RSUA Four-year plan approved at Council
20/01/2025
The RSUA Council met online today for their first meeting of 2025.
Following a process over the last 9 months, at the meeting on Monday Council agreed the RSUA four-year plan 2025-28. Full details will be shared with all members in due course.
RSUA was approached by The Department for Communities to take part in a series of engagement events to help co-design the new and improved building safety process for high rise buildings in Northern Ireland. The importance of an RSUA Building Safety working group was discussed at the meeting. Council Members were asked to consider joining this working group to ensure RSUA is adequately represented at these engagement events.
Plans for the 2025 RSUA Design Awards were also discussed at this meeting. Council Members were updated on the shortlisting process and the upcoming project visits. There was broad support from Council members to celebrate 25 years of architecture in the first quarter of this century at the awards in May 2025.
RSUA President John Lavery updated Council members on Council elections in 2025. There are seven spaces available on Council in 2025. A call for nominations will be issued in Spring and if more than seven nominations are received, there will be an election. All RSUA members will be invited to take part in a ballot.
Ulster University Staff Representative Rory Caithness will continue to seek an update on the number of Part 1 Graduates who were unable to secure a placement in 2024.
Council Members were presented with a draft Joint Statement on life safety following the Phase II Grenfell report. The statement was prepared on behalf of the five architectural institutes in the UK and Ireland. This was approved by Council with minor amendments.
Following a report from Honorary Treasurer Martin Hare on the membership figures and subscription income in 2024, it was agreed that Ciarán Fox will provide an analysis of RSUA members who have left RSUA in recent years at the next meeting.
Ciarán provided an update on meetings with Ministers that had taken place in December 2024. RSUA met with the DAERA Minister on 2 December 2024 and with the Infrastructure Minister on 11 December. Council also discussed agenda items to be raised with the Communities Minister for the meeting on 4 February 2025.
The RSUA Council will next meet in person on 10 March 2025.