The success of the vaccine rollout has sent architects’ expectations around workloads soaring to their highest level since early 2020, according to the latest RIBA Future Trends survey.

Workload anticipations jumped by 14 points in February to +17, with nearly a third of practices expecting to be busier in the next three months and the number of practices predicting a slow-down falling to 16% from 25% in January.

The troubled commercial sector staged a dramatic recovery, leaping 16 points - albeit it remaining just inside negative territory at -2, while private housing surged by 20 points to +29 with nearly two in five practices expecting work to increase in the housing sector.

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