Market Trends 2022

After another turbulent year, we take a look at what Architecture and Design market trends we think will become mainstream in 2022.

Flexible working

2020 changed the way we work irreversibly as millions of us were forced to work remotely. 2021 saw hybrid working arrangements of 2 days in the office and 3 days from home become the norm. 2022 seems to be more about flexible working, or go in when you want to. People seem to want to have the choice themselves rather than it be dictated to them by their employer and some practices are responding in kind with offers of occaisional office work where neccessary but the majority of work being done from home. The attitude towards the office is still that it's a place to gather and collaborate in person, but only when it's absolutely necessary to do so.

Sustainability

As the discussion around climate change intensifies there is more and more demand for people with backgrounds and experience in Sustainability and Environmental Design. Towards the second half of 2021 we saw a big uptick in the demand for professionals with experience of developing Net Zero Carbon strategies and Life-cycle Carbon Analysis (LCA) across not only Architecture and design, but also construction. We expect this trend to continue.

DfMA & MMC

Design for Manufacture and Modern Methods of Construction went mainstream last year with lots of large architecture practices investing in building teams with DfMA & MMC specialists. This promises to be a game changer with promises of better use of materials, less waste and less cost as more of the build on projects is automated and less human labour is involved. Given the current housing crisis and the emphasis on carbon neutral buildings we see this as a sector to watch.

Skills Shortage

Most practices in 2021 felt the pinch of Brexit one way or another and this seems set to continue. The supply chain shortage is one thing but the lack of skilled architectural and design staff is a real issue. There are far less people from Europe in the UK than there was pre-pandemic and post Brexit. There are however some encouraging signs of skilled people who moved back to places like Italy or Spain, returning. As the pandemic wanes we believe the numbers returning to London will steadily rise again.