RSUA’s Council for 2026/27 held its first meeting, last Monday in 2 Mount Charles.
Following concerns about poor pay conditions for Part 2 graduates, a decision was made at the May Council meeting to issue a short survey to all students studying towards their Part 3. The survey was intended to gather information on the range of salaries paid to Part 2 graduates and was issued by the ARC-ex and QUB representatives on the RSUA Education and Careers Committee.
Ciarán Fox provided an overview of the survey’s results along with some context in relation to the National Living Wage, Minimum Wage and the average pay in both private and public sector within construction professions. Council members will discuss recommendations for RSUA actions at the next meeting.
Council members received a detailed report on the Publications Committee from Andrew Molloy. The Publications committee agrees the content and publication of Perspective magazine and Living Design. Andrew reported that in 2025/26, RSUA committees actively engaged with the Publications Committee to provide content for Perspective magazine. These engagements included the Women in Architecture group’s take over of Perspective magazine for International Women’s Day and the Climate Emergency Committee’s guidance on printed sustainability data for projects featured in Perspective.
RSUA honorary officers for the new term were appointed at this meeting. Joan McCoy was appointed as the Honorary Secretary and Martin Hare was appointed as the Honorary Treasurer.
Paul McAlister and Scott Caithness were announced as the two co-opted Council members for 2026/27. They will each serve a one-year term on RSUA Council.
As part of RSUA’s four year plan, a new Design Quality Panel for 2026-2030 was to be established. At the last Council meeting in May 2026, the process to appoint this panel was approved. 36 of the 45 architects nominated put submissions forward for Council’s consideration. Ciarán Fox reported that all 36 nominated architects achieved the 75% support required to be elected on to the panel. This panel will be reviewed on a yearly basis. The list of members of the new Design Quality Panel can be found here.
Each year, RSUA confers Honorary Membership to one or two individuals who have provided a significant contribution to architecture in Northern Ireland. Last year, the two Honorary Members were Ciaran McConnell and Peter Hutchinson. At the meeting, Council members were asked to consider potential nominations for the Honorary Member in 2026.
Ciarán Fox provided a report on the budget projections for the coming year.
Council will meet again Monday 14 September 2026.
