The story of Article 25 began in December 2004 when Maxwell Hutchinson, one of Article 25′s founding Trustees and a past president of the RIBA, was in Sri Lanka as the Asian Tsunami struck. He saw firsthand the devastation that a natural disaster can cause. Maxwell recognised the potential role that architects could play in enabling quicker reconstruction and minimising the impact of future disasters.  The 2010 Haitian earthquake has reinforced this idea. The number of victims affected by this disaster could have been dramatically reduced if buildings in Haiti’s capital had been constructed using earthquake resistant designs.

When Maxwell returned from Sri Lanka he recruited former CEO Dr. Victoria Harris to establish ‘Architects for Aid’, which later changed its name to ‘Article 25′ in 2008, to be more inclusive of all built environment design skills and demonstrate the human rights basis to our work.

Since then, Article 25 has evolved significantly and now has a board of seven distinguished trustees, nine permanent staff, around 35 volunteers, ten professional partner organisations, and around 700 student members. Everyone involved with Article 25 works tirelessly with the aim of building solutions to global problems.

Our projects have diversified into a substantial portfolio, ranging from one-off building projects for community based organisations to large masterplanning projects for international organisations, and technical consultancy services for NGOs who rarely have access to this vital design expertise.