The headline figure of a 2.6% rise in architectural salaries hides many stories. Although this is probably far higher than we imagined last year, inflation rose to 3% in September and architecture salaries are therefore still behind the curve.

1. 1
Architectural Salary Survey
October 2017
Foreword
The last year has seen a number of shocks to the market with Brexit, Donald Trump
entering the White House and another General Election. Thankfully, however, the
fears for the economy have failed to materialise so far and at the beginning of 2017
especially, there was a particularly large number of practices actively recruiting.
This is not to say Brexit has not had a big impact. Sadly, many EU Architects have
said the UK no longer holds the same appeal and have since left the country. If
workloads stay strong and Architects continue to leave at the same rate, skills
shortages will soon arise and practices will have to compete even harder to attract
the best staff. This may have an impact on salaries but when most firms are feeling
pressures on fee levels, there may be little room to manoeuvre.
To try and build a better picture of the current situation, 9B conducted a salary
survey which received more than 1,350 responses from architectural staff across
the UK.
The headline figure of a 2.6% rise in architectural salaries hides many stories.
Although this is probably far higher than we imagined last year, inflation rose to 3%
in September and architecture salaries are therefore still behind the curve.
As you will see from the report, this increase has also been heavily influenced by
the salary rises at senior levels, whereas junior staff have seen very little change.
Part 1s are still on average earning just over £20,000 and outside London often
quite a lot less.
Gaining your Part 3 though has become even more valuable with recently qualified
architects being paid around £4,200 more than Part 2s with the same number of
years’ experience in practice. This is up by £350 compared to last year.
New additions to this years’ report include the percentage of staff who receive a
bonus and salary splits between genders. In both cases, women appear to be
remunerated the same or slightly more than their male colleagues early on in their
careers. Beyond 5 years though, there is a noticeable change when the salaries of
men are consistently higher than that of women and the percentage of women who
receive a bonus is far behind that of men with similar experience.
Although it appears there have been great efforts to improve the culture within
architectural practices to make the industry more appealing to women, there are
obviously areas which have some way to go.
The final section of the report, therefore, looks at the additional benefits practices
offer, which in many cases, can have a greater impact on someone’s life than just
salary and bonuses. Firms like EPR are making studio culture a strong priority
within their business and offering far more flexible working with an emphasis on
time management to avoid the long-hours culture sadly too common within the
industry.
It is still notable though that these benefits are predominantly offered by the
medium to larger practices and smaller studios often stick to what is statutory.
Careerwise, however, smaller firms may offer more responsibility and variety that
can provide excellent experience to help you move up the career ladder.
I hope you find this a useful guide to the current salaries and if you would like to
discuss further, do please give us a call.
Paul Chappell
Director of 9B Careers
www.9Bcareers.com
+44 (0)20 8004 0369

2. 2
Location
Average London South East East South West
North
West
Midlands North East Yorkshire Wales Scotland N. Ireland
Partner/Director £71,043 £77,410 £71,502 £59,250 £71,893 £51,671 £53,800 £62,500 £58,667 N/A £58,500 £45,750
Associate £51,239 £54,754 £48,889 £41,125 £39,545 £45,000 £39,950 N/A N/A N/A £49,500 £45,000
Senior Architect £45,770 £48,090 £44,600 £37,500 £36,160 £38,444 £40,795 £37,500 £36,500 £41,000 £41,088 £29,600
Project Architect £38,293 £40,172 £36,729 £37,000 £34,186 £34,950 £37,073 £33,169 £34,100 £32,400 £31,438 N/A
Recent Part 3 £32,322 £34,237 £32,635 £29,000 £31,300 £28,625 £29,214 £28,500 £33,000 £29,167 £27,775 £27,300
Part 2 £27,934 £30,141 £26,364 £26,875 £27,260 £24,982 £25,500 £23,200 £22,450 £25,333 £22,559 £26,454
Part 1/Year Out £20,361 £22,111 £19,786 £17,750 £21,167 £19,067 £18,125 £16,325 £16,500 N/A N/A N/A
Difference* 6.1% -2.8% -10.1% -8.9% -11.3% -8.5% -15.8% -13.4% -11.4% -14.9% -21.4%
*The difference from average is only taken from Part 1s to Senior Architects due to larger variations at Associate and Partner/Director levels.
N/A: Not enough data was received to form a sensible average.
Due to the number of architectural staff working in London (55% of those who completed the survey), the average salaries are very much influenced by the capital. The cost
of living in London, however, is notably higher than elsewhere and according to www.expatistan.com living in Perth, Scotland would be 33% cheaper.

