This guidance is aimed at informing the development of commercial, industrial and large footprint buildings, and aims to establish a range of both high-level principles, and more specific and detailed guidance.

There are common characteristics of the design and construction of larger footprint buildings, which are often predetermined and defined by the proposed final use of the building and the operational requirements of that use. Typically, these include:

• Elevations with horizonal prominence and less emphasis on the vertical, which is often defined by glazing associated with any on-site office or commercial use.
• Depending on the type of building (e.g. B8 units), elevations are typically blank, with minimal fenestration and little interaction between the inside and outside
• Buildings are often deep in plan, both in terms of width and depth with a spanned or set of span roofs which can either be shallow pitched or domed
• Buildings are usually low to mid rise – often single or two storey – but for some uses can reach between 20-30 metres in height or taller
• Buildings are set back form the highway, usually within their own landscaping treatment and often with large expanses of car parking or hardstanding. This is compounded by the traditional location of buildings being edge or out of town, therefore heavily reliant on the private car
• Uses usually require a large amount of vehicular access and circulation space due to the size of vehicles involved in logistics, warehousing and distribution etc
• Due to their size, buildings often rely heavily on mechanical over passive ventilation and artificial lighting
• Due to their size, they are typically associated with a relatively high degree of visual and landscape impact