NEWS
The ACA continuously looks for opportunities to provide updates on industry developments; our news articles cover a broad spectrum of topics; membership may be required for full access to some articles.
The role of the architect – forty years of change and what comes next
Philip Waddy writes: When I qualified as an architect over forty years ago, the world—and our profession—felt very different from today. It was a time of drawing boards, tracing paper, and a planning system that, while far from perfect, felt navigable—perhaps even predictable. There were no mobile phones and no email; communication was by telephone or post. The architect was often seen as the conductor of the built environment [...]
Designing Buildings, a shared open wiki
You may or may not have heard of the Designing Buildings wiki. You may know it not by name but by its familiar look, or referenced it from web searches, or more recently it may have influenced an AI response to a construction enquiry you made. As a brand, it stands out now as simple, perhaps traditional, within the range of media platforms that now exist, but it is [...]
R&D tax relief
R&D tax relief The R&D tax relief pendulum swings back to the Centre, writes Andrew Hastie After years of excess, followed by over-correction and uncertainty, the UK’s R&D tax relief regime is finally finding its feet. The result is a system that is fairer, clearer and more supportive of Britain’s architectural innovators. The philosopher Hegel observed that progress rarely moves in straight lines. Instead, it swings, overreaches, and is [...]
The New R&D Tax Landscape
The New R&D Tax Landscape What’s Changing and What Architects Need to Know If your practice has under 500 employees, you’ll have historically been classed as an SME and that means the recent overhaul of the R&D tax relief regime is bound to affect you. Now is the time to get your head around what’s changing. Andy Hastie, Head of Business Development & Marketing at Invennt reveals what’s changed. [...]
Awaab’s Law
Awaab's Law: What is it and what property managers and surveyors must know by October 2025. Guest article written by Ella Green and Kat Cusack at RPC Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, which was introduced in section 42 of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and is known as "Awaab's Law", is due to come into force on 27 October 2025. Awaab's Law seeks to [...]
A Tragedy for the Profession: Architecture Apprenticeships Abolished
The abolition of apprenticeships is a tragedy for the architectural profession says the Association of Consultant Architects. The department for education has announced the abolition of level 7 apprenticeships for students over 21 years of age. It is a tragedy for ambitious and talented people in training and for architectural practices and for universities. The apprenticeship scheme was seen as a way of fundamentally changing the relationship between [...]
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