Emily Scullion and Chris Brown, Founder and Directors of Emily Scullion Architects Ltd
British architect Emily Scullion, founder of Newcastle-based Emily Scullion Architects, has challenged the architecture industry’s longstanding reluctance to discuss fees openly by publishing the prices charged by her practice.
“Architects never share their fees, so here’s mine,” Scullion wrote in an Instagram post sharing a breakdown of fees across the different stages of a residential project. The post gives potential clients a clearer idea of what architectural services cost, while providing other architects with a rare point of comparison for their own pricing.
The figures cannot be treated as a standard for the industry. Fees vary depending on the scale, complexity, location, scope, risk, and requirements of each project. Archinect has previously examined these differences in How do most architects calculate fees? and Tips on charging what you are worth in architecture.
How do most architects calculate fees?
The significance of Scullion’s post is not necessarily the specific amounts she disclosed, but her decision to disclose them at all. The lack of openly available information about fees can make it difficult for architects, particularly those running smaller or newer practices, to determine how their pricing compares with others in the industry.
Although Scullion’s practice is based in the UK, the issue is just as relevant in the United States and elsewhere. Greater transparency around fees could help architects have a more open conversation about what their work is worth, while beginning to address persistent problems involving underpricing, firm profitability, salaries, and the broader undervaluing of architectural services.
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