Royal Soeiety of Ulster Architects known as RSUA Trustees, Report The trustees, who ar¢ directors for the purposes of compally law, present the alloua] report together with the finan¢iaI statements and auditors, Teport of the charitable company for the year ended 31 March 2024. ObJeetAves and aclfivities Ob}ecls and alms Th¢ principal objectives of th¢ SocRety are as follows.. Good desi] matters b¢Gause it brings sociaL economiG and environrnentai benefits. Well designed houses and neighbourhoi)ds make lives healtbier, happier and safer and our communities stronger. sthdents l¢¥ffti better and achieve More tn inspiring educational buRldings, Tecovery times tmprove in hospitals desigll¢d to meet the n¢eds of patients alld staff" and businesses PTofit from greener, well consider¢d premises. Public beftef The public benefit may be demonstrated by the increasing numbeT of amwds and positive publicity given to the desrgo of buildings and the built envirornnent ill Northern Ireland. Th¢se ar¢ uot just awards for design in lernls of aestheti¢s but are also for con5trnction ex¢¢llence and n¢tionality. Such awards recognise sustainability, accessibility, the s¢rYices the building gives to the public aud the effect the building has on the regeneration of a street or Articles on buildings in national as w¢ll as the local architecttwai and eonstmction press aIso demonstrates the benefit to the public. The beneficiari¢s ar¢ the users of buildings which would encompass all members of the public. RSUA'S objectives and public benefit statement are accepted by Th¢ Charty Commission. The main stratcgies employed to achieve public benefit by the Society Call b¢ broadly categorised during the year as follows: * RSUA Design Awards * Publication of the Society's mag1¢5. * RIBA Bookshop at the RSUA * Client Advisory Service, including design competitions/Gompetitive interviews * Pract£ce Services Scheme * CPD Seminars and courses Liaison with government bodies particularly in relatiim to public sector procurem¢nt and planning These broad categorisations of activities are currently Caled out for the Public ben¢fiÉ. The trustees confinn that they have complied with the requirements of se¢tion 4 of the Charities Act 2008 to have due r¢gard to the public b¢n¢fit guidance published by The Chlty CoEE)mission for Northern Ireland. Page 3
Royal Society of Ulster Arehitects knoivn as RSUA Trustees, Report Achlevements and performanee In 2023124 RSUA'S unrestricted income increased by around £IOk primarily due to th¢ following factors. . Increase in subscription rates . GroM¢h in Ask an Architect . Running the RSUA Sustainability Confer¢nce In 2023124 RSUA'S unrestricted expenditure increased by around £4k primarity due to the following factors: . Increase in staff wsts . In¢r¢ase in support ¢osts In cent years RSUA has iocreased its free reserves. For 2023124 RSUA budgeted to spend more than the income we brought in. We wer¢ successfid in doing so. RSUA spent roughly £33k more than the income w¢ generated in 2023124. RSUA intends to continue to low¢r its free reserve over the n¢xt few years and will budget for 2nnuaE expenditure levels to be higher thall annual income l¢vels. Page 4
Royal Society of Ulster Arehitects known as RSUA Trustees, Report The inrne g¢n¢ratsd in 2023124 Iw enabled RSUA to carry out a Mryde range of clwitable activities including: Continuous Professlonal Development: Provided a broad range of learning opportunitie5 for members throu online events including an on-demand option. Ayehitecture Night: Major event attracting over 300 that celebtaks architecture in a unique way. This year the event was held aÉ the Kings Hall BelfasL Early C2reer Deslgn Competition: Please Repla¢e the Handset and Try Again was the RSUAIJP Corry Earty Career Design Comp&ition ill 2023. The winners were allnounced at ArchiteCre Night and a red phone box in central Belfast will b¢ ttansfonned in 2024. Engagement wlth clients: RSUA bas engaged Coun¢il4 cents31 govermntnt bodies, universities, housing otiations and oth¢rs to promote the benefits of investing in design quality alld to provide support in obtsining RSUA peer approved Design Quallty Panel: The panel members provided ert &8Si8tanct to a numbeE of initiatives including the Bel&st Stories Project al to Tourism Nl. Professional Insights Programme: RSUA members provided over 100 secolld year students from Ix)th iiyersities tn Belfast a range of PTa¢tical insights to the work of an architect in practice. Procurement: RSUA contRnu¢d to work with clients and policy makeTS to improv¢ procurement with a view to creating Conditions to allow architects to deliver of their best. Ellgagement with Cotsneils: RSUA met with a number of local councAls on a wide range of matters but with a particular focus on planning. RSUA Design Awards: A robust judgxng process for the RSUA Design ANNxrds 2024 took place in spring 2024 and the winners were aTLnounced at a Gala Evening in the MAC theatre in Belfast in May 2024. Commllnieations: A thll-page feature by an RSUA member appwed each month in the Irish News. RSUA launched a new sits signboard service to members in September. Gtnerxl Jneelings: Two General Meetings this year have been held in-person and have included an aTchitsct-led building tour. The other two General Meetings have been held online and have include a 'My knbitecture, presentation by a member. Publications: Perspe¢tive and Living Design magaxines were published throughout the yeaT, Practlee Servlces Schejne: Benefjts for pra¢tiG¢s that subs¢ribe to the Practi¢e seI¢¢s Scheme were further eDhanc¢d this year. Study Trip., A Study Trip to Cork took place in Jun¢ 2023. A stsY trip to Vienna was planned for June 2024. Ask An Archltect: The initiative raised £16.000 foT Friends of the Callcer Centre through its partnership with the Jill Todd Trust whilst raising the profile to the pubIi¢ oftbe role of the archit¢ct. Page 5
Royal Society of Ulster Architects known as RSUA Trnstees, Report Loeal Group$: A rdnge of RSUA local 0upS met with the l(Kal Council to seek ways to improve architecture and the buih environment in the Coun¢il area. BuildlDg Inspiration Lecture.. The building inspiration lecture was postponed. RSUA airns to restart the lecture seTi¢S in late 2024. Wider representstion". RSUA actively participated xn the M Construction Group, the Strategic Design Group. NI Assembly All Paty Group on ConstNotion and tbe Exp¢rt Panel on Building Safety Hollorary Membership: In recognition of the important role that non-archit¢¢ts and architects from outside NI have on architecture in Nl, RSUA ¢onferred Honorary Membership this year on broadcaster Williatk] Crawley. Commfittees and Groups: During th¢ y¢ar the Committses and GTOUPS continued wlth an a¢tÉve programFne of work. The Education and Car¢¢rs Committee was forn]ed. Engagement with students 2nd youngor memb¢rs: RSUA continued to Ing&se its engageJ)¢nt with Students and younger architects this year through". . The perfectly proportioned quiz of architectur¢ and other things tn partswrship with tbe universiti¢5 held in the Black Box • The design ¢omp¢tition for earty career architects . Student medals • Aw&rded the Alan Barnes trav¢lling hOlarShip . Increased the number of practices signeJ up to fair pay commifments for Part I graduates . Provided free or reduced pric¢ tickets for sdentS at various RSUA events • Offered spOrt to Arcsoc at QUB for a nurnber of lectures . Organised 'PreparÉng for Practice, 2 Part 3 study evening Deliv¢red the Professional Insights Programme for s¢¢ond y¢ar stsdents in parthership NTrith both Belfast universities . EarIy Career Architects Forum held a number of events • H¢ld a special celebration for all the newly qualified architects in NI Finanelal revRew The total unrestricted incoming resources for th¢ year amount¢d to £358212 (2022123." £348,794}, with ¢pendItuTe of £391,494 (202Y23: £387,754) resulting in a net decrease in funds of £33,282 (2022123: £39,960). This leaves ullrestricted funds of £571,594 (2022r23: £604,876) at the year end of which £224,387 (2022123: £230,460) relates to fixed &ss¢ts. Th¢re were no restricted artivities undertaken during the year. 22123 incoming resources were £19,000. with expenditure 0££20,000. Pag¢ 6
Royal Society of Ulster Architects known as RSUA Trnstees, Report Policy on reserves The RSUA Council has estsblished a policy wlweby the unrtrICtsd fAmds not conunitted or invested in tangible fixed assets ('the fre¢ reserves,) held by the charity should be beten 2 and 6 months of the resources expelld, which ¢quaS to between £65,249 and £195,747 in general fuJds. At this level, the Council thinks that RSUA would be able to continue the current a¢tiviti¢s of the charity. In the event of a sigllificant drop in ndin& it would obviously be necessary to consider how the fimding would be replaced or activities changed. At present the free reserves amount to £347,207 and exceed the C0clI,S target Tange. The Council will cont?nue to monitor RSUA'S free reserves. RSUA has delivered a financial perforniance this year in line with its budget. The new accounting systsm and internaI