#queued 12/25/2022

[antvnger]

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[hiiragikiraifanblog]

(created on 12/24/2022, queued for 12/25/2022)

I HAVE MY DRAWING TABLET EQUIPPED!! muahaha anyways, hope y'all are doing well! ^^

[grumpygreenwitch]

The Fairy and the Prince #1 + #2 + #3 + #4

Part 1 - Part 2 - Parts 3 & 4 - Part 5 - Part 6, 7 & 8 - Part 9 & 10 - Part 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16 - Part 17, 18, & 19 - Part 20, 21 & 22 - Part 23, 24, 25 & 26 - Part 27, 28, 29 & 30 - Part 31, 32, 33 & 34 - Part 35, 36 & 37 - Part 38, 39, 40 & 41 - Part 42 & 43 - Part 44 & 45 - Part 46 & 47 - Part 48, 49, 50 & 51 - Part, 52, 53 & 54 - Part 55 & 56 - Part 57, 58, 59 & 60 - Part 61, 62, 63, 64 & 65 - Part 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 & 72

Originally posted 9/1/2022, 9/14/2022 and 9/28/2022. Celebrating the FINIS of this story, I’ll be reposting it in its entirety once a day through February, starting today. It’s queued so that both the original posting and the reposting will come together for the final piece.

Again, thank you to all that read it, that liked it, that let me know so. I never expected to get as long as it did, but well, here we are.

If you’re new to the party, please bear in mind this was originally a speed-writing exercise. Editing has been minimal. Concurrency was a seat-of-the-pants thing, and if the spelling for names and titles matches from one chapter to the next I’m gonna be the first one surprised. All of that is getting cleaned up in post, and this is a story I’m definitely considering self-publishing, if only to see how that goes.

Prince Adam met Linden while escaping his geography lessons.

Geography is one of those things everyone should know and no one wants to learn. The Queen Dowager had commanded that it be taught to the mob of prospective heirs to the throne that she’d gathered in the Royal palace, among with many other sciences and arts. Then again, the same august and childless lady had also commanded that they be taught the finer points of fencing, wrestling and knife-fighting, so everyone had a good, if resignedly terrified idea as to how she meant to solve the matter of succession without actually making a choice and angering a niece or nephew. However, these were also the same people who’d agreed to drop off their kids at the palace and under her supervision.

In any case, Adam had no more fondness for his geography studies than any other of the Princes at hand. He was fortunate, or unfortunate, enough that, the youngest of the candidates at nine years, by the time his geography lessons rolled around the teacher, a dour old priest of the Tree-Father, was either already asleep, or nearly there. All he had to do was read quietly, peeking up, until the man started snoring.

Which he’d done.

He’d only meant to slip out onto the balcony and sit on the ornate stone railing. But the day was lovely and still young, and he’d realized that one of the gutters ended not too far from the balcony, the spout carved like a horse’s head. He’d leapt lightly onto it and charged into many a battle on his moss-painted steed before a nearby cornice had caught his eye. From there he’d climbed several fashionable false arches, like a great explorer over vast mountain ranges. Then he’d leapt and caught an old arrow-slit by his fingertips, and climbed further up, until he could tip-toe along a gutter made slick by decades of rain-feed moss.

By then he was nearly six stories off the ground.

He stalled after having raced along a lip of brick, mortar and stone barely wider than his fine leather slippers, which he’d already thrown off at some point between mountain-exploring and harpy-fighting (there had been three particularly angry swallows with nests under another balcony). The gutter there ended in a fish-head spout, and there the palace itself turned in a sharp corner, rather than a round tower curve.

Adam glowered at the lack of further road in impotent anger. After a few minutes, however, anger grew boring with no one there to look upon it, and he put his mind to more practical concerns. He was a clever young man, forced by circumstance to become even cleverer, struggling to leave childhood behind just to survive the deadly competition he found himself in. He was a lovely child, a little on the slim side, with his father’s curly black hair and his mother’s (and grand-aunt’s) narrow, firm features, black brows and deep blue eyes, pale skin quickly growing pink because no one could keep him out of the summer sun for long.

A decorative ledge above him caught his eye. It was a mirror of the one he was standing on. On his tiptoes, he couldn’t reach it, his fingers just shy of the goal. If he leapt, though…

He glanced over his shoulder. Far below he could just see the tops of the trees, swaying in the afternoon breeze like fretful nannies. Beyond them were the muddy grounds of the expanding Royal Gardens, and beyond that was the dark green smudge of the Hunting Woods. But there was no one to tell him no, and so he leapt.

He caught the ledge, and almost immediately his right hand slipped. The ledge was, he realized belatedly, much larger than he’d expected, and at a slant, meant to shed water off from whatever might lie beyond it. Years of rain had left it as slippery as the gutters.

He tried to find the ledge below his feet, but he was just high enough that his questing toes couldn’t reach it. He tried to grip the ledge once again, but couldn’t find a place that wouldn’t spit out his fingers. His left hand was slipping, and for the first time it occurred to prince Adam that he might have been a mite unwise in his choice of entertainment for the afternoon. Grunting with effort he tried to lift himself up one-handed onto the ledge.

His left hand slipped.

Adam was weightless for a single, fragile moment, the tiny space between his heart beating and his breath catching.

Then he realized there was a small, strong hand gripping his left wrist, and looked up into the face of the most extraordinary creature he would ever meet in his life.

The stranger laughed, a merry and carefree sound, the ringing of cheerful bells. “You’re not very good at this, are you?”

They were wearing mismatched clothing, pants too big and tied with twine around the waist, folded many times over at the leg, shirt worn so thin the sun shining at the edge of the roof behind them showed skinny arms and a slender, graceful neck. Their hair was white and fine, tipped in dark gold, a halo around a fine-boned, acorn-brown face. But their eyes…

Their eyes were shattered glass.

Adam blinked, enthralled. They were brown and green, blue and hazel; it was as if someone had taken chapel windows and made them into eyes, glorious and random and full of lights. He fought to grip the ledge with his right hand, and finally found a spot willing to meet him halfway. “It’s my first time climbing this high up!” he protested.

The stranger, brown and lithe and mismatched in every way, laughed again, glad and guileless, and helped Adam scrabble onto the ledge.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” the Prince asked.

The stranger jerked back in surprise, blinked pointedly, and then squinted at Adam. “Nothing. What’s wrong with yours?” they challenged.

“Nothing,” Adam replied, flopping onto the ledge, which was far larger than he’d expected, the slate and stone of it sun-warm. “Other than they’re boring, I suppose.” He rolled over, trying to catch his breath. The blue sky above him vanished behind that white-haired face, far too close to his. “Gah!”

“What’s boring about them?” the stranger demanded. “I think they’re lovely. Like a bluebird’s feathers.” They reached out to try and pry at Adam’s eyes, and the prince swatted that hand aside.

“What are you doing? It’s rude to touch people without their permission!”

Fine white brows went up. “Should I have asked permission to catch you when you slipped?”

“That’s different,” Adam sat up, and his new acquaintance, kneeling by him, leaned back on the heels of their bare, muddy feet. “Of course you don’t ask someone if you can save their life, you just do it. But when it’s not important, you should always ask. It’s good manners.” The young prince flopped back down again. “Thank you for catching me.”

“You’re welcome,” the stranger seemed to be mulling on Adam’s words, and once again that fine-boned, brown face filled his field of view. “I don’t think you’re boring. I liked how you fought the swallow-harpies.”

“Have you been watching me all this time?!” Adam burst up to a sitting position again.

“Yes,” his savior admitted blithely. “It was much more exciting than me just climbing to catch the sun.”

“Catch the sun?”

“Yes, see?” The stranger reached into a pocket of their oversized pants and pulled out something that gleamed too brightly for Adam to really see, something warm and golden like fat drops of honey held in the cup of that muddy, small hand. “It’s not a lot.”

“It’s more than I could ever get,” Adam replied, intrigued. “I didn’t even know you could catch the sun like that.”

“Well, it is tricky,” they admitted, a delicate fluster on the brown and high cheeks revealing faint green freckles as they pocketed the sun drops again.

“What do you even do with it?” Adam asked curiously, examining his feet and finding them incredibly filthy; for some reason this pleased him immensely.

“I bring them into the woods, where the normal sun doesn’t reach.”

“Oh, that would be so helpful to everything there!” Adam exclaimed, and his companion flushed even deeper, all unnoticed. By the time the young prince turned to face them, they were sitting cross-legged next to the boy. “By the way, I’m prince Adam Lestrelle. But it’s fine to just call me Adam.” He offered his hand, trying to make the gesture very grand and grown-up.

“Oh, Adam’s a good name. Better than Prince, anyways, there’s too many Princes here, it’d get confusing really quickly. I think you might be the only Adam.”

“I am,” he admitted. “I’m also the youngest. And you?”

“Ugh.” The stranger took Adam’s hand; their grip was strong, dry, warm, like wood softly polished by age and use, and warmed by summer daylight. “Me too. I hate it. There’s nothing good about being the youngest.” They licked their lips in thought, and then nodded, seeming to have come to a decision. “You can call me Linden.”

“Like the tree?”

“Yes.”

Adam considered. “It suits you.” He leaned closer a bit and sniffed, making Linden look at him curiously. “You smell like them, too.”

Linden shoved him. “Of course I do!” They sprung up to their feet, and offered a hand. “Come on, then. Palace won’t climb itself!”

There was a challenging, welcoming grin on Linden’s face, as bright as the white of their hair. Adam grinned back, took their hand, and let them help him to his feet.

***

By the time someone noticed the youngest prince in the palace was missing, it was suppertime. By the time he was found, seven people had been fired, three had been threatened with beheading, and the Dowager had written increasingly scathing letters to the monastery that provided her with teachers. Adam was dragged into a bath, sunburnt and windburnt and eyes full of wild glee, soot-black from where he’d made his way into an unused chimney and climbed down and out through the hearth. Linden had shown him the chimney, and watched him begin his descent. “Be careful, Adam,” they’d warned the prince, those shattered eyes gleaming in the setting sunlight. “I can’t catch you if you fall here.”

“There’s steps, it’s fine. A baby could climb this. Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Maybe.” Linden had laughed. “You know where to find me.”

He was grounded, and quickly forgotten once again. The problem with that, of course, is that it’s hard to keep a young boy in a giant palace grounded if you start ignoring him. He slipped out through the cellar once, when he’d been given punishment duty there. The master-at-arms lost track of him in the training yard, busy with the older boys whom he actually had faith in. He climbed up the beams in the stables when he was supposed to be doing punishment detail shoveling hay, and slipped out through the open shutters where hay bales where shuttled back and forth. Twice he climbed out of windows, his own and the one in the secondary library. He nearly fell once.

