Gender pay gap dramatically drops at Zaha Hadid Architects

The average gender pay gap at the UK's largest architecture studios has narrowed slightly year-on-year, with Zaha Hadid Architects seeing wage disparity fall by almost 10 per cent.

Official data from this year's UK gender pay reporting has revealed Zaha Hadid Architects' lowest median hourly gender pay gap since 2018 – dropping to 6.3 per cent since last year.

This means that, taken as an average, for every £1 earned by the middle-ranking man at the firm, the middle-ranking woman earns only 94 pence.

It compares to the studio's 2023/2024 statistics, which recorded a 15.8 per cent wage disparity at the company – equating to middle-ranking woman earning 84 pence for every £1 earned by the middle-ranking man for that year.

ZHA initiatives "leading to tangible results"

UK companies with over 250 employees are legally required to report pay gap statistics annually.

Overall the average gender pay gap at the studios required to report narrowed slightly from 15.4 per cent last year to 14.3 per cent this year.

Out of the architecture studios required to report Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) made the most significant improvements since last year.

"The percentage of women within ZHA's upper middle quartile of staff grew from 37 per cent in 2023 to 47 per cent in 2024, indicating a notable progression of women into more senior roles – which is reflected in the reduction of ZHA's median pay gap from 15.8 per cent in 2023 to 6.3 per cent in 2024," Zaha Hadid Architects chief executive Mouzhan Majidi told Dezeen.

"Our programmes and initiatives addressing ZHA's gender imbalance are leading to tangible results, and we are committed to continuing our efforts towards women being equally represented at all levels of practice."

Largest UK studios making small improvements

Alongside Zaha Hadid Architects several studios saw improvement including Foster + Partners, Hawkins\Brown, Sheppard Robson and TP Bennet, which saw the pay gaps dropping to 12.3 per cent, 11.7 per cent, 10.2 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively.

Studios Stride Treglown and BDP also made small improvements, although still coming in above the average at major firms at 16.3 and 16.4 respectively.

The improvement from Foster + Partners comes after last year's figures revealed the firm's widest pay gap on record.

While an improvement from last year, the company's pay gap remains higher than first reported in 2018. Additionally, this year's report shows a 32.4 per cent disparity between men and women's bonus pay at the studio.

Architecture pay gap average still worse than UK average

Despite some improvements, wage gaps across the industry remain higher than the overage average reported by UK companies, which has fallen each year since 2020, reaching 9.1 per cent last year.

Four of the 18 architecture studios required to file annual reports saw pay gaps worsen. Among the studios reporting the largest pay gaps were Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, PRP Architects, Ryder Architecture, HDR Consultin and Stantec and Allies and Morrison.

Allies and Morrison reported its widest pay disparity since 2018, despite the industry-wide drop.

Figures from its report reveal a rise in the pay gap from 13.3 per cent to 16.6 per cent over the last year – continuing a year-on-year rise since 2022.

This latest data means that, on average over the past working year, middle-ranking women at the company earned just 83p for every £1 earned by their middle-ranking male counterparts.

Alford Hall Monaghan Morris saw a rise in its pay gap to 17 per cent following three consecutive years of decline.

Data also revealed an overall increase in the studio's wage disparity from 12.3 per cent since reporting began in 2018.

HDR Consulting was among the worst-performing studios for the third year in a row, reporting a 36.8 per cent wage disparity. However, this has dropped from 40.1 per cent since the company became required to report in 2023.

Women account for majority of lowest paid roles

Additional figures reported for 2024/2025 show that women account for less than a third of employees in the top pay quarter at 11 out of 18 architecture firms.

Contrastingly, women accounted for more than half of this number at Grimshaw and the Architectural Association school.

They were the only companies reported as having no median pay difference for bonuses in the last year.

Statistics also revealed that women make up at least half of employees in the lowest pay quartile at 12 of the 18 studios.

Gender pay gap figures reported to the UK government are based on a snapshot taken in early April each year. Of the architecture studios required to report, Aecom is yet to file.

The photography is by Point3D Commercial Imaging Ltd.

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