The media brand of Designing Buildings

1 Designing Buildings; Helping to fit the pieces together since 2012
2 Simple by design, complex by nature: one of a kind
3 The Construction wiki and microsites
4 Focus: Construction knowledge hubs
5 Focus: The Building Safety wiki
6 Focus: The Conservation wiki
7 Designing Buildings example articles
8 Designing Buildings: Conservation wiki example articles:

[edit] Designing Buildings; Helping to fit the pieces together since 2012

Designing Buildings as a media brand stands out as one of a kind, simple by design, and complex by nature; it maintains not only industry news outlets but also cross-discipline platforms where features are supported by detail, references, definitions, guidance and context. It supports an up-to-date compendium of industry resources, an archive and repository of categorised institutional knowledge. Benefitting from its unique automated hyperlink functions, creating a free, easy-to-access knowledge network.

Now 14, the Designing Buildings brand continues to promote integration, engagement, collaboration, and learning across the industry, with the construction wiki continuing to serve as a unique, vital, interconnected hub for that industry. It is a constant in a volatile arena, continuing to compile, connect, structure and share knowledge. Comprehensive both as an open, user-generated content-sharing platform but also as a specialist, standard, closed press site with regular current affairs updates.

Best practice, innovation, and efficiency are promoted across all disciplines through the construction wiki site and 6 specialist partner-developed microsites with the automated related content links. The microsites cover conservation, BIM, EDI, national parks, the circular economy and building safety, hosting more than 3,000 sponsor articles. This ensures specialist institutional knowledge is not lost in individual shelved silos but remains accessible.

Open user-generated content gets added to and improved over time by its 20,000 registered users who access the site daily from around the globe. Features are shared via the home page, the biweekly newsletter with a 10k+ circulation and a growing social media following.

Over the past year (2025), the Designing Buildings brand has reacted to disruptors and continued to mature, with the overarching wiki itself reaching the milestone of 20,000 articles, reflecting its steady growth and value across the sector. Whilst AI has presented both opportunities and challenges, the platform has embraced aspects of the technology, understanding that AI can only be as good as the information it finds. By streamlining content via newly established hubs, key knowledge thus becomes more accessible by any means; search engines and AI tools included.

This year has also seen the Building Safety Wiki established as a key industry resource, supporting better understanding and compliance with the Building Safety Act. A milestone of 500 articles and a growing LinkedIn community with a monthly recap newsletter helps users keep up to date and better informed of the often-complex changes and impacts, requirements and regulations.

Meanwhile the Conservation wiki on its separate but very much related topic continues active engagement, with contributions, announcements and reviews. Now celebrating 10 years since its original conception, going strong, it remains key to the field of historic buildings and another core industry resource.

These platforms stand out as forming a different breed of media brand, providing news, knowledge, definitions, events, and announcements across different fields. The overarching wiki plays an especially important role for younger professionals and those entering the construction industry, who rely on it to navigate the sector’s growing complexity. Without it, there would be no single, reliable source of comprehensive construction knowledge to turn to.

Designing Buildings as a brand remains free to access thanks to the support of sponsors, microsite partners, and advertisers, whose brands and content are featured throughout the site and promoted via social media and newsletters.

We apply for this award, as we feel it is time to recognise our ongoing contribution to the sector and acknowledge alternative media models in the IBP Awards. Approaches that may go deeper, sustaining narratives for longer, through two-way engagement, helping piece together parts of these industry puzzles, leading to better industry knowledge, understanding, competence and compliance, for a healthier industry and better buildings.

[edit] Simple by design, complex by nature: one of a kind

Designing Buildings was launched in 2012 with the simple intention of bringing all construction knowledge together in one place, and available, for free. Over the years it has developed as a trusted media brand, consistently continuing to promote integration, engagement, collaboration, and free cross-discipline access across the industry. Helping to piece together the jigsaw puzzles of what is our joint construction knowledge.

It maintains not only industry news outlets but also cross-discipline platforms where features are supported by a growing collection of detailed referenced definitions, guidance and historical context. It supports an up-to-date compendium of industry resources, an archive and repository of categorised institutional knowledge, benefitting from its unique automated hyperlink functions to create an easy-to-access knowledge network.

The brand provides comprehensive open, user-generated knowledge content-sharing platforms but also ones that function as closed, standard specialist press sites with regular current affairs, announcements and updates.

