Practice News
Making a meaningful difference: our 2025 social value impact
by AHR
Social value isn't an add-on. It's embedded in everything we do — from the places we design and the expertise we share, to the people we support and the communities we engage with every day.
As a practice, we are guided by three clear objectives: championing a fair right to education for all, fostering inclusive and accessible communities and supporting improved health and wellbeing. In 2025, these commitments shaped our actions across every office and every service. We’re proud to share a total social value impact of £503,000.
Behind this figure are real stories of people inspired, barriers removed and communities genuinely strengthened.
Read our 2025 Social Impact Report here.
Empowering the next generation
The future of our industry depends on opening doors for talented people from all backgrounds. In 2025, we welcomed 51 students into work experience placements across our offices, providing 64 combined weeks of hands-on learning, across architecture, building surveying, interior design, project management, marketing and finance.
Our building consultancy team gave one student the chance to experience both services first-hand, working with our architectural team in Leeds before joining the building consultancy team in Huddersfield. Our Midlands team took work experience students to visit the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust construction site, where they then designed their own cancer centre from a real brief.
I now have a much clearer understanding of how architectural projects come together - from initial concepts to final execution - and it has strengthened my interest in pursuing a career in this field."
Harshith Gandi
Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Year 10We attended 23 events with schools and universities, worked with 39 schools across the country and dedicated 120 hours to mentoring 39 students through the RIBA Future Architects Student Mentoring Scheme. Seven apprentices were supported across the practice, building their confidence and capability alongside experienced colleagues.
Our RIBA AHR Scholarship continued to make a real difference. In 2025, we invited 2024 recipient Matthew James to join our Leeds team, where he worked on live project briefs, extended his placement and left with greater confidence in his practice. Since 2008, this scholarship has championed talented Part 2 architecture students from low-income backgrounds, because we believe that exceptional talent should never be limited by financial circumstance.
Places that deliver lasting impact
Our projects bring social value goals to life
Our people give generously — with their time, their skills and their energy. In 2025, we contributed more than 200 volunteering hours across the UK and supported 19 charities, raising £25,652.60 through 17 fundraising events.
Giving back to our communities
Our Glasgow team provided pro bono planning and building warrant services for Templehall Community Gym in Kirkcaldy, helping transform a former retail unit into a fully functioning community space in just five weeks. Since opening gym memberships have more than doubled.
In Huddersfield, our building consultancy team continued their longstanding support for the volunteer-run Honley Library, providing free professional advice for the third year running.
Director Karle Burford supported young people through SBY (South Bristol Youth), conducting mock interviews to build confidence and employability skills. Karle was also involved with the Bristol Property Inclusion Charter, through which he mentored students from Orchard School as they developed sustainable redevelopment proposals for The Galleries Shopping Centre.
Looking ahead
Our 2025 Social Impact Report captures the full breadth of this work — the projects, the partnerships, the people and the progress. It reflects our collective belief that the true value of what we do extends beyond the buildings delivered, it is the difference we make to the lives of the people who use them.
Read our 2025 Social Impact report here.
We’re proud of what we’ve achieved together in 2025 and we’re already looking forward to building on it in 2026. Find out more about our commitment to social value here.
Frequently asked questions
In 2025, we welcomed 51 students into work experience placements across UK offices, providing 64 combined weeks of learning in architecture, surveying, and design. We mentor 39 students through the RIBA Future Architects Scheme and support 7 apprentices, offering hands-on experience on real projects alongside experienced professionals.
Since 2008, our RIBA AHR Scholarship supports talented Part 2 architecture students from low-income backgrounds. The scholarship provides paid work experience on live projects, mentoring, and professional development. We believe exceptional talent shouldn't be limited by financial circumstance, helping students build confidence and career prospects.
Yes, we attended 23 school and university events in 2025, worked with 39 schools nationally, and organise site visits to real construction projects. We also support major educational facility projects including Passivhaus schools, college teaching blocks, and university buildings, plus careers events and student mentoring programmes.
We achieved £503,000 total social value impact in 2025 across education initiatives, community volunteering, charitable fundraising, pro bono services, and built projects. This represents real stories of people inspired, barriers removed, and communities strengthened through our work aligned to education access, inclusive communities, and health wellbeing.
Key 2025 projects include: Woodmill and St Columba's RC High School (world's largest Passivhaus-certified education building), Daphne Steele Building at University of Huddersfield (WELL Platinum certification), Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College teaching block in Leeds, Leek and Trestle Markets heritage refurbishment in Staffordshire, Buxton House residential transformation in Huddersfield, and Highgate Road accessible housing in Camden.
We contributed 200+ volunteering hours in 2025, supporting 19 charities and raising £25,652.60 through 17 fundraising events. Our teams provide pro bono services (like Templehall Community Gym in Kirkcaldy), ongoing support for volunteer organisations, youth mentoring for employability skills, and professional expertise to community organisations, embedding social impact in everything we do.
We have 9 UK offices including Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Huddersfield, Leeds, London, Manchester and Shrewsbury. Our regional presence enables deep community engagement and understanding of local needs whilst maintaining national expertise. Each office contributes to social value whilst responding to specific regional contexts and local partnerships.
Posted on:
Mar 25th 2026
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