Linden was always there to catch him, with a merry laugh and those shattered, many-colored eyes. The palace rooftop and the cool dark woods were their playground, and they went everywhere together. In shallow cisterns and tiny pools carved out of the stumps of fallen forest giants Linden showed him impossible fish that spoke in tiny strings of bubbles, like pearls from a spilling necklace. They fought with imaginary swords, back to back, defending against savage barbarians and wicked pirates and murderous raiders, legions upon legions of them. It was always his ideas that they chased after, but Linden never seemed to mind falling in with the young prince’s wild imaginings.

In the end, with summer growing heady and sweet and hot, he got grounded for good, his windows barred shut while the sour-faced, pinched-mouthed man that handled the princes made “other accommodations”. His door was barred and there was a guard set upon it, and he couldn’t force the windows open even a little bit. He’d tried to climb out of his hearth, but it shared a chimney with something that had a fire going at all hours of the day.

So he’d hid in the laundry pannier.

The staff panicked. How had their charge slipped out? How had he made it past the guard, the barred windows, the locked door? People dashed in and out, but no one thought twice of the laundry basket, least of all the burly-armed maid that carried it down to the boiling pools of lye water. Someone shouted when Adam squirmed his way free, but in the vast forests of laundry hung to dry hardly anyone could see him, let alone catch him. He scrabbled over a stone wall and raced along the top, leapt onto the low eaves of the kitchen, sprinted away and clambered up a gutter, thanking each water spout he passed by name, as Linden had taught him. He was almost to the top when his feet went out from under him and he slammed against the edge of a steep roof with punishing force, blowing all the breath out of him. His grip slipped.

A strong, tiny, brown hand caught him by the wrist. “Are you ever gonna get any better at this?” Linden accused him cheerfully.

“I hope so,” he admitted, groaning.

“That took forever!” Linden helped him onto the roof, and Adam flopped down on his stomach to catch his breath. “What happened, where have you been?”

“They locked me up.” Adam sighed.

“Uuuuugh!” Linden dropped to sit next to him, playing with the black curls of his hair. “Are they even allowed to do that? You’re their prince!”

“I’m one of, like, fifty princes, Linden.” Adam felt himself relax at last under that familiar, friendly touch, like a bird making a nest of his hair. “And I’m the youngest. I’m never gonna be king, so they don’t care.”

“If they don’t care, why’d they lock you up?” Linden sprawled on their back next to him.

Adam turned his head to look at them, frowning a little as he put his words together; that, he’d learned from no teacher in the palace, but from his mother, who hadn’t wanted to leave him behind. “Because I made them look bad,” he explained at last. “When you’re a prince, they have to know where you are and what you’re doing, always and always. And if I told them about you, they’d say it’s too dangerous and wouldn’t let me do any of it.”

“That’s so dumb.”

“Right?” Adam was silent for a long moment. “What about you? What does your family think of me?”

“They think I’m very silly for spending time with you,” Linden tucked their arms under the gold-tipped burst of their white hair. “But they’ve always thought I’m silly.”

“You’re not silly!”

“Well, of course not.” Linden looked pleased at Adam’s staunch and immediate defense. “But they think everyone that’s young is silly, and I’m the youngest, and you’re the youngest. So we’re twice the silly.”

“Ugh.” Adam was very familiar with that sort of thinking, and kept as much distance between himself and it as possible.

“And who cares what they think anyway.” Linden whipped upright. “Now come on, I found a stork’s nest!”

Adam sprung up to a sitting position. “With storks?!”

“How else would I know it’s a stork’s nest? Come on!”

***

He came back, of course, he had to. Hunger brought him back.

“Are they going to lock you up again?”

“Probably,” Adam admitted as they meandered over the narrow edge of a high partition, soaring high above a private courtyard on one side and a small kitchen’s garden on the other. “It won’t be forever,” he told Linden when his friend’s face fell. “I’ll find some way to get out, I promise.”

“What do they even want from you?” Linden demanded. “If you’re not going to be king, why can’t they let you be?”

Adam found that an excellent question and, when he was dragged once again before Master Leminy, after the sour-faced, prune-mouthed man was done with his shouting and berating, he asked it. The Master of Scions swelled up like an angry toad. Adam would know, he’d recently made the acquaintance of several of the creatures.

The truth of the matter was, Everidge Leminy had tried to get Adam sent home. Repeatedly. But he couldn’t very well explain to the Dowager why he wanted the boy gone without admitting that he was balking the entirety of the palace staff and, mostly importantly, master Leminy himself. Admitting to such a failure might well cost the Master of Scions his job, and the rank and power that came with it. The first time he had excused it as the teacher’s failing. There wouldn’t always be someone else to blame, and the Dowager would not eschew even one boy. There was talk of a prophecy, of a fairy curse that she was trying to escape, ergo there being no children of her own. But master Leminy was too busy a man to believe in fairies.

He did believe, however, that the shameless, reckless brat before him would keep on vanishing. No one could watch a child every moment of the day; no one should have to, which made it all the more infuriating, because Adam was forcing him to do exactly that, and falling behind in his studies to boot. The latter wasn’t terrible, it could be readily excused by his youth, by having to compete with peers who in some cases more than doubled him in age. But eventually someone would make a comment to the Dowager, and she would start asking questions of Master Leminy.

Faced with uncomfortable risks and unwanted variables, Leminy shifted tacks. He clapped his hands and pressed his laced fingers to his mouth. “Prince Adam. It occurs to me that your life in the palace must be unbearably boring.”

Adam, who knew grown-ups never speak to a child with that sort of make-believe respect unless they want to set a trap, was instantly on his guard. “It’s alright,” he admitted neutrally, wary.

“You’ve no peers,” Leminy replied. “No one to do childish things with. I believe Prince Rickard is… thirteen?”

“He’s twelve,” Adam replied. And a bully, he didn’t add, but gosh he was thinking it very loudly.

“Just so.” The Master of Scions kept from gritting his teeth at being corrected, but it was a close thing. “I will make you a deal. I will find friends for you. I will set aside time from your schedule so you can do,” he flapped a hand, “whatever it is children do. But in exchange you must attend your lessons without fail.”

Adam nearly cried out agreement in delight. But as his many escapes made clear, he was a clever young boy. “How much time?”

“Three hours every day before supper.” Which were hours Adam would have had free anyway, until new teachers could be found from the monastery; the Dowager’s letters had not impressed them. “But you will have to make them up; no more free mornings during the end of the week.”

Adam chewed on his lip restlessly, his hands in his pockets. In one of them Linden had thrust an empty snail shell, and he ran his fingers restlessly over the rim. Was it a good bargain? It sounded like one to him, but the source made him nervous. And would the Master of Scions stick to it? He had no reason to. He could throw Adam up in a high tower cell and leave him there forever, until his hair grew as long as his nails and he forgot what the green world looked and felt like. “I don’t need paid-for friends,” he murmured.

“Of course you do! Every young boy needs friends!”

Adam saw the trap then. They wouldn’t be friends; they would be Lemony-Leminy’s spies. That made much, much more sense. And so, as graciously as he knew a prince should, he agreed. They both left the meeting quite satisfied, even if Adam was being marched off to another punishment detail in the kitchens, and Leminy was off to wrangle an impossible little urchin’s schedule into something suitable for a would-be king.

***

Summer quickened into fall, and then into winter. Linden warned Adam that they wouldn’t be able to come once the snow fell, and the young prince spent the time after their last parting forlorn behind the glass-paned windows of the palace. For lack of anything better to do he applied himself to his lessons, half forgotten during the golden warmth of better days. He found in himself a surprising aptitude for things he’d learned with half an ear and a tenth of the interest they should have been originally given. His teachers didn’t question their good fortune; they merely rushed to catch him up while they had his attention.

The ‘friends’ Lemony-Leminy had promised him had come the day directly after his talk with the Master of Scions, and they were no better or worse than Adam had expected. Older, of course, he’d expected no different. Unfortunately for master Leminy, when you might grow up to be a king, the politics of getting people to do what you want them to do take up a good part of your education. Adam made it clear to the three boys that if they left him alone and asked no questions he would return the courtesy, effectively getting them paid for doing whatever they wanted with their afternoons. All they had to do was meet with Adam briefly after his lessons so they could agree on a likely tale to tell anyone who asked, and not get caught the rest of the time.

Two of the boys had been thrilled with this agreement. The third tried to stick to his purpose, until he discovered that it entailed trying to follow the young prince as he climbed up walls and raced along roofs like a squirrel. After falling one time too many, he wisely gave up before he hurt himself irredeemably, and contented himself with scowling at the young prince every time Adam took off through paths best suited to cats and thieves.

Winter left him stuck with the boys, and while they weren’t bad sorts, Adam couldn’t forget that they weren’t his friends. They were paid to stick around, paid to tell master Leminy what he did with his time, paid to try and keep him busy. He’d offered for them to accompany him in his lessons, but while all three had agreed, it quickly became obvious the only one with a real interest was Beliwick. To the other two boys it was just time spent away from unwanted chores with a valid excuse.

“Is she pretty?” one of the boys asked one afternoon, his voice just this side of a taunt.

Adam jerked back to reality. He’d been staring out the window at the snow-choked grounds of the palace, willing spring to arrive faster, hoping for just one sprig of green, one touch of color, to let him know his best friend would come back soon. “Who?” he asked in confusion.

The two boys, Dane and Oliver, where sprawled by the hearth playing dice. Beli, who’d been painstakingly reading one of Adam’s math primers, a gift of the prince to him, glanced cautiously at them and then ducked his head low.

It was warning enough for Adam, who dragged himself with an effort to the present.

Oliver, the oldest of the boys, snorted. “Whatever girl you’re pining after.”

“Ugh,” Adam made a face to go with the groan. “You’re getting too old to be my friend if you think I’m interested in a girl, Oliver.”

The smirk went right out of their faces, and Adam saw Beli hide a grin.

“I’m waiting for spring. I’m tired of being inside forever and forever,” he explained.

Dane flopped on the warm slate before the hearth. “The whole world is,” he agreed easily enough. Dane was not a bad sort; he was simply lazy. He would always agree with whatever was easiest. “Winter’s dragged on this year.”

“Well, it needs to drag away faster,” Adam groused.

Winter, of course, would be rushed away by no one, but it eventually did give way to spring. By then, much to his teachers’ astonishment, Adam had caught up with and surpassed a few of his peers in his academic studies. It didn’t occur to most of them that it was because he had nothing to do but read.

