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Architects are overwhelmingly in favour of the UK remaining in the European Union ahead of June’s referendum, according to new research.

More than three-quarters (78%) of architects who responded to a survey conducted by BD’s sister title Building said remaining in the EU would be the best option for the construction sector, with only 11% suggesting that a vote to leave would be preferable.

Higher costs for materials and labour – or shortages of either – were the biggest areas of concern cited by respondents in the event of a Brexit vote. House-price volatility and reduced innovation were other significant concerns.

Just under one in five architects reported seeing projects delayed because of the referendum, and a similar proportion said their business had experienced a slowdown for the same reasons.

Around 180 architects took part in the survey which also received responses from 1,300 contractors, sub-contractors, consultants and clients.

The full results reveal architects to be more likely to adopt a pro-remain stance than the sector average of 63%. Across the whole of the construction industry, a reduction in direct foreign investment was the biggest fear of a vote to leave.

Both architects as a group and the construction sector as a whole identified commercial property development as the area of work likely to suffer the most  from a Brexit vote.

Mark Middleton, managing partner at Grimshaw Architects, said the results were in line with his own views on the referendum. He said the experience of Norway, which has to comply with 100% of EU regulations and directives to trade with EU member states, should serve as an indicator of what could await a post-Brexit UK.

“I think it’s best that the UK stays around the table to we can influence legislation and also veto compliance when it serves our national interest, he said.

“As a global practice, we may also be affected by the lack of trade deals with other countries. We would have to negotiate trade deals with all other countries instead of using the EU deals already established”.

“I think Brexit could seriously restrict our ability to work abroad beyond the EU and limit the practice to merely domestic activity, which will have shrunk as a result.”

Past RIBA president Angela Brady said it was important for island nations to be outward-looking, but that a Brexit vote could break up the UK and be particularly damaging for relations between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

“As architects we need to be outward looking for job opportunities in the EU with Ojeu,” she said.

“If the UK leaves, I fear an inward-looking, back-facing order of a bygone age. The new empire is together in Europe.”

Echoing Middleton’s concerns, Brady predicted that, post-Brexit, rules governing UK and EU interaction would change and become “far more complex”, giving a shock to the legal and business worlds and potentially discouraging partners from working with UK firms.

Ben Derbyshire, managing partner at HTA Design, said the practice’s partners were “overwhelmingly, though not quite unanimously” in favour of remaining in the EU. He agreed with the survey’s findings that the referendum was proving to be a source of uncertainty, particularly in relation to larger projects.

“We are also concerned on behalf of the 40 or so EU citizens who work among our staff of around 160 that their future employment status may become uncertain, ” he said.

Derbyshire added that the much-maligned EU procurement system was not as flawed as it was often made out to be, and had its good intentions subverted by “Anglo-Saxon attitudes”.

The RIBA said “strict” Charity Commission guidance meant it had “no option but to refrain from comment on the referendum”.

However, a spokeswoman said it was only half right that individual architects and their practices weighed the pros and cons of leaving the European Union.

“We encourage debate among our members and the wider construction industry about the impact on the architecture profession and construction industry of an exit from the EU,” she said.

“The RIBA has a broad membership and there will be differing views. Whatever the referendum decides, we will continue to work to ensure the best outcomes for our members and the institute.”