Staff profile: Professor Bryan Lawson

Professor Bryan Lawson

Tel: +44[0]114 222 0300

email : b.lawson@sheffield.ac.uk

Qualifications
Dip.Arch., M.Sc., PhD., RIBA, Registered Architect

Background
Early in my career I worked as an architect in both the private and public sectors. I got sucked into
universities and have never escaped. I was Head of Department and Dean for too many of my years and
now I am able to spend more time working on my real research interests and teaching. This also enables
me to consult with many international architects, clients and government bodies so I am increasingly
involved in designing again. I enjoy the privilege of working in many other countries especially in the Far
East, Australia, Holland and Ireland.

I have a disease called opera and try very hard to play the flute and a few other musical instruments. When
not sitting quietly in hides at bird reserves I have occasionally been heard commenting on the characteristic
blindness of officials at ice-hockey games.

Teaching Responsibilities
I teach first year undergraduate courses in perception and design processes and a second year course on
the `language of space´ which is about architectural psychology. I teach research techniques and
specialised modules on the post-graduate courses.

Research Interests
I am an architect and a psychologist.

I work on the psychology of places created for and by people. I am particularly interested in places where
architecture can make a real difference to the lives of people and facilitate what they are trying to do such
as healthcare and educational environments. It is especially rewarding to be able to improve the quality of
life for people who are disadvantaged or unwell. We are creating a new approach to architectural design
that is evidence-based as well as creative and innovative.

I also work on the psychology of creative design processes. Designing is one of the most extraordinary
things that humans can do. It is enormously rewarding and yet frequently frustrating. We now know much
more than we did when I started about the way designers think and work and ways of helping them to be
more creative.

Linking these two areas together I work on tools for turning research knowledge into a form designers can
use and that help designers, clients and users collaborate more effectively.

Grants
2000 £7,550 NHS Estates - To develop a national research agenda
2000 £59,875 EPSRC - a research network for the built environment (BERN) - (jointly with Herriott-Watt
and Salford Universities)
2001 £66,000 EPSRC - LEAF part2 a RAIS knowledge transfer to industrial partners.
2001 £25,000 EPSRC - ADS part2 a RAIS knowledge transfer to industrial partners.
2001 £44,092 NHS Estates - Therapeutic effect of the architectural healthcare environment (phase 3,
jointly with 2 hospital trusts)
2001 £13,552 White Rose Partnership - Briefing and collaboration modules at Masters Level
2002 £20,000 Sheffield One - Modelling Sheffield City Centre regeneration with a Dynamic Virtual City
Platform (jointly with Dr. C. Peng)
2002 £67,769 NHS Estates - One Patient one Room, an evaluation of Leeds Nuffield Hospital
2003 £48,339 NHS Estates, BDP, Balfour Beatty Capital Projects - ASPECT a staff/patient environment
calibration tool
2003 £89,900 NHS Estates - Improving the patient environment using recurrent expenditure (with Oxford
Radcliffe Hospital and Loewy Design Consultancy)
2003 £40,500 NHS Estates - Learning from the evidence base of NHS design
2004 £15,000 NHS Estates - Learning from the evidence base (part 2)
2004 £33,500 NHS Estates - Evolving AEDET - evidence based healthcare design
2004 £26,741 Department of Health - The impact of design on MRSA in single and multiple rooms
2004 £40,000 Department of Health - IDEAs (1) generic nature of places in healthcare
2004 £65,000 Department of Health - Disseminating Good Design Practice
2005 £40,000 Macmillan Cancer Relief - Learning from the Macmillan hospital building programme
2006 £24,592 Department of Health - Disseminating Good Design Practice (2)
2006 £40,424 Macmillan Cancer Relief - Learning from the Macmillan hospital building programme (2)
2006 £36,843 Department of Health - IDEAs (2)
2007 £43,659 Macmillan Cancer Support - Learning from the Macmillan hospital building programme (3)
2007 £19,423 Guys and St Thomas´s Hospital Trust - Study of the Evelina Children´s Hospital.
2008 £35,074 Macmillan Cancer Support – Learning from the Macmillan hospital building programme (4)
2009 £45,000 Department of Health through Macmillan – Environmental Quality in Cancer Environments
2009 £150,000 ESPEC- Enhancing Quality and Safety in the Healthcare Estate by Design