Rain fell on the day of his birthday, rather than snow, and he took comfort from it. He was invited to tea with the Queen Dowager, who asked the questions expected of her station and his studies, and seemed distractedly pleased over a boy from whom she expected very little, if anything at all. Just before supper he was dragged before the Master of Scions, along with prince Rickard and four more miscreants, one of them Dane. Everyone ended with punishment duties to go along with their black eyes and bloody lips, but since it was the first time Adam had landed a punch on the older boy, he counted it an improvement and the best birthday gift so far.

[andrisims]

Eu postei 123 vezes em 2022

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Eu marquei 122 posts meus em 2022

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#and lets talk about the fact that i'm photosensitive and a single minute of pink flashing can leave me a seisure as a gift 😪

Meus principais posts em 2022:

#5

Catherine Viejo appreciation post pt 2 (pt 1 here)

She is definitely one of my favorite sims.

27 notas - publicadas em 4 de setembro de 2022

#4

Ver o post inteiro

30 notas - publicadas em 28 de maio de 2022

#3

My Tanmeric (tankeric?) contribution of the day!

Thanks @budgieflitter for inspires me to post more of this guys!

45 notas - publicadas em 17 de abril de 2022

#2

Mr. Mole

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Meu post nº 1 de 2022

Apparently you can also poop pink soup...

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Veja a sua Retrospectiva 2022 →

[jackluvsdaniel]

I posted 2,540 times in 2022

That's 2,540 more posts than 2021!

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I sent 1 gift in 2022

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

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176 notes - Posted August 11, 2022

#2

Not speculation exactly, but definitely spoilers for 6x04

Your Heart is the Softest Place | Buddie | 1.5k | ao3

Eddie is wiping down the counters and debating the wisdom of another beer before bed when his phone chimes with a new text from Karen. 

Karen: Came home to my wife and your man drunk and maudlin at my dining room table.  

Eddie rolls his eyes. Karen was fully on board the Buck and Eddie train and wasted no opportunity to poke and nudge at Eddie in the hopes that he’ll finally give in and do something about his “angsty, epic schoolboy crush.” Personally, Eddie thinks she’s just hoping for better gossip on their wine nights. 

Eddie: What’s going on? 

Karen: I have no idea. Buck was mumbling about fathers? I’m too tired to deal with two of them, Eddie. I poured Buck into an Uber and sent him to you. 

Eddie: Ha, thanks for that! I’ll handle Buck. Good luck with Hen. 

Karen: 😠 

He snorts and slides his phone back into his pocket. Grabbing Buck’s favorite turtle mug from the cabinet, he gets the kettle going and grabs the peach ginger tea Buck has them all obsessed with. It’s definitely too late for coffee and obviously Buck doesn’t need a beer, but something warm and soothing before bed can’t hurt. 

Eddie knows Buck has been struggling. Everyone at the station can see it and most of them think he's having a hard time with losing Lev. He is, but Eddie knows that’s only part of it. Buck has been floundering for months, but he’s not talking to Eddie about it. If he’s drinking it out with Hen, maybe he’s ready to share what’s going on in his head. 

He hears keys scratching at the lock and hurries to open the door. He can’t help the grin when he opens the door to a disgruntled Buck, glaring moodily at the keys in his hand. 

“Hey Buck.” 

Buck raises his head and Eddie’s breath catches. Buck’s eyes are red rimmed and sad. Karen said they were maudlin, but that’s so unlike typical drunk Buck that Eddie is shocked to see it. 

He reaches out and wraps a hand around Buck’s, pulling him into the apartment. He leads him right into the kitchen and nudges him towards the table while he gets a cup of tea ready. Buck stays silent he whole time, ramping up Eddie’s worry. He places the mug down in front of Buck and sits. 

“Buck,” he says, unsure of how to start but stops when Buck grimaces and won’t meet his eyes. 

“I can’t be a father. Hen’s right,” he mumbles, reaching for the tea.  

Eddie sucked in a sharp breath and grabbed Buck’s reaching hand. He kept his grip strong and hoped it was comforting Buck. 

“What the hell are you talking about? Why would Hen say that?” 

Buck’s eyes widen and he shakes his head. “No, not...I said that wrong, but...” 

“But what, Buck,” he asks. “Because from where I’m sitting, you’re a great father.” 

Buck’s head snaps up, searching Eddie’s eyes. Eddie sits calmly and waits, letting Buck see exactly how serious he is about this. With a quiet sigh, Buck drops his eyes and pulls his hand away to grab his mug. 

“I met with my friend today. The one I was telling you about?” Eddie nods and stands to make himself some tea and give Buck some space work through his thoughts. 

“He and his wife, they’ve been trying to have a baby and it’s just not happening for them.”  

Buck takes a deep, shuddering breath and everything just spills out. All of the soul searching he’s been doing. The self-help books and saying yes to opportunities and searching – he’s always searching for something. He explains the favor – sperm donation – and how he ran to Hen for advice. 

“God Eddie, I want to help them. I do. But Hen’s right...I’ll have to walk away and how can I do that? Can I see that kid grow up and know they’re not really mine...and just let go? But it’s an opportunity, right? And it would make them so happy.” 

And Eddie...Eddie is panicking. He’s leaning on the counter for support and trying to breathe but his mind is spinning. Because how can he ask Buck not to do this? This amazing, generous gift he could be giving these people - if he really wants to do it, can Eddie even try to talk him out of it? Does he have any right to have an opinion here? 

The thing is, Eddie knows Buck. He understands the heart of him in the most knowing and intimate way a person can. And he knows this will destroy Buck. If he gives them a child and walks away, he’ll never be able to live with himself. 

Buying some time, he grabs his tea and moves toward the doorway. “Come on,” he says, nodding his head towards the living room. “Let’s get comfortable and talk about all of that. You’ve been holding back for a while, huh?” 

“I guess,” Buck says unhappily as he follows, dropping down to sit in the center of the couch, leaving Eddie pressed close when he sits next to him. Eddie has no objection to that and presses their shoulders together in support. 

See the full post

184 notes - Posted October 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

434 notes - Posted July 27, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[starrysnowdrop]

I posted 1,782 times in 2022

450 posts created (25%)

1,332 posts reblogged (75%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@firelightmuse

@meepsthemiqo

@traveler-of-light

@porta-decumana

@voidsentprinces

I tagged 1,762 of my posts in 2022

Only 1% of my posts had no tags

#all queued up - 459 posts

#my mutuals - 301 posts

#asks and replies - 169 posts

#oc: paint it black - 144 posts

#yume aino - 141 posts

#evening reblog for those that didn’t catch it earlier - 122 posts

#i love (1) crystal catboy - 120 posts

#next day reblog - 109 posts

#source: meepsthemiqo - 106 posts

#ffxiv fanart - 98 posts

Longest Tag: 133 characters

#this was me in hiding the fact that i really wanted to ship yume with g’raha all along but never felt that i was good enough to do so

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

See the full post

112 notes - Posted July 12, 2022

#4

See the full post

211 notes - Posted March 10, 2022

#3

See the full post

218 notes - Posted January 6, 2022

#2

Why is Shadowbringers awesome?

Because the main villain, Emet-Selch, is a villain with some heroic qualities, while one of the most prominent heroes, the Crystal Exarch, is a hero with some villainous qualities. Subverting expectations, villains mirroring heroes and all that.

While it’s widely discussed in the fandom about Emet’s subversion of the villain archetype, the Crystal Exarch’s subversion of the hero archetype is not brought up nearly enough, and that makes me sad.

233 notes - Posted October 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

New Official Artwork of G’raha Tia via Twitter

1,160 notes - Posted August 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[hardynwa]

UK marks first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death

King Charles III on Friday thanked the public for their support in his first year as monarch and paid tribute to his mother Queen Elizabeth II on the anniversary of her death. In a short statement, the 74-year-old British head of state recalled the “great affection” for his mother, her life and public service. “I am deeply grateful, too, for the love and support that has been shown to my wife and myself during this year as we do our utmost to be of service to you all,” he added. Commemorations were low-key on Friday, with the king – who is at his sprawling Scottish Highland estate of Balmoral – not expected at any official engagement. He and his wife Camilla, along with the queen’s niece and nephew, attended nearby Crathie Kirk, the late monarch’s place of worship, for private prayers and a moment of reflection. Charles, dressed in a red tartan kilt, talked to well-wishers gathered outside the church after the event. His mother, who was on the throne for a record-breaking 70 years, died on September 8, 2022 at Balmoral aged 96 after a period of declining health. Flowers were left at the gate of the estate on Friday. Throughout her reign, she did not publicly mark her accession, as it was also the anniversary of her own father King George VI’s death in 1952. – Gun salutes – In London, the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery will mark Charles’s accession by firing a 41-gun ceremonial salute in Hyde Park from 12:00 pm (1100 GMT). Members of the Honourable Artillery Company — the oldest regiment in the British Army — will fire a 62-gun salute from the Tower of London from 1:00 pm. Both regiments were involved in firing the Death Gun salutes to mark the queen’s death, and the Proclamation salutes to mark Charles’s new reign. The king’s eldest son and heir, Prince William, and his wife, Catherine, will commemorate the anniversary with a small private service at St Davids Cathedral in west Wales. The couple posted a message on social media platform X, saying: “Today we remember the extraordinary life and legacy of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth. We all miss you. W & C” It was accompanied by a photo of the queen surrounded by her great-grandchildren. “As you know, I was unable to attend the awards last year as my grandmother passed away,” Harry told the charity event. “She would have been the first person to insist that I still come to be with you all instead of going to her, and that’s precisely why I know exactly one year on that she is looking down on all of us tonight, happy we’re together.” – Memorial – Elizabeth II’s death was a seismic event in British life. For most Britons alive, the queen was the only monarch and head of state they had ever known. During the 10-day official mourning period, tens of thousands of people queued for up to 25 hours to file past her flag-shrouded coffin as it lay in state in Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament. Even more packed the streets of London and the route west to Windsor Castle for the state funeral, which was beamed around the world to a television audience of millions. The queen was interred in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, Windsor, alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, who died in 2021, her father and mother, and the ashes of her younger sister, Princess Margaret. Earlier this week, the government announced that a national memorial to the late monarch will be commissioned “in due course”. In London on Thursday, there were mixed views about Charles’s first year. Some felt he had been right not to introduce sweeping reform too early. “He’s got a hard act to follow but he will I think change things,” Joanne Hughes, 61, told AFP outside Buckingham Palace. But despite 161 official engagements and tours of all four nations of the United Kingdom, others were indifferent about the new king — and the monarchy in general. “The monarchy is dying,” said nursing student Mimi Jaffer-Clarke. Read the full article

[emofloofchild]

I posted 380 times in 2022

That's 189 more posts than 2021!

