Complaints about a lack of diversity prompted Southwark Council to expand its new architects framework arose by bringing in another 14 firms. Seven of these practices are described as black-led.
The procurement strategy for the original ADS1 framework, managed by LHC, was designed to attract smaller, local businesses and new talent to work on the design of new council homes and other public sector projects. There was no specific objective to achieve diversity across the framework.
So an extension to the framework was created, which it calls ADS1.1. It says that the extension has been agreed with ‘the vast majority’ of the originally selected architects on ADS1.
To avoid accusations of positive discrimination, the council and LHC introduced a short-listing criteria that took into consideration equality, diversity and inclusion activities that applications had undertaken. And all 53 applicants for the extra places were interviewed. Of these 53, 24 were Asian led and 13 were black led.
With the addition of seven black-led firms to the framework, more than 15% of the practices on the overall framework can now be considered diverse, the council says.
Councillor Helen Dennis, cabinet member for the climate emergency and sustainable development, said: “This is a learning process and we still have far to go, I know that this is an unprecedented approach, and we will not stop at simply improving the diversity of the practices on our framework.
“However, the results we have seen clearly demonstrate our commitment to the leadership role we aspire to in addressing inequalities in the construction industry, and in putting right the complaints we received over a year ago. We had an incredible amount of interest and I sincerely hope that long term, we will attract even more businesses to work with who put equality, diversity and inclusion at the very heart of their practice.
“I hope that this in turn will open up opportunities for future architects from more diverse backgrounds in terms of ethnicity, people with a disability and women. Most importantly, I look forward to the exemplary housing that we build being designed by those who represent the rich diversity of our local community.”
Shona Snow, LHC regional strategy manager, said: “We have worked very hard with our partners, the practices appointed to the original framework and the wider industry to develop greater understanding into this area so that we can help to increase the opportunities available to a wider and more diverse pool of architects.
“We believe that this represents a significant step forward for frameworks and will be sharing our lessons learned so that we can help to improve practice across the industry. This includes how to evaluate how architecture practices address equality, diversity and inclusion, how to recognise good practice, and an understanding of the impacts that a positive approach to EDI has on design and final project outcomes.”
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