School of Architecture, Art and Design
Teaching | Research | Our staff | Contact us
In the realm of architecture, art and design, we believe in improving lives and fostering understanding through thoughtful and challenging works that reflect and inspire a creative society. Employability is a cornerstone of our teaching, with students working on real projects and with clients. Utilising both new and traditional mediums, we encourage students, researchers, and staff to explore and experiment within a supportive community, helping them identify their strengths. Our collaborative, project-based approach equips students with the skills needed for successful careers, with 94% of our graduates in work or further study within 6 months (HESA Graduate Outcomes Survey, 2021/22). Our research is cross-disciplinary, outcome-driven, and impactful on both regional and global scales, addressing strategic thinking, creative processes, sustainable design, and community engagement.
Together, our integrated approach to teaching and research in architecture, art, and design produces innovative projects and insightful, highly employable graduates.
In addition, the School offers a diverse range of courses, where students can study photography, fashion, illustration, graphic design, architecture, and interiors, each with its own distinctive focus. Photography encourages visual storytelling through both digital and analogue techniques, while fashion promotes innovation in sustainable and ethical practices. Illustration combines traditional and contemporary approaches to creative communication, and graphic design emphasises problem-solving through visual identity and branding. Architecture and interiors foster strategic and sustainable design thinking in built environments. These disciplines frequently collaborate on cross-disciplinary projects, allowing students to develop versatile skills and work alongside peers from different creative fields.
Gender equality commitment
We hold the Athena SWAN Bronze award for gender equality. We're committed to promoting equality of opportunity and career building for women, especially as architecture as a profession has historically struggled to achieve gender equality.
Teaching
We focus on the importance of context in design, ensuring our students understand where, when, and how their designs will be created and used. Our hands-on approach, involving live projects and clients, gives graduates the skills and creative thinking to tackle challenges through creative thinking.
Our strong design studio culture fosters experimentation in a relaxed setting, with studios serving as a test-bed for design theories supported by specialists and international learning opportunities.
We place students at the centre of our work, nurturing practitioners, artists, makers, designers, architects and researchers for the creative and cultural industries.
Our links with related industries and opportunities for external exhibitions and competitions ensure graduates are well-prepared for a variety of careers, with many establishing successful practices or working for prominent companies.
Our teaching areas
Architecture, civil engineering and surveying courses
Develop practical problem-solving and creative skills to work in architectural design, building surveying, civil engineering or the conservation industry.
Fashion, photography, graphic arts and design courses
Whether your medium is photography, graphic design, fashion, your creativity is in demand. Develop your abilities to a professional level on one of our degree courses.
Research
We’ve built a collegiate research community that supports the work of our postgraduate students, researchers, and academics through open collaboration and friendly discussion. We work collaboratively with public and private partners on research that challenges assumptions and uses modern technologies to solve societal problems.
Funding and Support
Our research has received funding from Portsmouth City Council, British Council, Economic and Social Research Council, Interreg, Technology Strategy Board, Solent Innovation and Growth Network, European Commission, and Arts Council England
Our research areas
Explore our research areas and areas of expertise.
Sustainable Urbanism, Landscape and Architecture Design
We're working to inspire and provide the research expertise needed to advance the knowledge required in the practice of sustainable urban development, essential for the transformation and revitalisation of our cities and environments.
Computational Culture and Technologies in Architecture and Urban Design
We're studying the integration of digital technology and new technologies in architectural planning, urban planning, and sustainability – and how they can impact future design processes.
Architecture Technologies and Devices
Through our research, we're re-thinking the way we build cities, to better react to environmental issues and challenges, such as climate change.
Architecture and Interior Design Studios Pedagogies
We're researching issues related to teaching and learning within creative and design disciplines, focusing on pedagogy, curriculum, student engagement, and learning theories.
Historic environments, heritage and conservation
We're looking at how architecture, community and creative technologies can play a role in enhancing historic environments.
Interior architecture and interior design
We're investigating how architects and designers might rethink the way they approach interior spaces, by exploring how buildings are used by people.
Art and Design: Practice, Theory and History
We're researching image making, visual communication and design, solving problems through active experimentation, and analysing images and visual processes. Explore our art and design: practice, theory and history research.
Our research groups
Much of our exceptional research takes place within the following cross-disciplinary research group – find out more below.
Architectural and Urban History and Theory Research Group
We're researching narratives of place and the construction of new historiographical and theoretical discourses in architecture, interiors, landscape and urbanism.
Cluster for Sustainable Cities
We're improving cities through sustainable urban development that meets today's social and environmental needs.
Recent project highlights
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Towards a Smart Village Framework: Critical Heritage and Community Heritage Narratives to Unravelling, Co-Creating and Re-Creating Rural Heritage
The project fuses qualitative and quantitative analysis, co-creation and innovative digital tools to capture, interpret, and visualise hidden heritage narratives as a central driver for rural sustainable development and community resilience.
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Transformations: Encountering Gender and Science
We're working with Gendered Intelligence and the University of Exeter on the Transformations: Encountering Gender and Science project. Transformations explores the history of gender and science with young trans and gender diverse people (aged 16-25) and asks questions about medicine, identity, and authority through creative workshops, oral history research, creative writing, and performance.
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Interreg 2 Seas
Members of our School are also working on DERMA as part of the Interreg 2 Seas project. They're investigating and developing new ways to manage and treat dermal ulcers and other chronic non-healing wounds through new technologies.
Our staff
Our Teaching Fellows, Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, Readers and Professors – as well as the many Visiting Lecturers and other industry professionals that work with us – help shape an environment where excellence is our aim.
Many staff in the School of Architecture, Art and Design are research-productive and disseminate their research across many forms and media. Many are involved in public and community project work with external organisations, including charities and community interest companies. We encourage staff to undertake practice and research that’s innovative and influential, by facilitating a culture that inspires and supports high-quality work and brings on promising early-career academics. All this work often involves students in some way.
We offer supervisory expertise for doctoral students in various areas, from dramaturgy to musical theatre and voice, typography and photography, sustainability in textile design and production to applied theatre in care settings – and more besides.
To find out more about staff’s expertise, teaching, scholarship and/or research interests and expertise, see below for a selection of profiles. You can also look up individuals by name via the 'View all our Staff' button below.
