PRP becomes one of first to hit 50:50 gender split at board level

PRP has become one of the first large architectural practices to achieve a 50:50 gender split at board level.

The housing specialist this month promoted two more women to its eight-strong board, bringing the total number of women to four.

Anne-Marie Nicholson, who was appointed joint MD and chairman with Brendan Kilpatrick last summer, said she didn’t know of any practice of comparable size with a 50:50 split.

The percentage was less significant than the actual numbers, she said, because practices could easily achieve 50:50 with a board of two.

“I think we’re the first practice of our size to reach 50:50 but it’s important to know how big the board is,” she said.

“I bet there aren’t many companies of any sort in the country with four women on the board, let alone architecture practices.”

The newly promoted directors are Manisha Patel and Jenny Buterchi. They join Nicholson and Kilpatrick on the board, along with Frances Chaplin, Neil Griffiths, Andrew Mellor and Rick Burgess.

“We reviewed the entire senior team and they were the people who stood out as leaders,” said Nicholson. “Manisha and Jenny are being recognised for the exceptional work they have done and continue to do for the firm.”

Patel is an architect and urban designer who specialises in residential and mixed-use masterplanning and is leading some of the practice’s most high-profile projects including Chobham Manor at the Olympic Park.

Buterchi is an architect in PRP’s specialist housing group with more than 20 years’ experience in the sector with responsibility for a large portfolio of projects.

The news comes after BD published research last month by the Architectural Association’s AAXX100 project showing that women make up just 20% of partners at UK practices.

Nicholson said PRP’s research suggested Hawkins Brown and Levitt Bernstein were its closest rivals, while a large number of practices have no women on their boards.

Last year Make and Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners appointed women to their boards for the first time.

Just over 48% of PRP’s 229 total staff are women.