accounting processes introduced in 2018119 have been refined and are now providing better quality and more timely financial infornlation. RSUA Continues to undertake a fonnal budget Teview pro¢ess with Council ea¢h year. Prlnclpalfundlng sources The nMin incoming resources 0£ the Society remain th¢ membership subscription rebates from IUBA, CPD incollK, PSS income, sponsorship. bookshop? cornrnissions and olknr grant funding. The Society is extremely 8Tateful to its grant fimders and sponsors. witbout whose support the Society would not be able to iun a number of its activities. Plans for fthure perfiods Aims and ty ObJe¢ilvfrJ1HrepeTio&s The Society plans to Continue the activities outlined ab()ve in the forthcoming years subje¢t to satisfa¢tory fjjnding arrangements. Going ¢ontern Th¢ financid ststements have been prepared on a going c4)ncern basis. The trusfres assess whether the use of going concern is appropriate A.e. whether there are any mat¢rial utt¢ertainties related to events or conditions that may cast signifieant doubt on the ability of the charity to contlnue as a going ¢on¢ern. The thistces nth this assessment in respect of a period of one year fr<>m the dat¢ of approval of the fiDan¢ial statements. Structure? governanee and management Nothre ofgoverning document The Royal Society of Ulster Architects is a comparw limited by guarantee and as such the liability of each of the members is limited. Under Section 62 of the Companies Act 2006. the Society is ex¢n)pt fron) using the word Limited. Th¢ Society's governing do¢ument is tbe Memorandum and Articles of Associatio In the event of the company being wound up members are required to contribuk £5.00. Page 7
Royal Society of Ulster Arehiteets known as RSUA Trustees, Report Recruilmenl andappolnhnent of fnulees Under the requirements of the Memorandum and Articles of Association the members of the Council are electrd to SeTve for a period of three years after which they nee41 to stand for re-election at the next Annual Gelleral Meeting if th¢y wish to continue to serve on Council. RSUA seeks to ensure that members with a range of experience from wtthin the architectural profession serve on the Council. Induction andtraining oftruste Most Council members are familiar with the role of the ¢haTity through their membership of the archits¢tural professioL New council members attend an orientstion meeting to brief them on their legal obligations and responsil)ilities as members of Council. Arrangepnentsfor seltlng key MaltogeDIPVsonAelteMWalIo The President and trustecs work wholly on a voluiitary basis and reeeive no remuneratio bonuse5, OT ben¢fits-in-kind or have any pension entitkments. Likewise, society volunteers ar¢ not Temunerated. The post of RSUA Director is a remunerat¢d position. The Dir¢¢tor's remuner*ion is set by the Honorary Officers Committee. Otyanif(&loAal strncfure The Society is managed and directed by its Coullcil. Vacant Council seats are filled through an election proc¢ss. Th¢ Council meets at i¢asÈ six times during the period September to JuTh¢. Membership of the So¢Éety can be Classified as.. chartered member4 honorary members, student member4 associate tnembers and affiliate members. Each category has its own conditions and terms as outlined in the Society's goveTning document. The Society is in allianee with the Royal InstIte of British Architects (RtBA). The Council of the Sooiety shall relate to the Council of the RIBA oDty in respect of matters relative to its statsjs in alliance. RSUA sits on the CO¢11 of the Roy21 Institute of Architects of Ireland as an observer. Pag¢ 8
Royal Society of Ulster Architects known as RSUA Trnstees, Report Relationships witb related parties The Society is in alliance llryth the Royal Institute of British Ar¢hitects (RIBA). The Council of th¢ Society shall relate to the Council of the RIBA only in respect of lltter$ relative to its status in alliance. Mwor risks and nzanagepftenl oflhose rAsks Personnel the risk of105ing key staff or volunteers, with the associated loss of expertise and experiellce Reputalion the risk that the society might be suffer reputational danlage as the result of unauthorised publ1¢ Staten Finoncial hsk the risk that society could run Anto financial difficulties RSUA operates a risk r¢gist¢r which formally records the key risks and actions taka) to minimise those risks. The register is reviewed by Coun¢il annually and is a llnent it¢m on the agenda for the Honorary Officers meetings. Finanefixl instrum¢Dts Objectives andpolicies The charitys a¢tivitkes expose it to a number