7 posts created (2%)

373 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@lightning-jedi

@xmaruu11

@emofloofchild

@dailygtwscar

@wearewatcher

I tagged 244 of my posts in 2022

Only 36% of my posts had no tags

#chocolate man my beloved - 17 posts

#writember2022 - 16 posts

#nanowrimo - 12 posts

#nanowrimo 2022 - 12 posts

#my new favorite chocolate man video - 4 posts

#help - 4 posts

#plus 026! - 4 posts

#plus 021 and 026 - 3 posts

#:) - 3 posts

#!!! - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 115 characters

#some of the pictures were so low quality that i second guessed my knowledge of them but i technically knew them lol

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Writember 2022!

I have decided to do this again, mostly because I like creating the prompt list, lmao. Feel free to jump around if that's more your thing! :)

If you don't know a word, look it up yourself. No freebies here (el-em-ay-oh)

I'm posting this on August 1st, so be prepared for September 1st!

Lastly, this will be posted on my writing blog @emo-floof-child-writes so follow there to get the actual finished prompts! (They are gonna be Stranger Things themed for me because S4 has me by my throat rn). You can also see last year's there, if you wanna see more for whatever reason.

1 note - Posted August 1, 2022

#4

Lmaoooo. It's only August 6th and already I have written 16/30 of my Writember prompts...

The power of the Stranger Things brainrot is incredible. Also of the ones I queued today, (five total) most have some mention of Lumax and two focus on them. They are the only good [canon] couple.

[Except Jopper, I guess, but it's hard to write characters that are that age as a young adult].

But yeah! More than halfway done with my prompts! :D We out here, vibing!

2 notes - Posted August 6, 2022

#3

18 of the 30 prompts done, and the first two weeks are done!

And this is with three day breaks between prompts lmao. My brainrot is strong I guess.

Hopefully next update will be that week 3 is done, but I'm struggling on some of the prompts in week 3, so we'll see!

4 notes - Posted August 14, 2022

#2

Prompt 001 drops today! And I just finished prompt 020, meaning, I have the first 3 weeks done finally. My brain did not want to work on 020 specifically for some reason, and I was fighting it a lot.

It's not a great finished product, admittedly, but darn it all I beat the brain mush! Now it's only 22-25 and 27-30 left. Making it only 8 more prompts to do before I'm free of this mess that I put myself in lmao.

9 notes - Posted September 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

NaNoWriMo Update 1: 5,000!

I've written chapter 1 and started chapter 2! Ten percent of the way! :D See you in 3 days, for 10k words!

11 notes - Posted November 4, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[adrinetteapril]

It’s time for Adrinette April 2022! We are so excited for this year’s event and hope you all are too! Super huge thanks again to our mod @chocoluckchipz for making us another amazing calendar this year!

The Adrinette April discord came up with and voted on this year’s prompts. If you would like to be part of the prompt selection process in the future, or if you just want to hang out in a quiet little salt-free server that loves Adrinette, feel free to reach out to @purrincess-chat for an invite!

If you would like to participate in this event, use the prompts listed above (or below) during the month of April to create art, fic, gifs, music, cosplay, anything you want! Just be sure to @ this blog and use the tag #adrinetteapril2022. For the sake of this event and to prevent our mods from having to search several tags, please be sure to spell it ADRInette not ADRIEnette. As a reminder, you do not have to do the prompts in order, nor do you have to do all of them. This event is just a fun place for everyone to come together and make content for our two adorable teen heroes. Let your inspiration be your guide. There is no “wrong” way to participate so long as your submissions pertain to Adrinette. 

That being said, please keep in mind a few rules:

1. This is a salt-free event. Please keep all of your submissions free of heavy critique of the show/characters. This includes character/ship bashing. This event is centered around Adrinette, but please do not bash any other characters or ships in your submissions. Especially do not bash Adrien or Marinette themselves.

2. Please keep your submissions centered around Adrinette. Each of the sides of the love square will have their own subsequent months this summer. If you must include other sides of the love square, or other ships in your submissions, please be sure that the majority of it pertains to Adrinette.

3. This event is open to people of all ages. NSFW submissions are allowed, but please put them under a read more and tag them appropriately. 

4. Have fun!

Failure to adhere to the rules may result in your works not being reblogged for the event. 

Please be considerate to the mod team running this event. We often get a lot of submissions and take turns queuing them up so we don’t get overwhelmed. We will adjust the queue according to however many submissions we have that day. Please be patient and give us at least 48 hours before you message us with missing submissions. Sometimes yours is just in the queue. If 48 hours or more has past and we haven’t reblogged your submission, please reach out at that time. We promise to do our bests not to skip anyone, but sometimes things slip through. Please be sure that all of your submissions are appropriately tagged to ensure that we see them. 

We can’t wait to see what you all come up with this year! See you all in April!

Below the cut is a list of the prompts in order for those who cannot read the image.

1. AU 2. Hold Tight 3. Yes 4. Soulmate 5. Undercover 6. Cooking Together 7. Gifts 8. Just Friends 9. Buttercup 10. Lies 11. Picnic Lunch 12. Childhood 13. Truth or Dare 14. Old Fashioned 15. Fairy Lights 16. Dance 17. Love Letters 18. Rescue 19. Fencing 20. Shooting Star 21. Trapped 22. Late Night Calls 23. Fireworks 24. First Kiss 25. Sleepovers 26. Secrets 27. Ring 28. First Date 29. Hamster 30. Wedding

Happy Adrinette loving!

[ttlmt]

if this post is pinned, i have hit post limit

follow me @beesnatural

what is post limit? 250 posts across all your blogs. i have four active blogs so it’s easier than you’d think lol

what’s included in post limit? posting, reblogging, submissions, same-day deleted posts, queueing posts, drafting posts, etc. p much everything accept sending asks.

what happens when you hit post limit? you can’t post /draft/queue/submit anything until 9pm PST. anything that is scheduled/queued to be posted will be voided

how do you find out how many posts you have left/more about post limit? i use postlimit.com

-

have some memes i made for myself

record:

25 november 2020 - spanish destiel

3 december 2020 - nothing, 8:50pm

12 december 2020 - louis’ livestream

28 december 2020 - nothing

29 december 2020 - joint content

1 january 2021 - up until 3am nye, tpwk mv in the morning

8 january 2021 - idek?? homophobia

9 january 2021 - my own hubris

10 january 2021 - it’s not even funny anymore im just sad

11 january 2021 - i have clinical depression

13 january 2021 - destiel went canon on cameo late last night

14 february 2021 - DEAN AND CAS ARE MARRIED!!

21 february 2021 - dnp played phan edition cards against humanity and i am deceased also happy seven year blog birthday to me

1 april 2021 - april fools day and me trying to hit it at 8:45 when i had 20 posts left (i did it w/one minute to spare)

13 june 2021 - spn script leaked late last night and dan’s coming out anniversary today. also to spite my girlfriend.

18 june 2021 - destiel went canon last night in russian, taylor swift announced a rerecording of red, and dnp posted a joint picture and have finished moving in to their new house. it is 12:30pm. i am having a breakdown.

24 june 2021 - spn s16 finale: spn prequel reboot, j2 fallout confirmed, casbait, and more.

25 june 2021 - aftermath of yesterday + dan video

30 june 2021 - coty anniversary, lh1 announcement and single, misha is being a nuisance, and dean broke through the narrative to make destiel canon again

4 september 2021 - existence is a prison but deancas went canon after misha spoke at a panel AND louis livestream/doc came out AND im gay

4 october 2021 - misha collins is deranged and harry styles is pretty

31 october 2021 - halloween/harryween

5 november 2021 - 5 november 2021

12 november 2021 - red tv, all too well: the short film, louis tomlinson, and dan vs. phil announcement oh my

12 february 2022 - harry filming mv, winchesters prequel, ltwt, and just for shits and giggles

23 april 2022 - harry played coachella, louis played doncaster, 5sos looked hot, jensen is an omega, and misha is bisexual. it was also record store day.

5 sept 2022 - venice film fiasco and canon destiel somehow again

[architectnews]

RIBA News & Events 2021, London

RIBA Events 2021, Architecture Gallery London, UK Buildings, British Architects News

RIBA News & Events 2021

Royal Institute of British Architects Exhibition + Talks + Events in London, England, UK

15 July 2021

RIBA UK News

RIBA launches Fire Safety Compliance Tracker

Thursday 15th of July 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has launched a new tool for its members to record and share fire safety information.

The RIBA Fire Safety Compliance Tracker records how a project has been designed and developed in accordance with Part B (Fire Safety) of the Building Regulations.

It can be used to provide compliance information to the design team or kept internally within your practice to help your team track compliance and to confirm the architectural design aligns with the fire strategy

The Tracker is based on the International Fire Safety Standard: Common Principles (IFSS-CP) and its associated Framework.

Find out more about RIBA’s work to drive building safety regulatory reform here.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“This is a valuable new tool that will help architects to demonstrate the detailed steps they have taken to protect buildings and people from the risk of fire. We remain seriously concerned about the rising costs of Professional Indemnity Insurance and the increasing prevalence of fire safety exclusions, and hope this new Tracker will provide additional reassurance for brokers and clients. I strongly encourage all practices to start working with it on their projects.”

RIBA Fire Safety Expert Advisory Group Chair, Jane Duncan, said:

“2021 marks the beginning of long-overdue regulatory reform prompted by the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, subsequent Hackitt Review and vociferous calls from the RIBA and others for clearer, stronger and enforceable regulations. It’s clear the whole industry requires a culture change, and I’m proud of RIBA’s efforts to place architects at the forefront. That includes the introduction of fire safety mandatory competences and this new tool, which will guide critical decision making and assist members to demonstrate regulatory compliance.”

17 Jun 2021 RIBA invites students, practices and schools of architecture to trial The RIBA Compact ethical framework

Thursday 17th of June – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is encouraging architecture students, schools of architecture and Chartered Practices to trial The RIBA Compact – a framework designed to enhance student experience in the workplace.

The RIBA Compact sets out a series of commitments for Chartered Practices, architecture students, schools of architecture and the RIBA, including a requirement for clear contracts of employment for students, with no unpaid overtime and effective support in achieving PEDR requirements. Feedback from this pilot phase will help refine The RIBA Compact ready for its proposed roll-out from September 2021, when obligations for schools of architecture will form part of the new RIBA validation procedures.

The framework may potentially become a mandatory requirement of the RIBA Chartered Practice criteria from January 2022, subject to further consultation and formal approval.

RIBA President Alan Jones said: “The launch of The RIBA Compact is an important further step in our commitment to good employment practice and our help to manage expectations and commitments of employers, employees and our validated schools of architecture. We recognise the pressing need to support our members, practices and their employees in realising sustainable businesses, positive mental health and wellbeing, to help remove barriers to progression and provide equal opportunities for all those aiming to enter the profession. I encourage everyone eligible to take part in the pilot and help shape a framework that will help deliver the results we all need.”

