Ruth Reed, who was elected last week as the RIBA鈥檚 first female president, is to campaign for architects to be awarded higher fees on a performance-related basis.

She said: 鈥淕ood design and effective delivery both bring value to projects, and architects鈥� fees should be based on the value they add, not the cost of their services.鈥�

She said added value could be calculated using case studies to show how a building鈥檚 efficiency had been influenced by its design.

In a postal election conducted last month, Reed beat her only rival, Andrew Hanson, by a margin of 503 votes. A total of 5,183 votes were cast, by 18% of the RIBA membership. This was marginally higher than the 16% turnout in the last RIBA election of 2006, which was won by Sunand Prasad. Reed will take over as president next July.

Reed, a partner in planning consultancy Green Planning Solutions, also intends to make improvements to the planning system, the services and initiatives offered by the RIBA to its members and architectural education.

As for promoting women in architecture, she said: 鈥淚鈥檓 going to be a great model for women by showing that you can have a family and practice as an architect, even in the second half of your career.鈥