Activities and Distinctions

1. Research-related service on or for national or international bodies or
committees.
Member of RAE panel for 1996 and 2001
EPSRC peer review panel (2000-2005)
NHS Patient Environment Committee
Department of Health Design Review Panel
Chair- International Academic Advisory Panel, Chinese University of Hong Kong

2. Journal editorship and editorial activity.

Editorial boards of:-

Journal of Architecture and Planning Research

International Journal of Construction Information Technology
Environments By Design
Construction Innovation
Design Studies
Multimedia Cyberspace Journal
Built and Human Environment Review
Health Environments Research and Design Journal

3. Awards and distinctions.

Elected National Council Member of the RIBA (1996)
Distinguished Visiting Professor, National University of Singapore
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Visiting Professor, Multi-media University, Malaysia
Visiting Professor, University of Sydney
Part of winning consortium for international Grangegorman competition to masterplan part of central Dublin

4. Invited talks at conferences / keynote addresses / plenaries.

i. Invited keynote addresses to:-

COINFA – Florianopolis, Brazil 2000

RIAS conference on Design Education, Glasgow 2000
Design in Context, Technical University Delft 2001
What is Design?- National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur 2002
Future of Architectural Education - Kuala Lumpur 2003
PAM Annual Conference – Malaysia 2003
INCITE2004 (IT in Construction) - Langkawi, Malaysia 2004
Contemporary Educational theory in Architecture -Kuala Lumpur 2004
Design Quality Systems in Healthcare– Sydney 2005
Design Computing and Cognition - Heron Island, Australia 2005
Design Education Conference - Eindhoven, Holland 2005
Design in Healthcare – Irish Health Services Executive, Dublin 2006
Design Train – Amsterdam 2008
Arts in Healthcare – Buffalo 2009
Institute for Qualty in Healthcare – Dublin 2009

ii. Major media coverage of research

Good Design Aids Recovery Health Which December 2003

Patients are a virtue The Times 31/10/06
Two radio programs for BBC Radio 4 narrated by Sheena McDonald and produced by Susan Marling. First
Broadcast at 9-9:30pm on Wednesday 14th and 21st September 2005
A documentary film produced by Cricket exploring the psychology of the design of the Range Rover 2005

iii. Participation in the development of national and international policy and practice.

I have served on the following committees:-

Construction Industry Council Innovation and Research Committee

RIBA Council
RIBA Research Committee (Chair)
RIBA Practice Board
RIBA Education and Professional Development Board
RIBA Future Studies Group
Architects´ Registration Council of United Kingdom, Board of Education
Academic Advisory Board Chinese University of Hong Kong School of Architecture

External examiner at the International Universities of:-

National University of Singapore, Newcastle-New South Wales-Australia, Tasmania, Technical University

of Delft- Holland, Brussels University, Universiti Teknologi -Malaysia, Multi-Media Universiti Cyberjaya-
Malaysia, Chalmers University Sweden.

External examiner at the British Universities of:-

Queens Belfast, Edinburgh, Liverpool, John Moores-Liverpool, Leicester, Northumbria, Nottingham,

Salford, Strathclyde, Teesside, UCL, Ulster, York, The London Institute Central St Martins College of Art
and Design, and The Open University.

Key Publications
Lawson, B. R. (1994). Design in Mind. Oxford: Butterworth Architecture.

Lawson, B. R. (2001) The Language of Space Oxford: Architectural Press

Lawson, B. R. and M. Phiri (2003). The Architectural Healthcare Environment and its Effects on Patient
Health Outcomes. London, The Stationery Office. ISBN 0-11-322480-X

Lawson, B., M. Bassanino, et al. (2003). "Intentions, practices and aspirations: Understanding learning in
design." Design Studies 24(4): 327-339.

Lawson, B. R. (2004) What Designers Know Oxford: Architectural Press

Lawson, B. R. (2004). Schemata, gambits and precedent: some factors in design expertise. Design Studies
25(5): 443-457.

Lawson, B. R. (2006) How Designers Think (4th edition) Oxford: Architectural Press
Lawson, B.R. and Dorst, C.H. Design Expertise Oxford: Architectural Press

Postgraduate Students
Azari Mat Yasir - Virtual Environments and Architectural Education. (Jointly with Dr. Rosie Parnell)
Mostafa Ay Ibraheem: Cultural Transformation in Egyptian Housing (Jointly with Dr. Rosie Parnell)

Research Assistants
Research Fellow - Dr. Michael Phiri