RIBA Council Student Representative Maryam Al-Irhayim added:

“Architecture students and young professionals have the right to be treated fairly and safely in the workplace, and The RIBA Compact will help ensure they are supported in their journey to becoming qualified architects. I’m excited to see The Compact come to fruition and as an elected representative for students, I urge student members to help trial this framework. I guarantee you won’t regret it.”

Architecture students/graduates, Chartered Practices and schools of architecture can sign up for the trial before 12 July 2021. To find out more visit: https://ift.tt/3i9ZnSJ

16 Jun 2021 Committee on Climate Change warns UK homes at risk of overheating and flooding – RIBA responds

Wednesday 16th June 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the Committee on Climate Change’s latest assessment indicating that the UK is struggling to keep pace with climate change impacts. The report highlights the urgent need to mitigate risks to human health, wellbeing and productivity from increased exposure to heat in homes and other buildings.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“This is a damning assessment of the UK’s climate action progress. Architects have key skills and experience needed to mitigate some of the disastrous effects of climate change – and we are committed to supporting them through initiatives including the 2030 Climate Challenge.

But the Government must also step up and set adequate regulatory standards. The proposed means to address overheating within the Future Buildings Standard remains far too basic; the Heat and Buildings Strategy is long overdue; and we still lack a clear plan to retrofit existing homes – not only to reach net zero, but to improve the quality of life for those who live there.

I hope this assessment prompts the Government to go further and faster, and recognise the importance of architects and good design.”

10 Jun 2021 Record high for private housing sector – RIBA Future Trends May 2021

Thursday 10 June 2021 – In May 2021 the overall RIBA Future Trends Workload Index increased by 6 points to a balance figure of +30. This indicates a level of optimism about future workloads among architects not seen since 2016. 40% of practices expect workloads to grow in the coming three months, half (50%) expect them to remain the same, and 10% expect it to decrease. These results indicate that recovery continues.

May’s standout trend was in the private housing sector, which at +42, is the highest Workload Index for this sector since the Future Trends survey began (2009). Almost half (48%) of practices expect workloads to grow in this sector.

The commercial and public sectors are also increasingly positive with the commercial balance figure up 2 points to +9 and the public sector gathering a little momentum, with a rise of 2 points to +5. The community sector remains in negative territory, posting a balance figure of -3, down from -2 the previous month.

In terms of practice size, confidence among small practices (1 – 10 staff) rose with a future workload balance figure of +27, an increase of 7 points. Confidence among large and medium sized practices (11 – 50 and 51+ staff) fell back somewhat, with a balance of +45. Nevertheless, a majority (55%) anticipate increasing workloads.

All regions anticipate increasing workloads over the next three months, with some reporting extremely strong levels of optimism. Practices in Wales & the West posted May’s highest balance figure, an extremely positive +55, with no practices expecting workloads to decrease.

Optimism in London continues to grow, with a balance figure of +22, up from +12 in April.  The South of England’s balance figure also improved further, with a balance figure of +25, up from +19 the previous month.

Anticipation of future workloads has dropped back in the Midlands & East Anglia, though it remains firmly positive; here the balance figure in May is +14, compared to +26 in April.  Similarly, the North of England has returned a strong but somewhat reduced workload balance figure; +37 in May, compared to +44 in April.

In terms of staffing:

The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index kept its steady climb and increased by 3 points to +14

19% (up by 4%) of practices expect to employ more permanent staff over the coming three months, whilst 5% expect to employ fewer.  Three-quarters (76%) expect staffing levels to stay the same over the coming 3 months.

Personal underemployment fell again and now stands at a to 16%, a level last seen in 2019.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“This month report indicates a strong and sustained recovery of the architect’s market from the lows of 2020. The Private Housing sector posted a record high for future work, and work from the Commercial and Public sectors are also set to continue to grow.  Practices in all regions are positive about the coming months, with notable hotspots in Wales & the West and the North.

The RIBA Future Trends survey indicates that the architects profession has so far successfully navigated the unprecedented Covid-19 storm and is in a better position now than many may have anticipated a year ago.

The additional comments received from architects aligns with the positive figures. Practices have reported strong levels of enquires, with many of these converting into appointments. Now is a generally busy period, with some new jobs queued until later in the year.

Whilst there are high levels of private housing work – from one-off extensions through to larger-scale work for developers – there are also reports of workloads growing in non-residential work.

28 May 2021 “A fraction of the investment required” – RIBA response to Government cash boost to cut carbon emissions

Friday 28th of May 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the Business and Energy Secretary’s announcements: £44million funding package and the Together for our Plan ‘Business Climate Leaders’ campaign.

RIBA CEO, Alan Vallance said:

“The funding announced today to improve the energy efficiency of our building stock is a step in the right direction. However, it’s just a fraction of the investment required to address the scale of the issue at hand.

The Government must urgently set out a comprehensive framework and publish its long-overdue Heat and Buildings Strategy. As outlined in our Greener Homes’ campaign, it must include a long-term policy and investment programme for upgrading the energy efficiency of our housing stock, and a National Retrofit Strategy, which incentivises homeowners to make the necessary changes.

I welcome the Government’s recognition of the important role small businesses will play in reaching net-zero. RIBA Chartered Practices, many of whom fit into this category, are already taking steps to reduce their carbon impact by signing-up to the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge – which calls on architects to meet net-zero (or better) whole life carbon for new and retrofitted buildings by 2030.

We will continue to support our sector to drive forward change. We must all play our part in tackling the climate emergency.”

24 May 2021 RIBA and Google Arts & Culture launch new digital partnership RIBA and Google Arts & Culture partnership

RIBA calls on Government to go further and faster to decarbonise housing stock

Friday 14th of May 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today commented on the Government’s response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s  Fourth Report – Energy Efficiency of Existing Homes.

RIBA President, Alan Jones said:

“The Government’s response to the EAC’s report does not demonstrate the urgency that is vital if we are to improve the energy efficiency of our existing housing stock and reach net-zero by 2050.

As our ‘Greener Homes’ campaign outlines, to drive real change the Government must implement a National Retrofit Strategy – a long-term policy and investment programme for upgrading the energy efficiency of our housing stock. We need substantial and sustained government funding, green finance options and incentives for homeowners.

Retrofitting and decarbonising our existing housing stock must be at the heart of the Government’s response to the climate emergency. We now eagerly await the publication of the long-overdue Heat and Buildings Strategy, and hope it provides the framework so urgently required.”

12 May 2021 Architects’ confidence remains strong – RIBA Future Trends April 2021

Thursday 11th of May 2021 – In April 2021 the overall RIBA Future Trends Workload Index fell by 5 points to a balance figure of +24, after an increase in March. Whilst the previous month’s optimism has moderated, expectations about future workload remain strongly positive.

Thirty-four per cent of practices expect workloads to grow in the coming three months, whilst most (56%) expect them to remain the same. The percentage expecting workloads to decrease has fallen to 10%. Practices of all sizes are expecting workloads to increase, with larger practices remaining the most optimistic.

All regions reported an expectation of increasing workloads over the next three months. London practices maintained a positive outlook with a balance figure of +12. The South of England remained confident with a balance figure of +19, although this is a drop of 13 points from last month’s high of +32. The Midlands & East Anglia went further into positive territory, up six points from last month, with a balance figure in April of +26. Wales & the West continued to report a firmly positive outlook, posting a balance figure of +31. The North of England remained the most optimistic region, with a balance figure of +44.

Among the work sectors, private housing remains by far the strongest, posting a balance figures of +35 in April (compared with +36 in March). All sectors are broadly steady in their outlook, although the community sector has dipped to a negative balance figure.

Like the previous month, the commercial sector posted a balance score of +7, maintaining a positive view of the workload to come. However, the accelerated trend to online shopping may continue to suppress the retail sub-sector, and future requirements for office space remain unclear.

Optimism about the public sector grew slightly this month, to +2, up from zero last month. The community sector dipped back into negative territory this month, posting a balance figure -2, down from zero last month.

In terms of staffing:

• The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index increased by 4 points to +11 this month. • 5% of practices expect to employ fewer permanent staff in the coming three months, while 15% expect to employ more. A clear majority (80%) of practices expect staffing levels to be constant over the coming three months. • Medium and large-sized practices (11+ staff) continue to be most likely to recruit permanent staff in the coming three months, with both groups posting strongly positive figures of +43. Over 40% anticipate some increase in permanent staffing levels over the next three months. • With a balance figure of +6, small practices (1 – 10 staff) also expect staffing levels to grow, although fewer smaller practices anticipate recruitment. • The Temporary Staffing Index returned a balance figure of +5 in April • For the first time since 2019, London has posted a positive permanent staff balance figure. Up from zero in March, April’s figure is +9, with 13% of practices anticipating recruitment. • The South of England (+6, up by two points) and the Midlands & East Anglia (+8, up by 6 points) are moderately optimistic about future staffing levels. • The North of England (+15, up two points) and Wales & The West (+13, down 5 points from March) remain comparative employment hot-spots. In Wales & The West, more than a fifth (22%) of practices expect permanent staff numbers to increase. • Personal underemployment fell to 18% (by 2 points) in April. Overall, since the onset of the pandemic, redundancies are at 3% of staff. Seven per cent of staff remain on furlough. Staffing levels are at 99% of a year ago. • The savage reduction in staffing levels that many feared at the start of the pandemic has not materialised.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said: “Whilst the overall Workload Index has fallen slightly and confidence has moderated in some areas, April’s Future Trends marks a consolidation of March’s surge in practice optimism. Practices are increasingly confident about longer-term profitability, with 16% expecting profits to rise over the next year and 39% expecting them to be steady.

Challenges remain for a significant number of practices, however, with 4% suggesting they are unlikely to remain viable over the next 12 months, and a third expect profitability to fall (although both these numbers continue to come down).

The commentary received in April describes a growing market for architects’ services – high levels of work and enquiries, with staff increasingly being brought off furlough to meet demand.

Work in sectors such as education is increasing but the fastest growth is in the residential sector, with projects such as energy retrofits, extensions and refurbishments needed to support home working. There are regional hot spots as people relocate, often from London. However, whilst there is more work, in many cases it is lower value than pre-pandemic. Practices have also reported that a slow pace of planning administration continues to put a brake on some projects.

RIBA continues to be on hand, providing support and resources to our members as they navigate these challenging times.”

