I studied architecture at the Manchester School of Architecture followed by an MA Art as Environment at Manchester School of Art, and I hold a PhD from Manchester Metropolitan University that looks at the creative potential of wastelands and derelict spaces, what I termed ‘informal spaces’.
As a qualified Architect I have worked for a number of Architecture and Design practices in both Liverpool and Manchester. Currently, as well as teaching on the MA Architecture and Urbanism course at MSA, I also teach third year undergraduate students at the School of Architecture and Landscape, University of Sheffield. I have previously worked at Liverpool John Moores University as a Senior Lecturer, co-leading BA2 as well as contributing to design and theory modules in BA1, BA3, and MArch programmes.
The social and spatial dynamics of cities, and processes of urban change, continue to enthral me. I have a long-standing interest in creative placemaking and the power of design and coproduction to transform communities and create resilient, adaptive urban environments. I am particularly interested in the ways in which people - as experts in their own lived environments - appropriate the built and un-built spaces of the city with creativity and determination in order to fulfil their individual and collective, needs and desires. I encourage students to explore and ask questions as to what architecture and urban design might look like now and in the future through various lenses, and how, as designers we can challenge inequalities and inequities in society. I believe the consequences of design are as important as the objects of design.
Previous Employment
Liverpool John Moores University, University of Liverpool, University of Salford.
Academic and professional qualifications
BA(Hons) BArch, MA, PhD, FHEA