High Court rules Zaha Hadid Architects must continue paying to use founder's name

UK architecture studio Zaha Hadid Architects has had its bid to be released from a licensing agreement requiring it to pay to use Zaha Hadid's name dismissed by the High Court.

The latest legal battle between the architecture studio and the Zaha Hadid Foundation over the fees being paid to use the late architect's name was dismissed in the High Court on 20 December 2024.

Zaha Hadid Architects had sought to end a licensing agreement that requires it to pay six per cent of its revenue to the foundation each year. According to the judgement this has resulted in £21.4 million in fees since 2018.

"The company's economic activity has not been sterilised"

The studio argued that the agreement – signed in 2013, three years before Hadid's death in 2016 – would restrict its ability to be competitive. However, this was dismissed by the judge.

"On examination, however, it became clear that that plea was unsustainable," wrote judge Adam Johnson in the judgement.

"The company's economic activity has not been sterilised. In fact, it has achieved considerable financial success in the period since the licence agreement was entered into."

According to figures in the judgement, Zaha Hadid Architects revenue was over £60 million in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The figures showed that revenues had almost doubled since the agreement was signed in 2013.

"It's clear that the business has been very successful"

Giving evidence, Zaha Hadid Architects director Charles Walker accepted that the studio was "very successful" financially, but argued that the fee would restrict the business in the future.

"Until now it's clear that the business has been very successful and we can afford the levy," he said. "That's not an issue for me and I think it may be undisputed."

"The concern is the longevity of the business, whether it can sustain this in perpetuity," he continued.

"I think of it a little bit like maybe somebody trying to swim with rocks in their pockets that, you know, although a strong swimmer might be able to sustain that for a period of time, but under say, for example, the next generation of leadership if they are not as enterprising and if they are not able to secure the necessary work that they have to do year on year, eventually the burden could become too much for the business."

Hadid's name has "very significant value"

Judge Johnson concluded that using Hadid's name was of "very significant value" to the studio and that "there is no doubt that the prestige associated with the name has contributed to the Company's success".

He added that he believed the studio was complaining that it was paying too high a fee to the foundation for the use of the name.

"As I see it, the real nub of the Company's complaint is that it has come to think it is paying too much for the right it has acquired, and considers that if it was paying less it could charge more competitively; or it has acquired the right on terms which it has come to regard as commercially onerous, and thinks it would be able to conduct its business in a more agile manner in the future, if the terms were different," said Johnson.

The case is the latest legal battle involving the studio and foundation. Following Hadid's death, there was a four-year-long dispute over her estate, which was settled in a court hearing in 2020.

The photo of Zaha Hadid Architects' Zhuhai art centre is by Cat-Optogram Studio.

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