3. 3
Practice Size
Average 1-10 11-35 36-65 66-100 100+
Partner/Director £71,043 £48,075 £72,056 £72,638 £99,667 £99,283
Associate £51,239 £47,036 £49,532 £52,736 £49,908 £54,713
Senior Architect £45,770 £40,038 £45,392 £45,000 £44,333 £48,437
Project Architect £38,293 £35,294 £38,194 £40,074 £38,942 £40,122
Recent Part 3 £32,322 £30,688 £31,245 £32,211 £34,056 £34,515
Part 2 £27,934 £26,268 £28,588 £27,127 £28,129 £29,718
Part 1/Year Out £20,361 £18,885 £20,995 £21,611 £20,431 £21,203
Difference from average* -8.2% -0.2% 0.8% 0.7% 5.7%
*The difference from average is only taken from Part 1s to Senior Architects due to larger variations at Associate and Partner/Director levels.
The old adage of the larger practices paying more still comes across strongly within the survey results.
At the other end of the scale, Partner/Director salaries within practices of 1-10 people are probably being pulled down by sole practitioners who have started new businesses
in the last couple of years.

4. 4
Sector
Years of experience
0-5 6-10 11+
Architectural Practice £27,675 £39,465 £57,197
Contractor £42,500 £43,600 £98,333
Client Side £35,392 £48,875 £63,422
Developer £36,634 £54,291 £76,480
Government £26,000 £32,000 £41,494
Other £26,488 £38,583 £56,914
£0
£20,000
£40,000
£60,000
£80,000
£100,000
£120,000
0-5 6-10 11+
AverageSalary
Years of experience in practice
Practice Contractor Client Side Developer Government Other

5. 5
Role
Years of experience
0-5 6-10 11+
Architecture (Part 1 - Partner/Director) £27,895 £41,184 £61,964
Architectural Technician £28,784 £30,670 £36,996
Architectural Technologist £26,157 £33,645 £48,532
Interior Designer £29,102 £37,150 £48,500
BIM Manager £33,611 £49,167 £51,375
Design Manager £50,000 £55,667 £63,497
Project Manager £30,750 £47,500 £66,188
Technical Coordinator £33,000 £43,500 £48,000
£0
£10,000
£20,000
£30,000
£40,000
£50,000
£60,000
£70,000
0-5 6-10 11+
AverageSalary
Years of experience in practice
Architecture Technologist Technician Interior Designer BIM Manager Project Manager Technical Coordinator Design Manager

6. 6
Experience
This graph represents the average salary of architectural staff (Part 1s to Partners/Directors) versus the number of years’ experience gained within architectural practice.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6-10 11-20 21+
2016 £18,759 £24,059 £26,473 £28,805 £31,313 £35,554 £39,081 £49,826 £63,280
2017 £18,889 £23,882 £27,153 £30,030 £32,088 £35,717 £40,286 £51,356 £68,236
Male £18,000 £23,285 £26,758 £30,208 £31,502 £35,975 £41,747 £51,984 £69,227
Female £20,667 £24,553 £27,493 £29,831 £32,932 £35,344 £38,423 £49,840 £62,292
£0
£10,000
£20,000
£30,000
£40,000
£50,000
£60,000
£70,000
£80,000
AverageSalary
Years of experience in practice

7. 7
Bonuses
This graph represents the percentage of architectural staff who receive a bonus versus the number of years’ experience in practice.
29%
18%
31%
33%
49%
44%
54%
62%
57%
33%
24%
34%
45%
37%
43% 42% 42%
33%
30%
21%
30%
39%
44% 44%
48%
56%
53%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6-10 11-20 21+
Years of experience in practice
Male
Female
Average

8. 8
Bonuses
This graph represents the percentage of architectural staff who receive a bonus versus business size.
26%
43%
45%
48%
60%
29%
44%
51%
59%
64%
22%
41%
35% 36%
55%
1-10 11-35 36-65 66-100 100+
Practice Size
Average
Male
Female

9. 9
Gender Split
This graph represents the percentage of male staff employed in practices versus the number of years’ experience and practice size.
59%
66% 66%
86%
57%
53%
80%
88%
51%
59%
64%
93%
49%
40%
71%
83%
49%
57%
68%
78%
0-5 6-10 11-20 21+
Years of experience in practice
Practice size
1-10
11-35
36-65
66-100
100+

