{"id":770505,"date":"2025-01-16T09:54:24","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T09:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=770505"},"modified":"2025-01-17T09:02:59","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T09:02:59","slug":"riba-pulls-plug-on-membership-hub-over-lack-of-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/riba-pulls-plug-on-membership-hub-over-lack-of-engagement","title":{"rendered":"RIBA pulls plug on membership hub over lack of engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From 21 January, RIBA members will no longer have access to the online forum at architecture.com, the institute announced in an email sent out this week.<\/p>\n<p>The Portland Place-based institute said in the announcement that the closure of the online platform had come after close monitoring of the network, which had seen a \u2018year-on-year\u2019 decrease in engagement.<\/p>\n<p>The RIBA website describes the Membership Hub as a space for architects to \u2018talk, share knowledge, experience and be inspired\u2019. It is unclear how many RIBA members used the hub since it was set up during the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>But, the institute said other forms of networking, including in-person events and digital initiatives, had \u2018proven to be more effective in meeting members\u2019 needs\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Former RIBA councillor, honorary secretary and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/riba-council-ousts-whistleblower-councillor\">whistleblower<\/a> Kerr Roberston, told the AJ the move was \u2018not a surprise\u2019 and suggested architects were finding the institute increasingly irrelevant.<\/p>\n<p>He told the AJ: \u2018Changes to ARB\u2019s powers regarding CPD, which will mean architects and their clients will no longer look to those with the letters RIBA after their name for reassurance in this regard, makes it all the more important for the RIBA to improve its offer. Sadly, the closing of the hub suggests members are voting with their feet.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, the RIBA <a href=\"https:\/\/jobs.architecture.com\/job\/28135\/membership-engagement-manager-hong-kong-and-asia-\/\">is currently recruiting<\/a> for a \u00a340,000-a-year role for a \u2018Membership Engagement Officer\u2019 in Hong Kong and Asia.<\/p>\n<p>From May, RIBA members \u2013 thought to number 24,000 in the UK in 2022 \u2013 will lose access to full RIBA services at one 66 Portland Place, which is due to close to allow a \u00a385 million refurbishment and digital upgrade to begin from May 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/riba-unwraps-detailed-benedetti-plans-for-house-of-architecture\">Benedetti-designed refurb<\/a> is expected to take three years and has been partly funded by a 5.5 per cent increase in the RIBA membership, RIBA president <a href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/muyiwa-okis-half-time-interview-a-new-riba-brand-is-coming\">Muyiwa Oki admitted to the AJ<\/a> in September.<\/p>\n<p>RIBA has previously said &#8216;<span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">The funding is not linked to member fees. We have the ability to support this investment through a comprehensive funding programme, including reserves and fundraising.&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The RIBA has told members that resources would be \u2018allocated elsewhere\u2019 to provide \u2018more impactful support\u2019 for chartered architects.<\/p>\n<p>A RIBA spokesperson, repeating the contents of the email sent to members, told the AJ: \u2018<span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">In response to the needs of RIBA members, we launched the pilot of the RIBA Member Hub to provide a digital network to support our members as we emerged from the pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">\u2018While digital engagement through the hub has decreased year on year, other forms of networking, including in-person events and digital initiatives, have proven to be more effective in meeting members\u2019 needs. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">\u2018To provide more impactful support for our members, we are focusing on tools and initiatives that deliver greater value and reach. This means that we have decided to close the platform to allocate our resources more effectively.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From 21 January, RIBA members will no longer have access to the online forum at architecture.com, the institute announced in an email sent out this week. The Portland Place-based institute said in the announcement that the closure of the online platform had come after close monitoring of the network, which had seen a \u2018year-on-year\u2019 decrease &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131789,"featured_media":758123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[3002,86790,84209,1276,1355],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>RIBA pulls plug on membership hub over lack of engagement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The RIBA\u2019s \u2018exclusive\u2019 online membership hub will close after a lack of engagement from chartered members, the institute has said\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/riba-pulls-plug-on-membership-hub-over-lack-of-engagement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RIBA pulls plug on membership hub over lack of engagement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The RIBA\u2019s \u2018exclusive\u2019 online membership hub will close after a lack of engagement from chartered members, the institute has said\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/riba-pulls-plug-on-membership-hub-over-lack-of-engagement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-16T09:54:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-17T09:02:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/09\/30134036\/shutterstock_677685331-RIBA-1024x683.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gino Spocchia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gino Spocchia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/riba-pulls-plug-on-membership-hub-over-lack-of-engagement\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/riba-pulls-plug-on-membership-hub-over-lack-of-engagement\",\"name\":\"RIBA pulls plug on membership hub over lack of engagement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-16T09:54:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-17T09:02:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/779aa0e54c8c20bf4509b8cce80c65b0\"},\"description\":\"The RIBA\u2019s \u2018exclusive\u2019 online membership hub will close after a lack of engagement from chartered members, the institute has said\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/riba-pulls-plug-on-membership-hub-over-lack-of-engagement#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/riba-pulls-plug-on-membership-hub-over-lack-of-engagement\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/riba-pulls-plug-on-membership-hub-over-lack-of-engagement#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"RIBA pulls plug on membership hub over lack of engagement\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\",\"description\":\"Architecture News &amp; 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