a measured result.

6.6%

higher home prices where the surrounding buildings are rated clearly more distinctive

Across about 7,900 home sales in 47 English conservation areas, homes whose surrounding buildings people rated clearly more distinctive sold for about 6.6% more, around £16,000. "Clearly more" here means one standard deviation up the rating scale, roughly the step from an ordinary street to a standout one. Part of the gain went to neighbouring homes, not only to the distinctive buildings themselves.

Caveat. The method is quasi-experimental but still observational. It measures perceived distinctiveness, not traditional style, and does not compare new traditional with new modern buildings.

Confidence: High

Source: Distinctively Different, Economic Journal 128(608) (Ahlfeldt and Holman, 2018)

75%

of Britons back Poundbury-style homes near them

In a 2015 Ipsos poll of 1,000 GB adults, 75% supported ten new homes on nearby brownfield land designed in the Poundbury style, against 23% to 34% for less conventional designs. Of the 14% who opposed new homes in principle, 51% supported the most popular design.

Caveat. The poll measures stated reactions to photographs, not planning outcomes. It was commissioned by Create Streets, an advocacy group for traditional design.

Confidence: Medium

Source: Ipsos MORI poll for Create Streets, 1,000 GB adults, 15-31 May 2015 (Ipsos MORI, 2015)

110 years

average age of demolished brick buildings in US cities, against 67 for concrete and steel

A study of 14,879 demolished buildings in nine US and four European cities found an average lifetime of 71 years. In the US cities, brick buildings had stood for 110 years on average before demolition, wood-frame buildings 91 years, and concrete and steel buildings 67 years.

Caveat. The study is observational and counts only buildings that were demolished, so it says nothing about the many that still stand. It measures structural material, not architectural style, and European cities vary widely.

Confidence: Medium

Source: Lifetimes of demolished buildings in US and European cities, Buildings and Cities 6(1) (Berglund-Brown, Dobie, Hewitt, De Wolf and Ochsendorf, 2025)

+7.3% value, +17.8% cost

Poundbury value per sq ft against its build-cost premium

Knight Frank found Poundbury sold for 7.3% more per sq ft than local benchmarks, against a 17.8% build-cost premium. It also found sales value per hectare 55% higher, partly because of higher density.

Caveat. A correlational comparison with local benchmarks, with no causal design and thin data. The 17.8% is described as an upper bound, and phase costs have ranged widely. Offsetting a cost premium preserves absolute profit, not margin. Cost data run only to 2018, before recent build-cost inflation. Poundbury also sells slowly. The two figures must be read together.

Confidence: Medium

Source: Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, cost and value study (Knight Frank, 2020)

8.5-9.5%

higher home prices in English conservation areas, with prices rising 0.2% a year faster

Across 1,088,446 home sales from 1995 to 2010, homes in English conservation areas sold for about 8.5-9.5% more than comparable homes once location and housing were controlled for (23.1% before controls). The premium also grew: prices inside the areas rose about 0.2% a year faster than in the comparison group, and about 0.1% a year faster just outside them.

Caveat. The study is observational and measures location in a conservation area, not architectural style; designating an area did not by itself move prices significantly. The extra growth is small, and the data end in 2010.

Confidence: High

Source: An assessment of the effects of conservation areas on value (Ahlfeldt, Holman and Wendland (LSE) for English Heritage, 2012)

14 points

less support for the same apartment building with an ugly facade

In a pre-registered experiment with 5,999 Americans, the same proposed five-storey apartment building lost 14 points of support on a 100-point scale when shown with the least attractive facade instead of an attractive one. That is almost as much as moving it from a street of five-storey buildings to a street of single-family homes (16 points), and far more than making the flats affordable (1 to 4 points).

Caveat. A survey experiment measuring stated support, not real planning decisions, and a working paper not yet peer reviewed. It compares attractive and unattractive facades, not traditional and modern ones, so it shows that looks change support, not which style wins.

Confidence: Medium

Source: How Sociotropic Aesthetic Judgments Drive Opposition to Dense Housing Development (working paper, Table A6) (Broockman, Elmendorf and Kalla (UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Yale), 2026)

13/20

design refusals upheld at appeal in England after 2021, up from 5 of 12

Of 32 English planning appeals in 2021 where design was the main reason for refusal, councils won 5 of 12 before national policy changed on 20 July 2021 to say poorly designed development should be refused, and 13 of 20 after it. Design quality now carries real weight at appeal.

Caveat. A small sample from a single year, compared before and after with no control group. It is about design quality, not architectural style, and the cases are concentrated in London and the South East.

Confidence: Medium

Source: Appealing Design: the tide turns on poor and mediocre housing design (Place Alliance (Carmona et al.), 2022)

Greater certainty

for developers, according to every English planning authority that responded

In a 2012 UCL Bartlett survey, 51 of 311 English planning authorities responded, and every responding authority said design codes gave developers a far greater degree of certainty.

Caveat. The responses are self-reported perceptions, not measured outcomes. The response rate was 16% for authorities and 15% for urban design consultancies, so self-selection is likely. The evidence on speed is mixed and we make no claim about it. The survey predates the 2021 National Model Design Code.

Confidence: Medium

Source: Design Codes - Diffusion of practice in England (UCL Bartlett (Carmona and Giordano), 2012)

69%

of Swedes prefer classic architecture to modern

In the Swedish Citizen Panel, a probability sample of 2,006 people in June 2023, 69.4% preferred classic architecture to modern, against 20.1% who preferred modern.

Caveat. Respondents answered one abstract question with no images and no definition of the styles. It measures stated taste, not willingness to pay. The source is a slide deck that has not been peer reviewed.

Confidence: High

Source: Building the city (slide deck), Cassel and Carlander, University of Gothenburg (University of Gothenburg, 2023)

65.7%

of Swedes prefer classic architecture to modern

In the SOM probability mail survey (1,701 respondents, 48% response rate, September to December 2023), 65.7% preferred classic architecture and 25.6% modern.

Caveat. One abstract question with no images. It measures stated taste, not willingness to pay, and the sample over-represents university graduates. The source is a slide deck that has not been peer reviewed.

Confidence: High

Source: Building the city (slide deck), Cassel and Carlander, University of Gothenburg (University of Gothenburg, 2023)

72%

of Americans chose the traditional design for federal buildings

Shown seven unlabelled pairs of real federal buildings, 2,039 US adults picked the traditional design 72% of the time on average. Majorities in every group chose it: 73% of Republicans, 70% of Democrats, 73% of independents, 62% of Black, 65% of Hispanic and 75% of white Americans.

Caveat. An online Harris Poll (17-19 August 2020) commissioned by the National Civic Art Society, an advocacy group for classical architecture. It measures taste in civic buildings shown in photographs, not support for new building or planning outcomes.

Confidence: Medium

Source: Americans' Preferred Architecture for Federal Buildings (Harris Poll, 2,039 US adults) (National Civic Art Society / The Harris Poll, 2020)

No. 1

largest directory of traditional and classical professionals

Agora, the firm's own product, is the world's largest directory of traditional and classical professionals.

Caveat. Agora is the firm's own product. The claim is backed by Agora's own counts and the date they were taken.

Confidence: High

Source: Agora directory (Agora, 2026)

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