New architecture faculty and centre for sustainable design, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba

The Department cultures close links between teaching and research. We host internationally respected and well-established research units working in design research, low-energy architecture, the architecture of rapid change and scarce resources and history and theory. The established research units feed directly into our teaching programmes at all levels. In addition to formal research groups, units and institutes we promote research within the context of the design studios. Design studios are seen as important incubators for emergent researchers.

The Department has a particular expertise in design as research. The Architecture Research Unit (ARU) lead by Professor Florian Beigel is acknowledged as an international leader in this area. ARU has completed architecture and urban design projects in Korea and the UK and has most recently been commissioned to design a new city on reclaimed land in South Korea.

An area which is growing quickly is our work in areas subject to political change and social deprivation. The work of the group lead by Maurice Mitchell which examines the architecture of rapid change and scarce resources is currently building sanitation projects, community space and schools in Delhi, Agra and Mumbai.

Another strong theme embedded within the work of the Department is participatory design and community lead projects. Staff in the Department include architects from community led practices such as FLUID, EAST, Public Works, CHORA and MUF and others with a strong social agenda such as The AOC and Robert Barnes Architects. Increasingly this aspect of the departments work is finding an outlet through ASD Projects.

ASD projects lead by Professor Robert Mull was established in 2004 as a result of successful bid to the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF2) ASD Projects is an RIBA chartered practice within ASD that provides a supportive professional environment in which staff and students can undertake live projects and consultancy thereby generating research and third stream income for the department. ASD projects currently supports projects in London, Cuba, China, India and Iran and is partnering with the Department of Children, Schools and Families and the RIBA to manage research into school design across UK schools of architecture.