Since 2019, Madeleine has been an inaugral member of the National Infrastructure Commission's Design Group, established to embed design excellence at the heart of the UK's major infrastructure projects. Working alongside a multidisciplinary team of architects, engineers, landscape architects and infrastructure specialists, she has contributed to influencing national policy and guidance championing design in infrastructure.

As part of the group's work, Madeleine co-developed the UK's first Design Principles for National Infrastructure, setting out a shared vision for infrastructure that delivers long-term environmental, social and economic value through four interconnected themes: Climate, People, Places and Value. The principles were subsequently adopted within the National Infrastructure Strategy and continue to inform policy and practice across the sector.

To support the implementation of the principles, Madeleine curated the Commission's inaugural National Infrastructure Design Symposium, bringing together ten institutional partners and more than eighty leaders from across government, industry and the built environment to explore how design could be embedded more effectively within infrastructure planning and delivery. The discussions informed the development of the Project-Level Design Principles (PLDPs), a practical framework translating national policy into tangible actions for project teams.

Together, this body of work has strengthened the role of design within UK infrastructure, from national policy and governance through to project delivery, providing a framework for embedding design throughout the lifecycle of major infrastructure projects.

National Infrastructure Commission Design Group: Sadie Morgan, Anthony Dewar, Clare Donnelly, Andrew Grant, Madeleine Kessler, Alister Kratt, Peter Maxwell, Judith Sykes

Roundtable Institutional Partners: Construction Industry Council (CIC), Design Council, Global Infrastructure Investor Association (GIIA), Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), Institute of Asset Management (IAM), Landscape Institute (LI), Major Projects Association (MPA), Planning Inspectorate (PINS), Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)

PLDP's Graphic Design: EUROPA

Photography: Jane Lam