ARCHITECTURE: Growth of 10.6% of the architectural services market

The economic segment involving architectural and engineering activities, namely technical testing and analysis, valued at about 120 million EUR per year, increased on a gross series by 10.6% in 2014 (compared with 2013) and the series adjusted for the annual reporting data base were not disclosed, as it reflects the latest information from the National Statistics Institute (INS). Thus, the incomes of companies specialized in the economic branch mentioned above (expressed in nominal terms) fell by -6.1% in December 2014 as adjusted series and -7.2% in terms of gross series compared to the same month in 2013. At the same time, if we take into account the sequential statistical data, the companies that provide architectural and engineering services reported an increase in turnover on the unadjusted series in December 2014, which accounted for 109% of the level recorded in the month of November of that year, and as adjusted series noted a decline of -3.6% compared with the previous 30 days.

Externally, the Spanish construction market will follow an upward trend in the next period, while those sectors in France, Italy and even Germany are already showing the first signs of slowdown of development, according to the latest report of the European Architectural Barometer (EAB) published by Arch-Vision, a company specialized in consultancy and architecture in Europe. The Architectural Barometer for the third quarter of 2014 was developed based on a survey conducted on a sample of 1,600 architects in eight European countries (UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Netherlands and Belgium). Beside the upward trend on which the construction and the architecture market in Spain are being now, the study also indicates an improvement in the level of the UK sector, albeit at a slower pace than that expected in the previous quarters. The indicator regarding the perception of architects of their field in the UK is mostly positive in the third quarter of 2014, the specialized offices reporting increases in both the level of demands as well as the one of turnovers.