Built environment

Built Environment research within the School of Engineering and Innovation is highly interdisciplinary, with academic backgrounds including architecture, design, engineering, planning and social science. We conduct high impact and innovative research into the design, construction and use of the built environment, with a strong focus on environmental and social sustainability and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. Together we work on the multiple challenges facing the built environment today, to improve understanding, to research and develop solutions, and to assess the impacts of those solutions.

Our research is co-created with industry stakeholders and communities, and influences policy, professional institutions, and industry behaviour. We retain excellent links and successful collaborations with other academic colleagues within the OU, other UK institutions, and with prestigious universities and institutions across the world.

Entry requirements

Masters degree (or equivalent) and evidence of capacity and enthusiasm for research. If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English.

Potential research projects

If you are interested in discussing the possibility of undertaking a PhD in any area related topics:

• circular economy principles applied to the built environment
• heritage buildings and value, decision-making, social value, policy
• flood risk and community engagement
• Nature Based Solutions (NBS) for improving urban quality of life
• oversizing of buildings and building services, establishment of appropriate requirements
• participatory design, co-design, community-led design, inclusive design, design interactions
• smart urbanism, digital design in virtual learning spaces, generative computational design, BIM
• sustainable urban environments, design ecologies, urban living labs, socio-technical transitions, ecoliteracy, adaptive architecture
• whole life (embodied and operational) energy and carbon assessment of buildings, neighbourhoods and cities

Check our individual research pages, interests and publications to see who might be the best fit for you, or get in touch with Professor Theo Zamenopoulos or Dr Katerina Alexiou if you are not sure. You will need to develop a research proposal, and to do some background reading around your topic. We will support you in finding funding where possible; please note that this can often take a year or more to arrange. Do read this blogpost on thinking about doing a PhD.

We welcome mature students, and we are open to applications for part-time and full-time study.

Current/recent research projects

• Gentrification and Community-led Design: An arts based exploration of grass roots perspectives (AHRC Design Star Centre for Doctoral Training)
• The architectural profession and its engagement with historic places of worship in England, 1945 to present (AHRC Empowering Design Practices research project
• Retrofitting buildings: reducing carbon, retaining heritage (AHRC DesignStar Centre for Doctoral Training)
• Achieving a low carbon future through informed design decisions (AHRC Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership)
• An Investigation into the Social and Cultural Dynamics that Shape Product Service Systems Consumption (Research and Development Management Association (RADMA)
• Urban greening for heat resilient neighbourhoods (E&I School)
• Groundwater Resilience & Community Engagement (Defra/Environment Agency). PhD position available to start October 2022

Potential supervisors

• Dr Katerina Alexiou – Senior Lecturer in Design
• Dr Sally Caird – Senior Lecturer in Technological Innovation and Sustainability
• Professor Matthew Cook – Professor of Innovation 
• Dr Emma Dewberry – Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Design
• Professor Claudia Eckert – Professor of Design
• Fiona Gleed – Staff Tutor in Engineering
• Vera Hale – Lecturer in Design
• Georgina Holden – Senior Lecturer in Design and Innovation
• Derek Jones – Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Design
• Dr Iestyn Jowers – Senior Lecturer in Technology and Innovation Management
• Dr Rachael Luck – Senior Lecturer in Design
• Dr Leslie Mabon – Lecturer in Environmental Systems
• Dr Karen Potter – Research Fellow 
• Professor Robin Roy – Emeritus Professor of Design and Environment
• Dr James Warren – Senior Lecturer in Transport Systems
• Professor Theo Zamenopoulos – Professor of Citizen-led Design

Fees and funding

Some of our research students are funded via the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership; others are self-funded.

For detailed information about fees and funding, visit Fees and studentships.

To see current funded studentship vacancies across all research areas, see Current studentships.

Links

• Design group
• School of Engineering and Innovation