of financial risks including credit risk, cash tlow risk and liquidity risk. The use of financial derisnitives is governed by the charity's policies approved by the board of twstees, which provide written principles on the use of frnaucial derivatives to manage these risks. The charity does not use derivative finan¢ial instrumellts for speculative purposes. Cashflow risk The ¢lwity's activtties expose it primarily Éo Éhe financial risks of ch?g¢S in foreign currency exchange rates and int¢St rat¢& The charity uses foreign exchange forward contracts and interest rate swap contracts to hedge these erposures. Intsrest bearing assets and liabiliti¢s are held at fixed rate to ensure certainty of casb tlows. CrediÉ risk The charity's principal financial assets are bank balances and cash, trade and oth¢r receivables, and investments. The charity's credit risk is prim1]Y atiributable to its trade re¢¢ivdbles. The amounts pr¢sented in the balance sheet are net of allowattees for doubtfid r¢¢eivables. An allowance for impainnent is made where there is an identified loss event whÉch, based on previous ¢xperien¢e, is evidence of a reduction in the recoverability of th¢ cash flows. The eredit risk on liquid fimds and d¢rivative financiaI instrwnents is limited because the count¢iparties are banks with high cr¢dit-ratill8s assigned by international credit-rating agencies. Th¢ clwity has no significant concentration of credit ris14 Mryth exposure spread over a laTge numbcr of counterparties and ¢ustomers. Page 9
Royal Society of Ulster Architects known as RSUA Trustees, Report Liquidlty risk In order to maijxtsin liquidity to ensure that sufficient funds ar¢ available for ongoing operations and thture developments, the cbarity uses a mixture of long-term and short-terni debt firwice. Further details regarding liquidity risk can be found in the StaÉen]ent of a¢countin8 policies in the financial statements. Creditor paymellt policy The society support prompt and targets payment for goods and services to be made within agreed payment tern)s or WAthin 10 days of receipt of invoices not in dispute. Disclosure of ittforniation to auditor Each trustee has taken steps that they ought to have taknn a5 a trustee in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit infonnation alld to establish that the chartty's auditor is aware of that InfonitIO The tnte¢S confinn that there is no relevant inforntIon that they know of and of Mfiich they know the auditor is unaware. sn11 compani&8 provAskon statement This report has be£n prepared in accordance with the small companies regime underthe Companies Act 2006. Page 10
ocEey r.f L:l&i.er .4rchKtotts kwstee&' Repfjrt 1Ie trStee¥S Iwhts 8xe also the dirrttors of Ral So¢lety of Lter Archit.,¥ £oT the purpos¢8 of ¢orw}." law-) 8fe SpOIl81ble for w¢p¥sxllg Ibe lrnsÈeos' report and th.L fillanci&l stat¢ments in kee0r(Le with 444>1ieable Isw &ttd lJ112its. Vnd¢r oompany la the trtL$teas n()t approv¢ fm4tic.ial stat¢mufrts' iinle&% tr> are soti8fieé that Ihey. ¥ivt a trne falr view of the stEts uf alTaiY& ()f tht cb.aritkbl¢ coiiipary 4n41 Vf the ineomlng [0¥¢¢5 wid applicatioll of including ÈL%. in4x>me aNI expmditsrc, C+f thie ch8Xit&ole CDTrAP&fjy fuy that pcriixl. In Pl¢pIng tbese fin&4cial stat¢ni¢nts, Ihe tntst¢ requ%r¢d to: sclect suiiab(e d¢}Unti)g poli¥i¥s &id 8ppl>' thwii c&ry5lsn1.ty. obseri""e tile metbods aAd pi7n¢ipL#s ifj Clkriti"l> SORP. ltst¢ wheilk¢f 8pplicble aL'touiJ£incr st8o(lards, coMI)li$1 PR8. 102 be¢n foLEowed, subjekn% &ny matem d¢parturLs di%clnse4 rilla 6iyltsjn¢d sn ihv. . ¥n&nciAI st4l¢ffiets. preiwe tb.¢ sttxi¢Thts ijn ¥ht. L-Gins ' ¢lwitable mmpany .111 cotttlnu¢ in bÉ1¥s$. -thieti'k b451> imless i is Iiiippropriai¢ È¢ Pfthume Ii>t l-AQ 1IRe I4tE¢S o¥¢ responnble fof keeriillg ao'oourrtitkg til di.10&¢ *'ilh reasonablr acouraey at aoy lin¢ the, fillanci pOtIon o'f"th¢ L.hwpiable <X¥ifiEW.' r2tsty1¢ th<Th? Z<> wTsiye that the fu1kC.1l xtatemetsts compl}, wyth trAe C4)n¥&wes Ao 21)06. 1'h¥y are r£lso respDlh.ryilTrle bafeguarding the &v¢ts of the cPJ8ritsbfr¢ Ir4Salry and heni¢ for taking rtt8fXtablt Steps foi the prev¢rtL'oYi 8nd d¢ts'vtYOll of liiud ahd other IttegLill11¢1. Th¢ trJ£te¢s lire respvns7bl¢ foy the and integrty of tko. ¢4)Eporat¢ dtid fjM¥ncial ijfoimatio kucliided on th¢ thaTit&ble company'¢ y.Jgbssto. iK£1slgÉFiO govknrning the ptep4atioa £tnd di1tiO11 of fjllanrial italenKnts mmy Lt£ter ke8i81ation other jurA¥dictiop. '17 llal wa$ 8PPfOVtd by tlxe trustevs ot 11>4 charity on 3. , - I l4a} 2024 and sigThl oil its b¢half by: IcAlisrer Ti¥4siee