4


NEWS


Managing Editor James Parker


Publisher Anthony Parker


Account Director Midge Myatt


Senior Account Manager Steve Smith


Digital Marketing & PR Account Manager Suzanne Easter


Operations Director Shelley Collyer


Editorial Contributor Roseanne Field Stephen Cousins


Events Coordinator Amy Madigan


Studio Manager Mikey Pooley


Production Assistant Georgia Musson


Digital Production Coordinator Kimberley Musson


Feature Coordinator & Publisher’s Assistant Kim Neville


Finance Director Simon Reed


Advertising & Administration 01435 863500


info@netmagmedia.co.uk Press Releases


editorial@netmagmedia.co.uk Registration &


Circulation Enquiries info@netmagmedia.co.uk


FROM THE EDITOR


A


new report on gender equality in the profession commissioned by RIBA attempts to put a conciliatory spin on the sad truth that little has altered, 20 years after the organisation’s fi rst major report on the subject. That survey looked explicitly at why women were quitting architecture. Undertaken with the Fawcett Society, which claims to be the leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women’s rights, the new report, somewhat hopefully titled ‘Build it Together,’ shows that the unequal status quo remains. With the intervening fi nancial crash and pandemic having exacerbated the situation, the architecture profession still struggles to support women as they navigate hurdles such as child rearing and unequal pay; both being fairly long-established obstacles, as far as barriers go. In her foreword to the new report, RIBA chief executive Valerie Vaughan-Dick said the profession “has also been too slow in addressing longstanding attitudes and mindsets that have led to gender inequality.” And possibly most worrying, given we might expect architecture to be a more enlightened world than most, inequality is “particularly felt by women from minority ethnic backgrounds who are too often faced with tackling issues, such as discrimination and misogyny.” Maybe this industry is more ‘macho’ than anyone would like to admit. She added that the new fi ndings “paint a similar picture to those in the 2003 report. Harassment, inappropriate behaviour, unequal pay, and poor working conditions are just some of the concerns that have not gone away.” There are 47 recommendations in the new report – 13 on workplace culture alone for practices to address. That’s a lot, however they make up an important wish list, from having equality and diversity policies, monitoring diversity, and conducting regular staff surveys, to having “a specifi c strategy and process to support people going on, and returning to work from, maternity leave.” Also, the report says the RIBA should “refuse to charter practices that do not meet a base level of standards.” Depressing though it may be to realise that things haven’t changed much in 20 years, maybe it’s not a


An Employee Owned Company


Cointronic House Station Road, Heathfi eld East Sussex, TN21 8DF


Annual subscription costs just £48 for 12 issues, including post and packing. Phone 01435 863500 for details. Individual copies of the publication are available at £5 each inc p & p. All rights reserved


No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, including photocopying, recording or stored in any information retrieval system without the express prior written consent of the publisher. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of material published in Architects Datafi le, the publisher can accept no responsibility for the claims or opinions made by contributors, manufacturers or advertisers. Editorial contributors to this journal may have made a payment towards the reproduction costs of material used to illustrate their products. The manufacturer of the paper used within our publication is a Chain-of-Custody certifi ed supplier operating within environmental systems certifi ed to both ISO 14001 and EMAS in order to ensure sustainable production. Printed in England


This magazine may be recycled


shock, whereas it is perhaps shocking to hear that 83% of the 635 people surveyed said they “felt that having children had negatively affected their career progression.” Although 68 of these were men, it’s an uncomfortable truth that women still do the vast majority of childcare. Until the profession achieves the fl exibility to not only support women during the major challenges of maternity leave and returning to work, and perhaps equally importantly, we start to accept that men should do an equal – or more equal – role child rearing, we will see the same fi ndings in 20 years. Capitalism wants the maximum ‘productivity’ from each employee above all else; it’s not really concerned about people’s lives. Engineering is needed, either by individual ‘allies’ within companies, or more generally as a society to include space for people’s lives to fl ourish alongside work – and thereby support their effectiveness as employees. Such intervention is probably the only way we can expect change.


James Parker, Editor


Looking to update or cancel your ADF registration? Scan the QR code to visit our registration page. From here you can also register for our Digital


Issues and Newsletters. Alternatively, please visit architectsdatafi le.co.uk/subscribe


FUSEBOX, BLACKBURN


An adaptive reuse project by John Puttick Associates transforms a disused power station into a vibrant youth centre


ADF_1112_2025 Covers.indd 1 06/11/2025 09:30


11.25


ON THE COVER...


Fusebox in Blackburn by John Puttick Associates transforms a historic power station into a vibrant youth centre.


Update your registration here:


Cover image © Gareth Gardner For the full report on this project, go to page 24


WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK


ADF NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76