Our Specifier Insights 2020 research analysed the behaviour and preferences of 843 New Zealand architectural specifiers in relation to product selection. In this new blog series, we will share key data from this research which can help NZ product suppliers better meet the needs of architects and designers. 

In this first video, Matthew Duder, EBOSS, discusses the profile of NZ architects with a breakdown of age, location, level of experience and size of practice — and what changes in these demographics could mean for product suppliers. The video was originally part of a bonus session of our Specified 2020 annual conference. 

So, what does the NZ architectural community look like in 2020? 

NZ architects are getting younger

In 2020, we've seen an increase in the number of younger and less experienced architects. When we look at the NZ architectural community today, they're younger than they've ever been before, they're less experienced and they're operating under extreme timeframes and economic conditions.

In particular, those with ten or fewer years of industry experience (46%) will be relying on good support from product suppliers. Suppliers should be thinking about their education programmes and how they're building relationships with these younger specifiers.

Practice size and geographic spread remain consistent

Small practices are still dominating the NZ architectural industry with 60% of architects working in practices of 10 or fewer people.

The geographical spread also remains consistent with data from previous years. 

Commercial work is a key focus for larger practices

This year's research gives an indication of the relationship between practice size and type of work on the books. In particular, we see that 38% of those in a practice of 20+ employees work solely on commercial projects and 25% of Auckland specifiers work solely on commercial projects. This data was collated pre-COVID-19; with the prioritisation of 'shovel-ready' projects, we can expect big practices, in particular, will continue their focus on the commercial sector.

When it comes to commercial work, build a plan around the particular practices you want to focus on, starting with the type of work undertaken by each particular practice. We'd strongly recommend developing design guides to demonstrate how your particular solutions relate to specific commercial builds such as health and aged care.

In our next blog post of the series, we will look at the sources of information architects use to stay up to date.

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