There is a new focus on social value across the construction industry and I am very pleased to see that. It is time that the impact on individuals and communities of our work is recognised and measured. Currently, it is largely developers and contractors who attempt to measure social value in aspects such as apprenticeships, job creation, and localised spending. The impact of design on social value is rarely considered in this way. And yet design has a massive part to play in positively impacting people’s lives and creating social cohesion. It’s time architects and designers woke up to the idea of measuring the impact of what we do so we can prove the value of good design.

Social value is not a new concept. Traditionally sustainability has three core principles: economic, environmental and social. Equal consideration of, and a balance of impacts between, all three principles creates the holistic, and much sought after, sustainable development concept. However, as the sustainability concept has evolved, the economic and environmental principles have often taken precedence over the social principle. One possible reason for this is they are quantifiable and therefore can be tangibly demonstrated. The social, or ‘people’ principle, has always been more ambiguous, and only demonstratable qualitatively.

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