10. 10
Additional Benefits
Although this report focuses on salaries, many practices offer additional benefits
which can have a far bigger impact on peoples’ lives and dramatically improve staff
retention. Below are the thoughts of a few practices on creating a successful
company culture:
EPR Architects - www.epr.co.uk
“We are conscious that our most important assets are our staff, and at EPR we
have developed a studio culture which puts people first and is flexible with regards
to each individual’s requirement. We offer part-time, flexible working hours and
career breaks to suit the needs of our team along with extended maternity/paternity
leave and payment packages for new parents. We encourage a responsible
approach to time-management to avoid the long-hours culture typical of the
profession; with many of our management team working flexibly and/or part-time
which ensures a sensible top-down working culture prevails.
In addition, we contribute over and above the statutory requirements to our staff’s
pension and offer various financial benefits including professional subscriptions,
season ticket loans, child care vouchers, cycle scheme incentives and a generous
contribution towards student fees and paid study leave. We have a high
engagement rate with a wide range of extracurricular activities supported by the
practice including weekly football, yoga, and life drawing classes, endeavouring to
provide a supportive and stimulating environment for our team.”
Chris Castle - Managing Director
Granit Architects - www.granit.co.uk
“For our more established members of staff we offer a range of benefits including
Part 3 sponsorship, payment of RIBA and ARB fees, healthcare scheme with
Vitality, pensions, bonus scheme for management level, bike to work, some flexi
working, mobile phone contract, flu jabs, childcare vouchers and extra days holiday
for every year worked after 3 years. At Christmas we offer additional holiday on top
of allowance. The practice also has an active work/social programme, including a
summer and Christmas party, trips to exhibitions and previously an office trip to
Berlin”
James Munro – Director
Barr Gazetas - www.barrgazetas.com
“Nurturing staff is a key focus of our practice. We recognise individuals’ needs and
help balance their professional work around this. We have full time and part-time
roles, internships and work experience students. We have always tried to provide
the right culture at work to suit our diversity and flexible working arrangements.
Staff outings, in-house lectures and CPD are a key part of this.
We are members of many benefit schemes including childcare vouchers, cycle-to-
work, and season ticket loans, on top of time served increasing holiday allowance
and pension contributions. We particularly enjoy supporting our staff on courses,
training and with Part 3 fees. Being based just off Regent Street means we’re also
able to provide membership to the Regent Street Association card which offers 10-
20% discount from many retailers and restaurants.
We rely on our staff and recognising these needs goes a long way towards staff
retention and creating a healthy and happy place to work.”
Jon Eaglesham - Managing Director
Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt – www.acgarchitects.co.uk
“In the last year alone we have grown 100%, employing 20 members of staff into
new roles while investing significantly in our infrastructure in order to ensure our
team are motivated, supported and happy.
We are constantly expanding our benefits – flexible working hours, personal
pension financial advice, amongst others. We provide many opportunities for
development, from fortnightly CPD sessions, to mentoring, study leave, design
reviews, knowledge sharing, networking, with more to come.
We measure our staff’s engagement through consultation, 1:1s and we will be
doing a survey at the end of this year. We also do straw polls on our company
intranet, which has proved very popular.”
David Ayre – Director

