The company's design guidelines usually exceed the minimum development standards enforced by government agencies. These guidelines make it possible to create an identity for a community that gives it a coherent character similar to that of an older neighborhood that has evolved over time.

The Design Review Policy for The Irvine Ranch includes such requirements as adequate setbacks, compatible architecture, consistent street trees, appropriate signs, and the screening of service areas, utilities and exterior lighting. The intent is to preserve and enhance property values by preventing blight and sprawl and by creating a planned environment that assures visual continuity while allowing for individual expression within a carefully planned design framework.

Three fundamental principles are followed in designing all residential, office, retail and resort structures on The Irvine Ranch^®:

Design integrity: Assuring that the design of the architecture has integrity, that the structures are pleasing as well as appropriate to the area in which they exist and that they always communicate a sense of place. Timeless architecture: Applying the principles of classical architecture to create a sense of timelessness and ensure that communities on The Irvine Ranch will age gracefully. Four-sided architecture: Using the same material on all four sides of a structure so that, no matter what vantage point it is viewed from, the design is never interrupted and all the parts are perceived as part of a unified whole.