It's All About the Money: The Value Equation

This is an article summary from the Rethinking the Architectural Profession in the Post-Grenfell Era essay series written by enframe. Summaries available on the Building Safety wki and full articles via Substack links in each article.

Architects are essential to creating safe, sustainable, and successful buildings – but are we undervaluing their work? Compared to other professions, architects often struggle to articulate the value they bring to clients and projects.

The Challenge

• Fees too often focus on cost, not value.
• Critical roles like safety, compliance, and coordination go unrecognised.
• Undervalued fees result in under-resourced teams, excessive workloads, and unsustainable workplace cultures.

Key Lessons

Architects can learn from the legal profession, where barristers’ fees reflect risk, responsibility, and outcomes. By embracing a value-based mindset, architects can shift the conversation:

• Highlight benefits: cost savings, risk mitigation, and project performance.
• Communicate expertise: from fire safety compliance to sustainability leadership.
• Educate clients: help them understand why architects are critical to success.

The Workplace Reality
The recent ARB Workplace Culture report reveals architects are underpaid, overworked, and undervalued. Salaries and wellbeing are directly tied to fee structures. Real change starts with recognising this.

How Might We Define Value?
The value equation can be expressed as Value = Benefits / Price.
Where value is the perceived worth to the customer, benefit is the positive outcome or advantages received, and price is the cost to obtain those benefits.

The Way Forward
To protect the profession and attract talent, architects must:

• Realign fees to reflect their contributions and accountability.
• Advocate for transparency and value-based proposals.
• Address systemic issues impacting workplace culture and wellbeing.

The Grenfell Inquiry exposed what happens when the profession is stretched too thin. It’s time to articulate value, achieve fair compensation, and ensure architects are properly resourced to deliver safety, quality, and excellence.

Sign-up to read the article for free here: Enframe Substack It’s All About the Money: The Value Equation

--enframe

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