The latest Design Economy report, published by the Design Council today (7 September), revealed that the value of architecture and built environment design has increased from £14.5 billion in 2019 to £18.7 billion in 2023.
The findings were published as part of a wider Design Council analysis of UK design industries, which made a £136.7 billion contribution in 2023. That is a 40 per cent increase compared to 2019 – meaning architecture’s growth was below average for the wider design sector.
Architecture and the built environment’s exports have seen a significant boost in recent years, the report found, with £9 billion in total exports representing a 22 per cent rise between 2020 and 2022, driven mainly by a 47 per cent increase in goods exports.
Mat Hunter, chief executive of the Design Council, commented: ‘These figures should change the way we think about design. It is not a niche creative activity sitting at the edge of the economy.
‘The opportunity now is to make sure that capability is available everywhere – in businesses and public services, across every region and nation – and that we invest in the skills and diversity needed to sustain it for the future.’
George Clarke, the architect, broadcaster and Design Council ambassador, told the AJ that while most high-profile architecture practices receive ‘massive amounts of recognition’ for their work, the wider profession is not currently given the ‘value and credibility’ which reflects the contribution made to the wider economy and society.
He added that much of the value that good design creates cannot be adequately captured by an analysis of the figures alone, and that ‘we need to start getting everyone to fully understand what the value in good architectural design really is’.
Clarke argued, ‘How do you calculate value? There is the pounds and pennies, how much did everything cost, but how do you value happiness, beauty, social value, health value, wellbeing value – I don’t think we are being intelligent enough as a nation when it comes to analysing the big picture.
‘A really well-built building can last hundreds of years, and the value that contributes to Britain is actually quite amazing, whereas a bad building is highly likely to get demolished in 50 years’ time and replaced by something else, that’s not good for the economy, or the environment or sustainability.’
Other findings from the Design Council report included a jump in the proportion of designers working at companies with more than 500 employees. This climbed to 28 per cent last year, compared to 18 per cent in 2020, and coincides with a slight decrease in the total number of architecture and built environment design businesses.
The data showed that diversity gaps remain stubborn in architecture specifically. There is a gender gap of 22 per cent female workers compared to 78 per cent male in the profession, and just 14 per cent of employees identify as disabled, which is compared with 18 per cent in the general population.
While London still contains the bulk of value created by architecture and built environment design, being home to four of the five ‘strongest clusters’ for the discipline, new areas of growth are emerging, according to the Design Council report. They are North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset, and the Cotswolds.
Chris Williamson, RIBA president, said that the findings of the Design Council’s report align with their own research conducted with chartered practices.
Williamson told the AJ: ‘UK architecture is a global powerhouse and our international network is growing, enabling us to collaborate, share expertise and ensure high-quality, innovative design around the world.
He cautioned, however, that ‘economic success must be matched by progress towards a more equitable profession, where we must go further, and faster’, and cited RIBA initiatives such as the Build it Together campaign as being important to improving access and inclusion in the industry.
The AJ reported earlier this year that while the pay gap in architecture is narrowing, a significant disparity remains between men and women, and at four practices the gap actually grew over the last year. This year’s AJ100 survey meanwhile showed a similar rise in architects employed at the biggest firms for the fifth year running.