11. 11
Cowper Griffith Architects - www.cowpergriffith.co.uk
Cowper Griffith’s enduring success and strong reputation rely heavily on the
imagination and hard work of our staff. We enjoy a low churn rate and a number of
our employees have been with us for well in excess of ten years. We love to
balance their experience with new ideas and a fresh perspective at student and
junior levels, resulting in a vibrant and friendly studio.
We are based near Cambridge, in a peaceful village location and in a well
landscaped setting. We do not encourage a ‘London culture’ of long hours and
burn-out. Instead, we rely on employees’ integrity in completing their work to a high
standard. Our staff relationships are founded on mutual trust, which we find to be
the best way to achieve and surpass targets, both enjoyably and sustainably.
We offer a flexibility in working hours to a number of staff, often to suit personal
circumstances. We also encourage the use of ‘cycle to work', organise regular
social events, architectural visits and award additional annual leave on a seniority
and time-served basis. Additional leave is also awarded over the Festive Season.
We provide full financial and time support to Part 3 candidates, pay all RIBA and
ARB subs, give all staff an annual budget for external accredited CPD and hold
stimulating in-house CPD sessions most weeks. We also encourage the sharing
of news and ideas through regular office meetings and presentations. Bonuses are
paid when financial performance allows.
Staff development is monitored via annual reviews, which also offer an opportunity
to discuss the coming year’s goals and indeed our shared long-term aspirations.
We have a 50:50 gender split within the practice, and work to create meaningful
career progression where appropriate, despite our modest size.
We are always working to improve the democracy of our design culture, and
increasingly see strong work emerging from charrettes, small competition teams
and democratic round-table sessions. We continue to benefit from high levels of
repeat and referral work, which is testament to the efforts of everybody in the team,
irrespective of role.
Simon Redman - Director
pH+ - www.phplusarchitects.com
“At pH+ we see the retention of our incredibly talented staff as paramount and do
everything we can to ensure that the massive contribution that they make is
properly recognised and reflected. We are very proud of our flat design hierarchy
and undertake regular design reviews where all members of team are invited to
contribute regardless of relative level or job description. We annually review
salaries by benchmarking against peer practices and immediately recognise
qualification milestones through salary reviews. Our company pension scheme and
office policies in regards to maternity leave etc exceed statutory levels. We ensure
that all our Architects maintain close links with the wider profession through
subsidised ARB and RIBA subscriptions.
Succession and career planning is central to our ethos and we regular review and
mentor our team to ensure they progress up through our organisation. We
encourage them to pursue individual areas of interest, which we see as enriching
the practice, by offering flexible working patterns and financial support where
relevant.
We try to be as transparent as possible with staff encouraged to engage in all
aspects of our business with no “glass ceilings”. Through this we have been able
to ensure that even in a practice of 25 clear career paths can be identified with
sufficient flexibility to accommodate external draws and influences whilst ensuring
we retain our collected experience, ethos, enthusiasm and drive. We are very
proud of our 50% female / male ratio with this increasing to 60% in our senior
management positions in the London studio.”
Andy Puncher – Director

12. 12
bpr architects - www.bprarchitects.com
We are a wholly employee owned practice - sometimes known as the ‘John Lewis
model’. Along with the benefits of sharing profits equitably among the whole team,
employee ownership engenders a spirit of collaboration and mutual support among
all of us. Our culture is built on working as equals and benefits are not viewed as
‘gifts’ from the business to the employee but as a means of making working life
easier and more rewarding for all of us. This means that day to day carer
responsibilities, personal appointments and special event leave is built in to our
respect for one another’s personal circumstances and life events. We also have
contractual benefits that are available to all of us at bpr.
Holidays – we have 24 days paid leave a year in addition to public holidays, with
an additional day for each year worked - up to 5 additional days.
Pension - bpr matches any contribution made up to 3% of annual salary. A
pension adviser visits once a year to meet with all staff individually; and is available
to advise by email outside of that meeting.
Professional Membership fees - we cover the RIBA & ARB, or MCIAT
membership fees for all qualified and chartered members.
Employee training – we support all relevant training and certification and will meet
all or part of the cost of these courses on a case by case basis.
CPD Allowance – in addition to in-house CPDs including those covering RIBA
Core Curriculum subjects, we all have an annual personal allowance of up to £250
to use on CPD related expenses, such as courses, lectures or conferences.
Study Leave – all RIBA Stage 1 and 2 study leave allowances are provided
according to RIBA regulation guidelines.
Cycle scheme- everyone is entitled to buy a bike through bpr before tax as part of
the cyclescheme.
Subscriptions - we subscribe to many professional magazines, both hard copy
and on line, and are members of professional and advice bodies voted for by the
team.
Paul Beaty Pownall - Director

13. 13
About 9B Careers
9B is a specialist architectural and design recruitment consultancy with 18 years’
combined industry experience. Following the referendum result, the architectural
jobs market has certainly become harder for jobseekers and finding the right
people for the right role takes experience, knowledge and a large number of
relevant contacts. In creating the perfect match, we aim to provide practices with a
strong platform to grow and candidates with the best opportunities to progress their
careers. Everything we do at 9B is about creating long term relationships for the
future.
If you would like to find out more about how 9B works and how we can support
you, please give us a call on +44 (0)20 8004 0369 or go to our website at
www.9Bcareers.com.
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