The below article is taken from the print copy of the 2025 May Issue of the Architect’s Journal entitled: OUT. You can purchase a printed copy to read the article in context and explore other topics in the latest edition.
The RIBA recently published their Workplace & Wellbeing report for 2025, which revealed low pay, poor mental health and a culture of unpaid overtime across the profession. We need to take collective action to shift the low-pay culture. I have three key asks for us to consider:
- Competition among the UK’s 13,000+ architecture practices is driving down fees and working conditions. Reintroducing transparent mandatory minimum fee scales would encourage clients to choose architects based on quality, rather than cost. With standardised charge-out rates, practices could share effective business models that prioritise worker wellbeing, encouraging co-operation over competition.
- Secondly, if you manage a practice, encourage employees to join a union such as the Section of Architectural Workers (SAW). Have inclusive recruitment practices; please stop writing ‘Competitive Salary’ on job ads; and be explicit about pay. Have transparency in pay, reducing the likelihood of a gender and racial pay gap. Most importantly, implement paid overtime with a Living Wage salary.
- Thirdly, strategise and unionise. Take steps when accepting a job offer; ask about work conditions, pay, overtime and career progression. Organise with coworkers to combat issues in the workplace. Join an architectural workers’ union to have bargaining power with your employer.
At Transition by Design, as a workers’ co- operative, we collectively own our practice, and make decisions democratically, prioritising employee wellbeing. As a non- profit, we shouldn’t be among the top 10 salaries within the Pay 100 survey for Part 1 architectural assistants, offering higher salaries than for-profit practices with up to 10 times our annual income. We need a culture shift from exploitation, towards co-operation, collective organising and prioritising the wellbeing of architectural workers to safeguard the future of our workers and profession.
Written by: Wongani Mwanza, architect, director and participatory urban designer at Transition by Design Cooperative, 22nd May 2025
