Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) workers demonstrated today outside BIG’s London office in Broadgate to protest layoffs. Staffers were seen holding flags and banners in the drizzling rain demanding protections from mass redundancies first announced by firm leadership in December, jumpstarted on January 5, 2026. The protest was mounted by Unite the Union’s Section of Architectural Workers (SAW-Unite), the trade union for architectural workers in the U.K.

More than half of BIG’s staff in the London office of approximately 160 employees are SAW members, SAW-Unite stated in a press release. Seventy-two employees may be laid off after a “major project in our London studio was terminated end of November last year due to circumstances beyond our control,” a spokesperson for BIG told AN.

Economic data mined by SAW-Unite recently showed that profits are way up at BIG over the past five years, but “existing projects are so understaffed that workers are already working long into the night” and other BIG offices are “currently mass-hiring.” These factors make mass redundancies in London antithetical, SAW-Unite said.

Now, workers have six demands.

SAW-Unite is calling upon leadership at BIG to recognize the union, engage with its elected representatives, enter meaningful consultations with the union to explore alternatives to layoffs, and pledge six months of backpay for all workers who may be terminated. Other demands relate to better financial and mitigation transparency, and fair redundancy terms for workers who relocated to London on skilled Visas.

The BIG spokesperson told AN “we are unfortunately not in a position to meet” demands for “an additional 6 months of pay.” They went on to note, “our leadership team is committed to the continuous dialogue with those affected in a thoughtful and constructive manner, in full accordance with U.K. guidelines and due process.”

Declan Murphy, a regional office manager for Unite, alleged that after workers pushed back against the layoffs in December, leadership at BIG started union busting. “BIG management has entered this redundancy process in bad faith,” Murphy said in a statement.

“They’ve excluded associates from the pool, rejected every alternative proposal put forward by workplace representatives, and are now forcing compulsory redundancies whilst paying £7.5 million [$10.2 million] in dividends to shareholders last year,” Murphy continued. “This isn’t about business necessity, it’s about protecting profits at workers’ expense.”

BIG’s spokesperson told AN “this is false,” in regard to the amount BIG allegedly paid in dividends to shareholders Murphy claimed.

Angela Brady, former RIBA president, is monitoring the situation. Brady said in a statement: “Members of the Unite-SAW have brought to my attention a serious problem evolving within the London office of BIG over the proposed mass redundancies. It would appear that there is adequate work within this successful profit making office to accommodate these architectural workers.”

Brady continued: “I believe that all RIBA Chartered Practices should respect their staff, their work-life balance and mental health, particularly in relation to the ‘hire and fire’ that threatens our profession, along with the unacceptable long hours culture that some practices thrive on. …  It would be advisable for BIG’s London management team to listen to the advice of the Union, for a fair and reasonable outcome. Otherwise, I fully support any proposed demonstrations that will bring it to everyone’s attention.”

This article was updated on February 4, 2026.