The resources of the Designing Buildings brand remain free to access thanks to the support of sponsors, microsite partners, and advertisers, whose brands and knowledge content are featured throughout the site and promoted via social media and newsletters.

[edit] The Construction wiki and microsites

Now in its 14th year, the construction wiki remains a constant in a volatile arena, continuing to compile, connect, structure and share knowledge freely. It plays an especially important role for younger professionals and those entering the construction industry, who rely on it to navigate the sector’s growing complexity. Without it, there would be no single, reliable source of comprehensive construction knowledge to turn to.

Promoting best practice, innovation, and efficiency across all disciplines via the construction wiki, 6 specialist partner-developed microsites, and automated related content links. The microsites cover conservation, BIM, EDI, national parks, the circular economy and building safety. These host more than 3,000 sponsor articles as well as more open user-generated content, added to and improved over time by our 20,000 registered users.

The microsites are globally accessed and trusted resources and help ensure that specialist institutional knowledge is not lost in individual shelved silos but remains accessible to all and every discipline. News and features are also shared via a biweekly newsletter with a 10k+ circulation and a growing social media following.

[edit] Focus: Construction knowledge hubs

Over the past year, the Designing Buildings brand has reacted to disruptors and continued to mature, with the overarching wiki itself reaching the milestone of 20,000 articles, reflecting its steady growth and value across the sector. How information is accessed is changing; whilst AI has presented both opportunities and challenges, the platform has embraced aspects of the technology, understanding that AI can only be as good as the information it finds, and for our brand what is key is that the information is accessible.

By streamlining content via a series of newly established knowledge hubs, alongside the categories that are selected for every article posted, key knowledge becomes more easily accessible by any means, including via search engines and through AI tools. The construction knowledge hubs help navigate over 20,000 categorised articles and introduce key subject areas relating to the built environment, subthemes and signposts to some of the key articles, allowing users to quickly find brief introductions as well as drill deeper into subject areas and contribute to them. By keeping a lean team, we are able to shift focus to answer the needs of our audience where needed. The hubs are one example of this; others have been engaging with government and industry on topics such as product databases. Our aims are to continue to support the industry in the roles we play and tools we develop.

[edit] Focus: The Building Safety wiki

This year has also seen the establishment of the Building Safety Wiki as a key industry resource; it supports better understanding and compliance with the Building Safety Act and related fire safety legislation. Along with its monthly recap via its newsletter, it is the second focus area of this application. The site contains regular news updates, guidance, factual articles, definitions and expert insights on fire and building safety from a wide range of authoritative sources, brought together in one place.

A milestone of 500 articles was recently passed, and with a growing LinkedIn community and monthly recap newsletter, it helps users keep up to date and better informed of the often-complex changes and impacts, requirements and regulations. A link to the wiki is given below along with two sample articles, with many more available from the home page.

[edit] Focus: The Conservation wiki

Now, 10 years since its inception through partnership with the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, the Conservation wiki covers a separate but, in relation to refurbishment, sometimes a building safety-related topic. Publishing weekly articles, announcements and book reviews, it continues to actively engage and contribute to the field of historic buildings.

Going strong after, it remains another core industry resource and provides a platform for sharing knowledge about the conservation of the built and historic environment, including traditional and modern buildings. A link to the site and two sample articles are given below, with many more available on the site.

[edit] Designing Buildings example articles

[edit] Designing Buildings; the construction wiki example articles:

Designing Buildings is the construction wiki. An industry-wide, cross-discipline forum for finding and sharing knowledge about the planning, design, construction and operation of built assets.

[edit] Designing Buildings: Construction Knowledge Hubs example articles:

Knowledge Hubs: There are more than 20,000 articles on Designing Buildings about everything to do with the planning, design, construction, operation and decommissioning of built assets. To help navigate around the main subject areas, a series of knowledge hubs introduce 35 subject and signpost key articles giving more detailed information. Hub introduction page and two example hub articles:

[edit] Designing Buildings: Building Safety Wiki example articles:

This wiki brings you all the information you might need to understand and comply with the Building Safety Act 2022 and secondary legislation in England and related fire safety legislation, and similar essential rules in all other parts of the UK. It contains regular news updates, guidance, factual articles and expert insights on fire and building safety from a wide range of authoritative sources, all brought together in one place. Example articles: