Lucy Roper’s weekly Built Environment blog: Making things better, the gender pay gap and a pet’s playground
Posted on: 18 April, 2019
Each week, UCEM Information Governance Manager, Lucy Roper points us in the direction of interesting stories from the Built Environment.
This week, Lucy looks at the latest RICS Modus magazine’s theme of making things better, RIBA’s advice on how to narrow the gender pay gap, a report on the gender pay gap across the construction industry and a home fit for a cat.
Focusing on the positives
This month’s Modus magazine is dubbed ‘The Good Issue’ with content on some of the less positive aspects of the Built Environment and how industry professionals are seeking to make things better.
The issue tackles money laundering, modern slavery in construction and housing the homeless, as well as lighter content such as an in-depth interview with the recently crowned RICS Matrics Young Surveyor of the Year, Laura Collins. Laura is an alumna of ours and we marked the achievement with a news story of our own back in December.
RIBA take the lead in addressing the gender pay gap
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has published guidance for architecture practices on closing the gender pay gap. I commented on the huge gender imbalance within the construction industry in last fortnight’s blog so it’s encouraging to see such a respected professional body within the Built Environment make such a move.
Mixed results within construction
Construction Manager has carried out analysis on the construction industry’s attempts to narrow the gender pay gap with results being decidedly mixed.
The analysis marked a year since firms with more than 250 employees were first required to report on the issue. The article and accompanying data make for fascinating reading, with Construction Manager’s work emphasising how this issue isn’t going away soon with firms under the spotlight on this more than ever before.
Cat-star’s paradise
Moving away from weighty topics in the Built Environment brings me to news of an apartment in Hong Kong built specifically to satisfy a family’s pet cat and parrot.
Already informally known as the ‘Pet’s Playground’, the article is heavy on photos which demonstrate the cat- and parrot-friendly environment designed by local architect, Sim-Plex Design. If you thought the pet pampering industry had gone too far, then this development suggests there is plenty more to come from humans’ efforts to care for domestic animals!
For more from Lucy, take a look at the latest edition of Knowledge Foundations.