11 May 2021

RIBA responds to the Queen’s Speech

Tuesday 11th of May 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the 2021 Queen’s Speech.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“Poorly resourced and mismanaged planning imposes permanent damage on our communities, environment and economy; I therefore welcome today’s promise to progress reforms to the planning system. But reforms cannot be used as an impulsive means to boost housing numbers at the expense of quality.

We urgently need well-designed, safe and sustainable homes and spaces that support and strengthen communities. This relies on utilising the expertise of architects from the outset, and taking tougher action against developers who fail to raise their game.

In addition to the Planning Reform Bill, I welcome the progression of the long-awaited Building Safety Bill and introduction of the Professional Qualifications Bill, which paves the way for post-Brexit agreements that are critical to the strength and success of the UK architects’ profession. We will continue to engage with the Government on these critical issues on behalf of architects and the society we serve.”

29 Apr 2021

RIBA pilots Health and Life Safety test

Thursday 29 April 2021 – Following the publication of proposed mandatory competence requirements, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today launched a pilot test to assess understanding of Health and Life Safety.

As outlined within The Way Ahead, Health and Life Safety is the first area in which UK Chartered Members would be required to demonstrate their competence, from 2023. Followed by Climate Literacy and Ethical Practice.

Hosted online at RIBA Academy, the test asks a set of multiple-choice questions within seven areas of assessment, to correspond with the RIBA Health and Safety guide:

Preparing to visit site

Undertaking site visits

Site hazards

Design risk management

Statute, Guidance and Codes of Conduct

CDM Regulations

Principles of Fire Safety Design

The RIBA currently seeks feedback on these assessment areas alongside those for other proposed mandatory competences. RIBA Members are encouraged to complete the survey by 17 June 2021.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“We must ensure our members have the knowledge, skills and experience needed to tackle the UK’s evolving building safety crisis.

The tragedy at Grenfell Tower, subsequent Hackitt Review, and more recent fire safety catastrophes have not only highlighted the urgent need to reform regulations, but to raise standards of professional competence across the construction industry.

I urge members to take this pilot test and offer feedback on the proposed areas of assessment to ensure we create a robust system that works for our profession and the society we serve.”

29 Apr 2021

RIBA signs Halo Code to protect against racial discrimination

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has signed the Halo Code – the UK’s first Black hair code – to protect the rights of staff who come to work with natural hair and protective hairstyles associated with their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities.

The Halo Code was developed by the Halo Collective and brings together organisations and schools who have made a commitment to work towards creating a future without hair discrimination.

Signing the Halo Code and embedding it into policies, is part of the RIBA’s work to make its workplace and the wider architecture profession more inclusive.

RIBA Director of Inclusion and Diversity, Marsha Ramroop said: “We are committed to nurturing a culture where our staff feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work. Despite being a protected racial characteristic, hair discrimination remains a source of injustice and by signing the Halo Code, the RIBA is taking a stand for racial equity. I encourage our members and practices to join us in driving out all forms of discrimination, by adopting the Code too.”

15 April 2021

RIBA opens £30K funding scheme for architecture students

The Hidden Seasons of Barbados, Shawn Adams, 2019 Wren Insurance Association Scholarship recipient:

Monday 26th of April 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today (Monday 26 April) opened applications for five RIBA Wren Insurance Association Scholarships, worth a total of £30,000.

The annual scholarships are open to students who are currently enrolled in the first year of their RIBA Part 2 course. Each recipient will receive £6,000 and the opportunity to be mentored throughout the second year of their Part 2 course by an architect from a Wren-insured practice.

The scheme, which was set up in 2013, has supported 40 recipients to date.

RIBA President Alan Jones said:

“Thank you to the Wren Insurance Association for their continued generosity to support architecture students, during a particularly challenging period. Scholarships and bursaries are an important part of our ongoing commitment to support students, and reward and retain talent in the profession, and we look forward to seeing the applications received.”

The deadline to apply is Friday 18 June 2021 and further information is available here.

Previously on e-architect:

15 April 2021 London architects confident again after 14 months – RIBA Future Trends March 2021

Thursday 15 April 2021 – In March the RIBA Future Trends Workload Index rose by 12 points to a balance figure of +29. This is the highest Workload Index balance figure since May 2016. In the last 12 months, the index has risen by an unprecedented 111 points.

All regions are becoming more positive about future work. London is the largest architecture market in the UK and, for the first time since February 2020, practices there are anticipating increasing workloads in the coming months, with a balance figure of +18 an increase of 21 balance points from -3 in February.

Forty per cent of practices expect workloads to grow in the coming three months, whilst just under half (49%) expect them to remain the same. The percentage expecting workloads to decrease has fallen again and now stands at 11% (compared to 84% a year ago). Optimism about future workloads continues to be driven by the private housing sector, although the outlook for all sectors is improved from last month.

Practices of all sizes are expecting workloads to increase, with larger practices the most optimistic. March feels like a significant turning point. The outlook of Small practices (1 – 10 staff) again rose strongly. In March small practices posted a future workload balance figure of +27 up fourteen points from February’s figure of +13. Confidence among Large and Medium sized practices (11 – 50 and 51+ staff) remains strong, with an overall balance score of +42, up 13 points on last month’s figure of +29.

March sees the South of England grow in confidence, with a balance figure of +32 this month, up from zero last. The Midlands & East Anglia has risen further into positive territory up fourteen points from last month to +20. Wales & the West posted a balance figure of +33 in March, the tenth consecutive month of a positive outlook. The most positive region this month is the North of England, with a balance figure of +47. Here only two per cent of practices expect workloads to fall, and almost a half (49%) expect them to grow.

Among the four different work sectors, private housing remains by far the strongest. However, all sectors are again up on last month, and no sector is negative. The private housing sector rose by a further 7 points to +36, a balance score that is higher than at any point since June 2015. The commercial sector returned to positive territory for the first time since the pandemic onset with a balance score of +7. Both the public sector and community sectors eased out of negative territory this month, but only just with both posting a zero balance figures.

In terms of staffing: • The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index increased by 3 points to +7 this month. • 7% of practices expect to employ fewer permanent staff in the coming three months, while 14% expect to employ more. A clear majority (79%) of practices expect staffing levels to be constant over the coming three months. • Medium and large-sized practices (11+ staff) continue to be most likely to recruit permanent staff in the coming three months, with both groups posting strongly positive figures. • On balance, small practices (1 – 10 staff) expect staffing levels to grow somewhat, with a balance figure of +6 (up from +1), though 80% of small practices anticipate staffing levels to stay the same. • The Temporary Staffing Index returned a balance figure of +5 (up from +1 in February). • London remains least optimistic with a zero balance figure in March (though this is up from -8 in February). Eleven per cent of London practices expect to employ more permanent staff over the coming months with the same proportion expecting to employ fewer. • The South of England (+4) and the Midlands & East Anglia (+2) are cautiously optimistic about upcoming recruitment. • In line with workload expectations, the North of England (+13) and Wales & The West (+18) are the areas in which practices are most likely to expect growing numbers of permanent staff. • Personal underemployment remained at 20% in March, and staffing levels remain at 96% of a year ago. • Overall, since the onset of the pandemic, redundancies remain at 3% of staff. Seven per cent of staff remain on furlough. Eighteen per cent of staff are working fewer hours.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“With the vaccine programme underway, and workload prospects improving across sectors, regions and practice sizes, March’s Future Trends data shows a profession firmly optimistic about future work.

Personal underemployment has dropped from a high of 42% to 20%. Practices are more confident about their longer-term prospects, with 13% expecting increased profitability over the next year, and 29% expecting it to hold steady. However, the extremely positive rise in confidence does not mean that the challenges practices face have evaporated. Four per cent of practices think they are unlikely to remain viable over the next 12 months. Forty-three per cent, after an already extremely difficult period, expect profitability to decrease over the coming year.

The commentary received in March continues to describe a housing sector performing strongly, particularly smaller-scale domestic work. Some practices report that there is more work available than they can take on.

However, practices also mention that such work may be of comparatively low-value, and subject to intense fee competition. Longer-term, the recovery in private housing needs to be matched by growth in the public, commercial and community sectors.

Nevertheless, March’s data confirms a remarkable restoration of confidence among practices during an unprecedented 12 months.

We continue to be on hand, providing support and resources to our members as they navigate these challenging times.”

1 April 2021 RIBA responds to Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report

Thursday 1 April 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today responded to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report.

RIBA Chief Executive, Alan Vallance said:

“Systemic racism and discrimination clearly exist in the UK. We must fully acknowledge and understand this, so we can tear down the barriers and drive out injustice.

Some of the biggest built environment challenges of our times – from the climate emergency to substandard housing and fire safety – particularly impact underrepresented racialised groups and these are very high on the agenda for the RIBA and our members.

The RIBA does not absolve itself of responsibility in tackling racism and in recognising our own history. We know that people who face racism are less likely to progress in our industry, and we are working to ensure that architecture is open to all, regardless of background or circumstances. We will continue to listen to underrepresented racialised groups and work to address their concerns within our organisation and sector.

We acknowledge the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report which includes some insights, for example around the term BAME and unconscious bias training. We are already taking steps to tackle these, amongst other measures.

We will take time to review the report in depth, and continue to use our influence, networks and platforms, as we work towards a better, more inclusive, built environment.”

22 Mar 2021

RIBA endorses House of Commons report on energy efficiency of existing homes

Monday 22 March 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has responded to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee’s (EAC) report, ‘Energy Efficiency of Existing Homes’.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“This is a timely and well-reasoned report that outlines clear measures to make our homes more energy efficient.

I particularly endorse recommendations to implement a national retrofit strategy and pilot stamp duty rebates for homeowners that improve the efficiency of their homes within the first year – measures we’ve been calling for through our Greener Homes campaign.

Proposals to reform EPC methodology to focus on the actual performance of buildings are also encouraging, and critical to reaching the Government’s net zero target.

We need urgent action to address our shamefully inefficient housing stock – and this report shows how that can be achieved.”

11 March 2021

RIBA Future Trends in February

Thursday 11 March 2021 – Residential sector propels architects’ confidence – RIBA Future Trends February 2021

In February 2021 the RIBA Future Trends Workload Index increased by 14 points to +17, a level of confidence not seen from architects since early 2020.

Nearly a third (32%) of practices expect workloads to grow in the next three months, up from 28% (in January), whilst just over half (52%) expect them to remain the same. The number of practices expecting workloads to decrease has also fallen from 25% to 16%.

Optimism has been driven by the housing sector, which surged by 20 points this month to a balance figure of +29. Whilst it remains the only sector in positive territory, all other sectors saw a rise. The commercial sector saw the highest, up 16 points to a balance figure of -2; the public sector rose 2 points to -1; and even though the community sector posted the lowest at -6, this marks an improvement on the previous month’s figure of -15.

