Equity + Inclusion Policy

A condition of credibility

Equity is not an adjacent commitment for a practice that draws on vernacular and indigenous intelligence and works with marginalised communities. It is a condition of being able to do that work honestly.

Architecture in the United Kingdom remains one of the least diverse professions. The Architects Registration Board reports that 31 per cent of registered architects are women, and that Black or Black British architects make up 1 per cent of the register against 4 per cent of the population. The causes are structural: the cost of qualifying, unpaid placements, long hours, and narrow professional networks.

How we work

Void Studios currently operates through its directors. The commitments below bind every appointment we make from the first, and describe a standard above our present size rather than a description of it.

• Roles advertised externally with salary ranges published, and degree requirements removed where they are not strictly necessary.
• The real Living Wage paid to all staff, interns, placements and competition contributors, and no participation in competitions requiring unpaid speculative work.
• Pay gap data published regardless of statutory threshold.
• Flexible working as a default, with caring responsibilities treated as a normal feature of working life rather than an exception to be managed.
• Registration as a supporter of the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter is planned in the next year, working toward membership thereafter.

Inclusive design

Approved Document M and BS 8300 are a floor, not a target. Inclusive and universal design principles are applied from briefing onwards rather than as a late compliance step, with neurodiversity, sensory accessibility, dementia friendly design and gender inclusive facilities considered in specification. Where a client declines a recommendation we would otherwise make, we record it rather than present the result as our standard.

Working across cultures

Working with indigenous and marginalised communities carries risk: of taking knowledge without consent, of speaking for people rather than with them, of taking credit that belongs elsewhere. We engage on the basis of free, prior and informed consent under UNDRIP. Community contributors are named on the same terms as professional collaborators. A defined share of project value returns to the host community through employment, training or programme funding, and we do not enter design awards in which a community partner’s contribution would be obscured.