Industry News
RIBA launches
Neave Brown
Award for
Housing Confidence of large practices
falls sharply – RIBA publishes
latest Future Trends survey
results
The Royal Institute of British Architects
(RIBA) has launched a new prize: the Neave
Brown Award for Housing, named in honour
of the late Neave Brown (1929 – 2018). The RIBA Future Trends Workload
Index saw a further decline in the
first month of 2019, falling into
negative territory from +3 to -3.
Neave Brown was a socially-motivated,
modernist architect, best known for designing
a series of celebrated London housing estates.
In 2018, he was awarded the UK’s highest
honour for architecture - the Royal Gold
Medal for Architecture, which is approved
personally by Her Majesty The Queen. Practices in Wales and the west
remained the most pessimistic
about future workloads, returning a
balance figure of -14, and practices
in London (balance figure -10) and
the south of England (balance figure
-6) were also cautious about the
medium-term outlook. The balance
figure for practices in the Midlands
and East Anglia joined them in
negative territory, falling from zero
to -3.
All 2019 RIBA Regional Award-winning
housing projects that meet published criteria
will be considered for the inaugural Neave
Brown Award for Housing.
Speaking today, RIBA President Ben
Derbyshire said:
“It is an honour to announce a new, very
special RIBA award dedicated to the late
Neave Brown. Neave’s contribution to
housing will not be forgotten. He was a
passionate pioneer who sought radical
housing solutions to improve the lives of the
local communities he served, and much can
be learnt from his work.
According to RIBA research, in some parts of
the country, just 1 in 5 people would choose
to live in a newly built home. Architects,
developers and local authorities must design
and build homes that people want and this
country desperately needs. I have high
hopes that this new award will play a role in
raising the bar and recognising good-quality,
sustainable housing that will meet the needs
of current and future generations.”
In contrast, the north of England
remains by far the most optimistic
location, returning a balance figure
of +26 - up from +15 last month.
In terms of practice size, large
practices (with 51+ staff) fell
sharply into negative territory,
returning a balance figure of -40.
Medium-sized practices (with 11 to
50 staff) seemed much more upbeat
at +15, but small practices (with
1 to 10 staff) remained nervous,
returning a balance figure of -5
down from +1.
The picture remained mixed in
terms of different work sectors.
While the private housing sector
workload forecast recovered a
little from its dramatic fall last
month (+3 up from zero) and the
commercial sector saw a modest
rise (to -1 from -2), the public
sector workload forecast remained
in negative territory (at -2), and
the community sector forecast (-4)
experienced another slight decline.
RIBA Executive Director Members,
Adrian Dobson, said:
“There is no doubt that practices
of all sizes are cautious about
increasing staffing levels due to
the current climate of political and
economic uncertainty, however
this month’s findings show that
larger practices in particular feel far
more vulnerable and warier than
they have of late. The employment
market for salaried architects
certainly looks to be somewhat more
challenging for applicants over the
next quarter.
The decline in workload confidence
for larger practices compared to
their more rosy outlook at the end
of 2018 is a cause for concern. Lack
of clarity about the Brexit process
and the likely end destination was
cited by many correspondents as
the most significant source of their
caution and apprehension, alongside
a growing reluctance to commit to
projects on the part of some clients.”
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