In February, the outlook of small practices (1 – 10 staff) rose significantly, posting a balance figure of +13, up fifteen points from January’s figure of -2. Confidence among large and medium sized practices (11 – 50 and 51+ staff) also remains strong, with an overall balance score of +29. Among these groups, 35% expect workloads to increase, and just 6% foresee a decrease.

All regions, except London, expect an increase in workloads in the near-term. Having briefly entered positive territory the previous month, London posted a negative figure of -3.

This month’s survey also asked respondents how they felt about the future of the workplace. Overall, results indicate that once a return to the office is possible, there is currently no appetite to resume pre-pandemic work patterns. Only 13% of practices expect to recall everyone to the office; almost a quarter (26%) see the future being a blend of office and home-based work; 20% look to leave the decision to staff; and 41% said they will continue to work as they are now (though how people work now is varied, with some practices already including an element of office-based working, when government restrictions allow, whilst others are fully remote).

In terms of staffing:

The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index remained at +4 this month. It has been consistently, though only slightly, positive since October.

6% of practices expect to employ fewer permanent staff in the coming three months, while 11% expect to employ more. A clear majority (83%) of practices expect staffing levels to be constant over the coming three months.

Medium and large-sized practices (11+ staff) continue to be most likely to recruit permanent staff in the coming three months, with both groups posting strongly positive figures.

On balance, small practices (1 – 10 staff) expect staffing levels to be steady, with a balance figure of +1.

The Temporary Staffing Index returned a balance figure of +1, suggesting the market for temporary staff is positive, but only by a small margin.

London remains most likely to anticipate decreased numbers of permanent staff in the next three months, with a staffing balance figure of -8; down four points on last month. The South of England also remains cautious about upcoming recruitment, with a balance figure of zero.

Future recruitment is more likely outside of London and the South: the Midlands & East Anglia returned a figure of +6, the North of England +10, and Wales & The West at +21.

Personal underemployment fell slightly at 20%, down from 22% in January.

Staffing levels remain at 96% of what they were twelve months ago. Overall, redundancies stand at 3% of staff; 7% remain on furlough and 16% are working fewer hours.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“As the route out of the pandemic becomes clearer, not least due to the roll-out of the vaccination programme, February’s figures demonstrate a turning point – practices are starting to feel more optimistic about the future.

It’s clear however, that this increased confidence is partly dependent on the residential sector, fuelled by homeowners relocating or adjusting their homes to accommodate remote working, and question marks remain over the sustainability of this trend. Furthermore, practices who are reliant on work outside of this sector are yet to see their workloads increase.

Whilst the data suggests there is not currently a significant appetite to return to pre-pandemic work patterns, we also know that homeworking continues to create productivity challenges, not least because childcare and home-schooling have been impacting the working day. Commentary received from our respondents indicates that this is disproportionately impacting women.

5 + 3 March 2021 RIBA reacts to 2021 Budget

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has published an initial response to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s 2021 Budget. RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“Whilst the Chancellor’s focus is understandably on mitigating the impact of the pandemic, the measures announced today do little to reassure me of the Government’s commitment to reach net zero or drive a green economic recovery.

Some of today’s announcements – such as the UK Infrastructure Bank and green gilts – could help our economy grow back more sustainably, but that depends entirely on future investment decisions. The money pledged must be used to create green jobs and fund energy efficiency programmes such as a National Retrofit Strategy.

Taken alongside the personal allowance freeze, the corporation tax rise will have a significant impact on RIBA members and hints at wider tax changes to come. It’s therefore vital that the Government looks at how the tax system could also help tackle the climate emergency. By reviewing reforming mechanisms to incentivise sustainability the Government could successfully drive the green economic recovery that is desperately needed.”

12 Feb 2021 Architects’ confidence remains fragile – RIBA Future Trends January 2021

In January 2021 the RIBA Future Trends Workload Indexremained positive (at +3) despite the turbulence of Brexit and a third national lockdown. Whilst 25% of practices expected workloads to decrease in the coming three months, 28% forecasted an increase. Just over half (51%) expected workloads to hold steady.

The South of England was the only region to post a negative workload balance figure this month, a fall of 10 points (to -2), although optimism also decreased sharply in the North of England (falling from +29 in December to 0). London posted a positive workload balance (+1) for the first time since February 2020. Other regions – the Midlands, East Anglia, Wales and the West remain in positive territory.

Among the four work sectors, the private housing sector was the only one to remain positive, at + 9. Having posted positive figures in December, the public and commercial sectors fell back to negative territory in January, posting -4 and -18 respectively, suggesting an expectation of falling workloads. The community sector continues to stall, falling to a balance figure of -15 in January, down from -8 in December.

Large and medium sized practices (11 – 50 and 51+ staff) remain confident; 53% expect workloads to increase, and 13% foresee a decrease (overall balance score of +39). Small practices (1 – 10 staff) however fell back into negative territory in January, posting a workload balance figure of -2, down from +4 in December.

With the UK and EU’s new trading agreement in place, the survey for the first time monitored the impact of Brexit on the attitudes of architects. Overall, the new agreement is perceived to have a negative impact on the profession; 15% more architects expect it to lead to a decrease in workload than an increase. Architects indicated they expect key areas to be detrimentally affected by the new agreement: 41% stated this to be the case regarding availability of skilled on-site staff, 54% regarding recruiting/retaining architects from outside the UK and 63% regarding the availability of building materials.

In terms of staffing: • The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index rose again in January (+4, from +2 in December). • In the next three months 83% of practices expect staffing levels to remain the same, 7% expected to employ fewer permanent staff, and 10% expect to employ more. • Medium and large-sized practices (11+ staff) continue to be those most likely to recruit permanent staff in the coming three months, with both posting strongly positive index figures. Smaller practices are more likely to expect staffing levels to hold steady, having posted a January Staffing Index figure of zero. • The Temporary Staffing Index returned a balance figure of zero in January, suggesting the market for temporary staff will remain as is. • London remains the region least likely to anticipate increased staffing levels in the next three months – returning a negative balance figure of –4. The South of England is also cautious – returning a balance figure of -6. Recruitment is more likely in the North of England (+14) and the Midlands & East Anglia (+8). • Personal underemployment stands at 22%, a slight increase on last month’s figure, but within historical norms, and significantly below the high of 42% in the first lock-down. • Staffing levels are 96% of a year ago. Overall, redundancies stand at 3% of staff. Seven per cent of staff remain on furlough.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“It’s promising that the profession has overall maintained a positive outlook. However, with a decrease from +10 in December to +3 in January, it’s clear that the ongoing uncertainties presented by both Brexit and the third national lockdown are having an impact on confidence.

Disparities persist across regions, practice sizes and notably sectors. That only the housing sector returned positive figures, clearly indicates the limited commitment of resources to construction, from both businesses and government.

Whilst there are some promising signs, for example London reporting its first positive workload balance for 10 months, this increase is marginal (+1), and must be tempered by the fact that the commercial sector, so important to the profession in this region, remains fragile.

Sustained growth of the profession, particularly in the centres of large cities, will rely on a broad-based recovery that encompasses not only the housing sector, but also the public, commercial and community sectors. This recovery is unlikely to happen whilst we remain in lock-down but can be spurred and accelerated by timely government stimulus and investment.

photograph © Adrian Welch

6 Feb 2021 RIBA responds to launch of Government’s school rebuilding programme

5th of February 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today (5 February) responded to the Government’s launch of the first phase of the School Rebuilding Programme.

RIBA President Alan Jones said:

“Well-designed schools have the power to shape society – improving the attainment, behaviour, health and wellbeing of every child.

As the government’s ten-year rebuilding programme gets underway, it is crucial to focus on the delivery of good quality design, sustainability and safety. To ensure the best outcomes for students, teachers and the taxpayer, the government must commit to monitoring the performance of the new buildings once they are in use through Post Occupancy Evaluation – and use these findings to ensure each project is better than the last.

Furthermore, vital safety measures including the installation of sprinklers must also be prioritised in the design of new and maintenance of existing school buildings. Alongside the CIOB, RICS and NFCC, the RIBA is continuing to call for this to be mandated.

This is a critical opportunity to have a transformative impact on the lives of future generations – the government must get it right.”

Background:

In May 2016 the RIBA published the Better Spaces for Learning report – outlining how good design can help ensure that capital funding for schools stretches as far as possible, and supports good outcomes for both teachers and pupils.

In May 2019, the RIBA responded to the Department for Education’s review of Building Bulletin 100 – design for fire safety in schools. The Department for Education asked experts to help review the Building Bulletin 100, which is a design guide for fire safety in schools. Our response highlighted the importance of the inclusion of prescriptive baseline requirements on life safety measures, for example, maximum travel distances, ventilation, protected lobbies and refuges. Read all RIBA responses to government consultations on fire safety.

In October 2020, the RIBA issued a joint statement with CIOB, NFCC and RICS, calling on the government to require the installation of sprinklers in schools, including the retrofitting of sprinklers in existing school buildings when relevant refurbishment takes place.

19 Jan 2021 RIBA publishes findings of Architects Act amendments survey

Monday 25 January 2021 – 8 out of 10 think mandatory competence requirements are important – RIBA publishes findings of Architects Act amendments survey.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today (Monday 25 January) published the findings of its survey of the architects’ profession on proposed changes to the Architects Act.

The 502 responses have informed the RIBA’s official submission to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) consultation on proposed changes to the Architects Act, which has also been published today.

From ensuring building safety to tackling the climate emergency, the areas prioritised by respondents reflect the challenges facing our industry and society, and the role architects must have in addressing them.

Findings of the RIBA survey reveal:

85% of respondents acknowledge the importance of mandatory competence requirements in promoting standards and confidence within the profession;

75% believe that an architect’s competency should be monitored at regular intervals throughout their career;

70% think fire safety is the most important mandatory competence topic;

68% want to prioritise health, safety and wellbeing; 67% legal, regulatory and statutory compliance; and 50% sustainable architecture as mandatory competence topics;

More than half of respondents (59%) want either planning or building control or both to be regulated functions.

In response to the survey findings, RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:

“This consultation is a defining moment – a real opportunity to ensure all current and future architects in the UK have the education, knowledge, skills and behaviours to make a positive impact on the built environment.

The fact that the majority of the profession wish to retain the regulation of title and expand into regulation of function, demonstrates the vital and holistic role that architects know they must have to effectively deliver their expertise.

We will soon be launching our mandatory Health and Life Safety requirements for RIBA members and will work with the MHCLG and ARB to coordinate practical competency measures for the whole profession to adopt.

