The construction industry has a diversity problem, and the numbers make for uncomfortable reading.
Just 1% of registered architects in the UK are Black, despite Black and Black British people making up 4% of the population.
Women account for under 17% of the engineering and technology workforce (a figure that has been falling in recent years, as mid-career women leave the sector in disproportionate numbers). In planning, women hold fewer than one in five director-level positions in the private sector. These are not historical footnotes; they are the current reality of a profession that still does not reflect the society it serves.
Shape My City, Design West’s award-winning talent accelerator programme based in Bristol, is one of the most effective initiatives I have encountered in addressing this.
For five years, across two practices, I have championed it, and I am proud that Purcell is now among its sponsors.
The programme brings together 15-18 year-olds, prioritising young women, those from ethnically diverse backgrounds, and students from state schools: precisely the faces least represented in our sector. Each month, a different firm hosts a three-hour workshop revealing the breadth of careers available across the built environment. The model is straightforward, but the impact is profound.
Purcell engages with the programme through the lens of conservation architecture, and we have worked hard to make that feel as alive and hands-on as the discipline itself.
Participants have designed a new crest for the Creative Youth Network in clay, analysed the architecturally diverse streetscape of Broad Street to select a building for removal before designing a collage replacement, and this year created stained glass windows for the former Bridewell Crown Courts. These are serious creative challenges, taken seriously by serious young people.
The benefits run in both directions. Yes, this is good CSR, but it is considerably more than that. It is an investment in a richer, more resilient profession. The most transformative ideas in conservation and design will come from voices we have not heard yet. Shape My City is how we start listening.
