Vaughan is a chartered town planner and urban design practitioner with a commitment to helping communities and the placemaking professions collaborate.

Since 2010, he has been Director of Bristol based placemaking specialists, Place Studio, RTPI Planning Excellence finalists in 2015 and 2020. Vaughan and Place work behind the scenes, stitching and knitting to inspire, enable and support communities, stakeholders and interdisciplinary teams shape and deliver and defend successful plans, strategies and treasured environments together. Place Studio has worked with more than 30 neighbourhoods and Councils across the SW on neighbourhood and local plans that have been in the vanguard of collaborative and community led planning.

Combining his professional background, technical knowledge from 30 years in practice and his personal experience of sensory impairment Vaughan also provides design support to help clients and communities design inclusive processes and produce accessible, adoptable and welcoming high streets and environments especially within historic town and city centres and within locally treasured neighbourhoods.

Following work in the Millennium which transformed Bristol city centre’s public realm, Vaughan has shaped collaborative processes and delivered design and review support that has secured successful public realm, conservation and regeneration schemes across the west of England and Midlands. This has included design review, public realm and access management schemes within Bath World Heritage Site and working with people and councils to facilitate community led rejuvenation policy and public realm renewal schemes for their high streets and green spaces within numerous market towns and villages.