Sam is an early career researcher who examines the political, cultural, and spatial legacies of industrial capitalism and the contradictory trajectories of urban transformation in post-industrial cities, with a current focus on Sheffield. He draws on archival research, policy analysis, and interviews to understand how progressive municipal projects—especially those associated with the New Urban Left of the 1980s—have been reabsorbed into neoliberal forms of governance.

Across articles, chapters, and a developing monograph, Sam explores how the ambitions of the Left were translated into administrative practices, cultural infrastructure, and regeneration strategies whose afterlives continue to shape contemporary urban policy. His work is especially concerned with moments where emancipatory intent translate into survival mechanisms for capitalism, producing spaces marked by unresolved contradictions rather than renewal. His research and teaching explores how cities live on after the exhaustion of emancipatory agendas, and what this reveals about the limits of urban reform.

Alongside his research and teaching, Sam is the Deputy Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Architecture course and is the Deputy Year Leader for BA3. He joined MSA as an Associate Lecturer in 2019, he has held positions at both Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Manchester.

&rchitecture Atelier

I lead the BA3 cohort for this atelier where we undertake creative methods and explore the concept of difference to produce robust design projects. I have also taught in the MArch1 and MArch2 cohorts. 

Taking Notes

I lead the Masters level Research Methods Workshop Taking Notes. Students from MArch, MLA, and MA A+AR engage with the slipbox method to explore diverse theoretical contexts using the open-source tool Obsidian. 

Dissertation

I teach Masters dissertations at the MSA. My students critically investigate historic and/or contemporary spatial activism through a suitable case. Cases could vary from specific architects, to spatially-engaged activist groups, to council policy, to broader histories of movements. 

Postgraduate supervision

Annual Reviewer:
Polina Chizhova Wright - Curating Socially Engaged Creative & Tech Practices as Alternatives to ‘Smart’ Cities

Research

Journal Articles

Holden, S. 2025. ‘Building with waste: non-monetary economics in reuse construction’, Urban Research & Practice, pp. 1–24. doi:10.1080/17535069.2025.2476440.

Holden, S., 2025. ‘Sheffield Music Factory: The Legacy of Red Tape Studios’, Metropolitics. doi:10.56698/metropolitiques.2117

Holden, S., 2024. ‘The Limits of Social Architecture: The Tension Between Aims and Actions’, Architectural Research Quarterly, 27(4), pp. 337–347. doi:10.1017/S1359135524000034.

Conference Papers

Holden, S., 2024. ‘The Dialectic of Community Activism: Understanding the shift of Socialism in 1980s Sheffield’, AESOP 2024, Paris, France, 08/07/2024 - 11/07/2024.

Hammond, M., Dempsey, J., Holden, S., White, S., 2023. ‘Co-producing Age-Friendly Urban Developments: Reflections on collaborative neighbourhood design with health and housing stakeholders’, British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Norwich, UK, 05/07/2023 - 07/07/2023.

Holden, S., 2019. ‘REACH Homes - A Critical Extension of Dwelling’, AESOP 2019 -Planning for Transition, Venice, Italy, 09/07/2019 - 13/07/2019.

Holden, S., 2018. ‘REACH Homes: A Critical Extension of Dwelling’, SEED PGR Conference 2018 - Transcending Academic Boundaries: Creative Methods and Knowledge Sharing, Manchester, UK.

Reports

White, S., Hammond, M., Holden, S., Dempsey, J., Denovan, A., Lee, D., O’Leary, C., Walsh, S. 2023. ‘Finding the right place to grow older: improving housing choices for older people’. Centre for Ageing Better.

Impact Case Studies

White, S., Hammond, M., Holden, S., Dempsey, J., 2023. ‘MSARC: Design for Life: policy and practice for creating age-friendly housing’.

Grants

Sheffield Oral Histories
Manchester School of Architecture
Transcription 2025

Decoding Neoliberalism
A3RO Research Group 
Fieldwork 2024

What’s Left in Architecture? LABOUR
A3RO Research Group 
Panel Organisation 2024

The Dialectic of Community Activism: Understanding the shift of Socialism in 1980s Sheffield
Manchester School of Architecture 
Conference Contribution 2024

What’s Left in Architecture? 
Manchester School of Architecture, 
Panel Organisation 2024

Deconstructing Circularity
Swiss National Science Foundation
Workshop Contribution 2023

REACH Homes - A Critical Extension of Dwelling
University of Manchester School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED)
Conference Contribution 2019

Land, Materials, and Construction Site: Decommodification through Alternative construction
University of Manchester School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED)
Fieldwork Funding 2018

Prizes and awards

University of Manchester - School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED) Studentship Award 
University of Manchester - School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED) Conference Poster Award

Citizenship & Exchange

Spartan Steel - Community Economies in Sheffield
Stakeholder Workshop Organisation, &rchitecture Atelier 2024

What’s Left in Architecture? 
2 National Panels & Network Organisation, MSA 2024

Building Without Money - Direct Equivalence in Construction
Workshop Contribution, University of Fribourg 2023

Steel and Fire - Community Economies in Sheffield
Stakeholder Workshop Organisation, &rchitecture Atelier 2023

Decommodification in Alternative Construction Labour
Workshop Contribution, University of Manchester 2020

Temporalities, Processes, & Relations in Architectural Research 
Conference Organisation, AHRA Annual PhD Student Symposium 2019

REACH Homes – Building, Dwelling, Rebuilding
Widening Participation Lecture, University of Manchester 2019

Book Chapters

Hammond, M., Holden, S., White, S., 2026. 'COMFORT BEYOND LIMITS: Precedents for Creativity'. In Pedagogy as Creative Practice in Architecture Inspiration and Resistance During Change, pp. 46-62.

Reports

White, S., Dempsey, J., Denovan, A., Hammond, M., Lee, D., Holden, S., O'Leary, C., Walsh, S., 2023. 'Finding the right place to grow older: improving housing choices for older people', Centre for Ageing Better.

Journal Articles

Holden, S., 2025. 'Sheffield Music Factory: The Legacy of Red Tape Studios', Metropolitics.

Holden, S., 2023. 'The Limits of Social Architecture: The Tension Between Aims and Actions', ARQ: Architectural Research Quarterly, 27 (4), pp. 337-347.

Conference Papers

Holden, S., 2024. 'The Dialectic of Community Activism: Understanding the shift of Socialism in 1980s Sheffield', AESOP 2024.

Hammond, M., Dempsey, J., Holden, S., White, S., 2023. 'Co-producing Age-Friendly Urban Developments: Reflections on collaborative neighbourhood design with health and housing stakeholders', British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference, Norwich, UK, 5/7/2023 - 7/7/2023.

Holden, S., 2019. 'Reach Homes - A Critical Extension of Dwelling', Aesop 2019 -Planning for Transition, 9/7/2019 - 13/7/2019.

Holden, S., 2018. 'REACH HOMES: A Critical Extension of Dwelling', SEED PGR Conference 2018 - Transcending Academic Boundaries: Creative Methods and Knowledge Sharing.

Theses and Dissertations

Holden, S., 2022. 'Land, Materials, and Construction Site: Decommodification Through Alternative Construction'.