We also continue to call for urgent reforms of building safety regulations and procurement systems, and for an appropriately funded education system for future architects. These will help to ensure that the profession can deliver buildings that meet the quality, safety, and sustainability expectations of society.

In light of post-Brexit agreements on professional qualifications, we will support the allocation of new ARB powers to negotiate international agreements that will assist UK architects in designing, delivering, and globally upholding the highest professional standards.”

Read the executive summary of the survey findings

Read the RIBA’s response to the consultation on proposed amendments to the Architects Act

19 Jan 2021 Winners of 2020 RIBA President’s Medal for Research and Research Awards

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the recipient of the RIBA President’s Medal for Research and the winners of the President’s Awards for Research, which celebrate the best research in the fields of architecture and the built environment.

The winner of the 2020 RIBA President’s Medal for Research is Richard Beckett from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, for ‘Probiotic Design.’ Through exploring the integral role of bacteria in human health, Richard proposes a design approach that reintroduces beneficial bacteria to create healthy buildings.

2020 RIBA President’s Awards for Research

18 Jan 2021 RIBA comments on proposed ‘Right to Regenerate’ policy

Monday 18th January 2020 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has commented on government’s proposed ‘Right to Regenerate’ policy, announced today.

RIBA President, Alan Jones, said: “While giving a ‘new lease of life’ to unloved buildings might seem like an easy win that could speed up the development of new housing or community spaces, the process of procuring these empty properties – and criteria for acquiring – must be carefully considered. This policy has the potential to help regenerate local areas, but this must be done with the highest regard to quality, safety and sustainability – it’s essential the government moves forward in the right way.”

14 Jan 2021 RIBA Future Trends – 2020 ended with fragile growth in confidence

Thursday 14th January 2021 – In the latest set of results (December 2020), the RIBA Future Workload Index returned the highest balance score (+10) since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst 20% of practices expected a decreasing workload in the coming three months, 29% expected workloads to increase. Just over half expected workloads to hold steady.

Confidence was beginning to return beyond the Private Housing Sector (+14, up two points from November). Both the Commercial and Public Sectors returned to positive territory for the first time since February 2020 – the Commercial Sector at +1, up from -19 in November and the Public Sector at +2, up from -7. The Community Sector recorded an improvement although remained negative, returning a balance figure of -8 this month, up from -13 in November.

Confidence among large and medium and sized practices also continues to strengthen. Smaller practices have returned to positive territory after a dip in November.

Reports of personal underemployment are lower than they were a year ago. Workloads are reported to have rallied too; during the first lockdown they stood at 67% compared to twelve months ago; December results (taken prior to the third lockdown) were 95%.

London based practices remain negative about future workload with a -6 balance score in December, up slightly from -7 last month.

All other regions are positive about future workload: the Midlands & East Anglia returned to positive territory with +7 in December; the South of England at +8; Wales & the West at +22, up from +15 in November and the North of England was the most positive in December at +29 – the most positive outlook for the region since 2019.

Concerns about future practice viability remain, though have lessened. Overall, 3% of practice expect falling profits to threaten practice viability. 46% expect profits to fall over the next twelve months, 34% expect profits to stay the same, and 9% expect them to grow (8% don’t know).

In terms of staffing:

• With a slight increase on the previous month, the RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index returned a figure of +2 in December. • 84% of practices overall expect permanent staffing levels to remain consistent (up from 81% in November). • 7% expect to see a decrease in the number of permanent staff over the next three months (the same figure as November). • 9% expect permanent staffing levels to increase (up from 8% in November) • The anticipated demand for temporary staff has stayed the same as in November, with the Temporary Staffing Index falling at -1 in November • London is the only region to return a negative permanent staffing index figure (-9) – down from -7 in November • In London, the balance figure for permanent staff is -7 (up from -8 in October) • The Midlands & East Anglia are anticipating a falling number of permanent staff. In contrast, other regions are positive, notably Wales & the West (+9) and the North of England (+8). • Personal underemployment is back down to 20%. That’s lower than both last month’s figure and that of December 2019. At both times the figure was then 22%. • Staffing levels are currently 96% of their level a year ago. Overall, redundancies stand at 2% of staff. 6% of staff now remain on furlough.

RIBA Head of Economic Research and Analysis, Adrian Malleson, said:

“The growing optimism seen in our December results is heartening, with workloads being just 4% lower than they were a year ago and an increase in confidence in the commercial and public sector areas. However, additional commentary stresses the twin uncertainties of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. Understandably, these make 2021 a highly uncertain year and the construction market may get worse before it gets better

The disparity in confidence between regions continues. In December London results continued to highlight a concerning set of indices: future work predictions, future staffing levels, assessment of future practice viability and personal underemployment, which are all lower than elsewhere.

Some practices report projects being held up by delays in the processing of planning applications but there are also reports of Public Sector workload beginning to increase.

It is a mixed and changing picture but with an overall growth in confidence. Whilst this confidence is likely to falter in the current lockdown, there is hope that it will return, once restrictions are eased.

RIBA comments on new UK-EU relationship

Monday 4th of January 2021 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today commented on the new relationship between the UK and EU.

RIBA CEO, Alan Vallance, said:

“Since our initial response to the post-Brexit trade deal struck on 24 December, the RIBA has taken time to consider the terms negotiated and the implications for our profession.

Since the referendum, the RIBA has strongly called for the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and it’s therefore disappointing to see this has not been agreed. Going forward, the ARB has an opportunity to negotiate a new recognition route with the EU, and we will be working closely with ARB colleagues and members to help shape such an agreement.

In terms of trading goods, while tariff-free importing and exporting should benefit UK construction long-term, we know that certain processes including the certification and declaration of products have – or will very soon – change, and all businesses will need to adjust to new measures.

As we all familiarise ourselves with this new UK-EU relationship, the RIBA is on hand to support members and practices adapt accordingly.”

Visit www.architecture.com/Brexit.

RIBA News 2020

RIBA News & Events 2020 – recent updates below:

24 Dec 2020

RIBA reacts to news of post-Brexit trade deal

Thursday 24 December 2020 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today responded to the post-Brexit trade deal struck between the UK Government and EU Commission. RIBA CEO, Alan Vallance, said:

“Today’s news of a post-Brexit trade deal is no doubt a relief for many. But while this deal provides us with some certainty around the future relationship between the UK and EU, hesitation and vagueness around trade in services remains a serious concern for our profession. Architects in both the UK and EU were clear about the need for a continued agreement on recognition of professional qualifications, and it is deeply worrying that this does not seem to be part of the deal as it stands.

It’s also disappointing to see that UK students are no longer eligible for the Erasmus scheme, given the clear benefits for young people. We therefore look forward to understanding more about the new Turing scheme referenced by the Prime Minister.

It’s our hope however that this deal will keep the costs of importing construction materials down and – current border issues aside – at least provide some confidence over trading in goods.

As ever, we will continue to support our members with guidance and lobby the government to invest in the skills and talent that fuels the success of UK architecture worldwide.” Visit https://ift.tt/38d1nWz.

17 Dec 2020

RIBA Future Trends – COVID-19 restrictions impact practice confidence and workload

Thursday 17 December 2020 – In November 2020, the RIBA Future Workload Index returned a balance figure of 0, meaning as many practices expect workload to increase as those who expect it to decrease. It’s the lowest figure since June and a fall from last months’ +9.

Confidence about future work strengthened among large and medium-sized practices (to +25), whilst smaller practices have returned negative predictions for the first time since June at -5.

2 Dec 2020

RIBA announces winners of 2020 President’s Medals

RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards 2020

RIBA News 2019

RIBA News & Events 2019

RIBA Summer Installation 2019

RIBA London Events information from RIBA

Location: 66 Portland Place, London, UK

RIBA Events Archive

RIBA Events, Awards & News Archive Links

RIBA Annie Spink Award 2020

National Museum of African American History and Culture building: photo © Darren Bradley

RIBA News in London

RIBA London Events – Archive

RIBA HQ at 66 Portland Place

RIBA Gold Medal for Architecture

Chartered Institute of Building

RIBA Awards

RIBA Stirling Prize

RIBA Honorary Fellowships

London Architecture Events

AA School Events

Bartlett School of Architecture Event

Comments / photos for the RIBA News & Events for 2021 page welcome

Website: London

The post RIBA News & Events 2021, London appeared first on e-architect.

[phgq]

NEDA pushes creation of data centers to hasten rollout of PhilSys

#PHnews: NEDA pushes creation of data centers to hasten rollout of PhilSys

MANILA -- Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia has called for faster movement on the establishment of data centers to accommodate the increased number of registrants in the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) starting next year.

“The data centers should already be in place right now, if not, at least by December so they are usable in early January 2020. We need to act more swiftly and ensure that we will have no delays in the implementation of the National ID. We want to complete the entire process on schedule, i.e., by mid-2022,” Pernia said in a statement.

The Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Policy and Coordinating Council (PSPCC), chaired by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), met on Friday to discuss the early results of pilot test registration held in September, and identify potential bottlenecks and issues to be addressed.

A total of 525 select individuals from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) beneficiaries and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) employees were registered during the pilot test registration conducted from Sept. 2 to 25, 2019.

Based on results from the pilot test, the PSPCC discussed ways to further reduce the processing time so as not to make people wait too long.

The processing involves screening, demographic and biometric capturing, and printing of transaction slip.

PSA Undersecretary and National Statistician Dennis Mapa said they will be expanding the number of registrants for the November to December rounds to capture more data, especially for registrants at ages 60 and above to develop better-queuing strategies before the official exponential rollout by June 2020.

For card production, PSA recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Under the agreement, PSA will take charge of the database management, the accuracy of the personal information to be placed in Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-produced blank cards, and undertaking the personalization, quality checking, and distribution of the IDs.

Acknowledging the complexity of implementing a secure national ID system, Pernia said government agencies must collaborate and help hasten the implementation of PhilSys.

He urged government agencies to overcome bureaucratic red tape, saying this is precisely what the PhilSys ID wants to reduce.

“We know that budget is limited and that government procedures, rules, and regulations can be very restrictive. But it is incumbent upon us to find new ways of doing things for all of us to be efficient and to make transactions hassle-free for citizens,” Pernia added.

The series of pilot test registrations will run from September 2019 until May 2020 before the mass registration scheduled in June.

The PSA aims to register almost all Filipinos in the PhilSys by mid-2022.

The PSPCC was organized under RA 11055, or the Philippine Identification System Act, “to formulate policies and guidelines to ensure effective coordination and implementation of the PhilSys”. (PR)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "NEDA pushes creation of data centers to hasten rollout of PhilSys." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1083751 (accessed October 22, 2019 at 12:27AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "NEDA pushes creation of data centers to hasten rollout of PhilSys." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1083751 (archived).