As we wrap up the Semester, we want to wish all our students, colleagues, partners and the wider community a restful, relaxing festive break. We’re grateful for a term full of exciting projects, collaborations, site visits, reviews and plenty of new friendships 😀

We hope everyone rests well, recharges, and enjoys time with friends and family. We can’t wait to be back on campus for even more ambitious, sustainable and collaborative projects in 2026.

We wrapped the last week of Semester 1 with an immersive Birmingham walking tour for our Level 4 & 5 students, soaking up civic spaces, architectural styles and the wider built environment on a chilly (but mostly sunny!) winter’s day❄️ Guided tasks included quick on-site sketches, figure-ground maps, movement & connectivity studies, and public-realm observations, bringing our modules on City & Urbanism and History & Theory to life.

Highlights along the route included: 📍Chamberlain & Victoria Squares to Colmore Row: reading layers of historic and contemporary fabric, from civic monuments to new build interventions. 📍Centenary Square & the Library of Birmingham: discussing how the square stitches together cultural landmarks and public life. 📍St Philip’s Cathedral & gardens: a live lesson in English Baroque 📍Jewellery Quarter & canals: industrial heritage meets contemporary reuse, material textures, water edges and movement sequences.

Big thanks to our teaching team for leading a packed itinerary and to our students for the energy and curiosity throughout the day. Lots of information to reflect on and discuss further when we start Semester 2 in the new year.

This week we hosted an immersive masterclass for 24 Year 1 T-level Design, Surveying & Planning students from Dudley College, a brilliant way to round off Semester 1 and the year by working with upcoming talent across the region.

Students tackled our fast-paced Eco-Pod design challenge, a 2050, off-grid brief that asked them to respond to extreme climates with smart orientation, shading, form and materials.

The students explored their ideas in our dedicated WLVArchitecture studios on the Springfield Campus. To top off the day, everyone jumped into collaborative VR to review detailed models together using Arkio with Meta Quest 3 headsets to bring concepts in from Revit, walk them at full scale, and mark-up live with peers and tutors.

Huge thanks to the Dudley College team for an energetic visit, and to our staff and student ambassadors for making it hands-on, welcoming and informative. The feedback from learners and tutors was fantastic, and we’re excited to welcome Year 2 T-level students in 2026.

Our final year BSc (Hons) Architecture students closed Semester 1 in style, presenting their schemes inside the National Brownfield Institutes' Igloo Vision. The 360° cylindrical setup lets students tell the story and visualise their projects in a fully engaging and immersive environment, making feedback richer and faster. Huge thanks to our colleagues at the NBI for allowing us to use this fantastic facility.

We were also delighted to welcome our students ‘client’ for their project, the hashtag#Walsall Community Association, who joined reviews to give live client critique and insight, exactly the kind of feedback that helps to develop professional readiness.

Adding even more depth, we were excited to welcome back John Christophers who contributed expert guidance on retrofit, drawing on his award-winning work on Birmingham’s Zero Carbon House and long-standing leadership in low-energy design.

Thank you to everyone who supported the day, students, tutors, NBI, WCA and John! A brilliant finish to Semester 1.

On Thursday, we conducted a Professional Practice Day for our Level 6 Architecture and Architectural Design Technology students. Our sincere gratitude to all who contributed to the significance and success of the day.

From site visits and city-based learning to conversations focused on professional practice and future pathways, the generosity of time, insight, and honesty shared with our students was invaluable. Experiences like this play a vital role in helping our Level 6 students understand the real ities of practice and feel confident as they prepare for the next stage of their architectural journey.

It started with a special visit to Three Centenary Square the latest addition to Paradise Development in Birmingham where Alex Housden (Federated Hermes MEPC) delivered an excellent presentation offering insight into the vision, delivery, and transformational impact of these major regeneration projects Paradise Birmingham

This was then followed by a site visit to Great Charles Street facilitated by Karl Johnson Sam West of John Sisk & Son Ltd and Emma Cochrane of Weedon Architects Students love this opportunity allowing them to connect their studio learning with real buildings, real constraints, and real professional practice.

In the afternoon, we were generously hosted by Glancy Nicholls Architects who opened their doors to our students. Thank you to Andrew Hassell & Danielle Swann for facilitating the visit and a special thank you to Louis Stephenson Katrina Geen Simran Berik Reece Minott Nathan Millward Christina Thornes for sharing their experiences and engaging so openly and honestly with our students.

Special thank you to our industry partners and speakers

Thank you Professor David Heesom FCIAT Olive White Dr. Mo Tammo Dr Nigel Moore Sam Davey-Jones Karis Cochrane who supported, organised, guided, and ensured the day ran smoothly across multiple locations and activities.

These collaborations exemplify the strength of our industry-embedded approach to architectural education and the value of learning beyond the studio.

We are incredibly grateful to everyone involved 👏

Excited to be part of the Females in Architectural Education (FIAE) network. Together we are looking to see what we can do as a collective of educators and professionals in response to the outcomes of the Fawcett Report. Looking forward to seeing what’s next!

Admiration to Victoria Farrow for setting up and driving such an impactful takeover!
Please reshare and let's drive a change together!

Last night we were proud to host the annual Christmas Lecture in collaboration with our good friends at the Wolverhampton & District Society of Architects and RIBA West Midlands. Attended by regional professionals, our students and staff, it was an evening packed with ideas, debate and community.

Our guest speaker, the award-winning John Christophers, delivered an inspiring session on retrofit, sharing practical strategies, lessons from the Zero Carbon House, and the big-picture thinking our students can apply in studio right away. Even better, John has been guest-tutoring with us this semester, working directly with all WLVArchitecture students in our studios to sharpen design thinking and sustainable outcomes.

Events like this bring industry and education together on our award winning Springfield campus, giving students access to current methods, real constraints and expert critique that accelerates their learning. Huge thanks to Wolverhampton & District Society of Architects and RIBA West Midlands for their continued partnership and support.
📸: RIBA West Midlands

Huge congratulations to Honor Davies, one of our HNC Architectural Studies students here at WLVArchitecture, who has been recognised at the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Apprenticeship Awards 2025, winning the Construction & Civil Engineering Award AND being named Shropshire Apprentice of the Year. An outstanding achievement, proudly supported by her employer SJ Roberts Construction Ltd.

Honor is completing her HNC on a part-time pathway with us while working in a design role at SJ Roberts, an apprenticeship route the company created to blend on the job experience with university study. Honor said “𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘔𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥”

Congratulations again, Honor we couldn’t be prouder of you and thank you to SJ Roberts Construction Ltd for championing professional development across the region. 📸: Honor Davies / SJ Roberts Construction Ltd

Back in March/April, our WLVArchitecture team, along with the Built Environment and Civil Engineering Departments partnered with United Living Group on the Building the Future Year 9 Mentoring & Careers Guidance Programme. The programme was a five-week journey designed to inspire and prepare pupils for diverse careers across the built environment.

Our staff delivered talks and hands-on activities to help students explore career pathways and develop a mini design project, which they then presented a few weeks later on our Springfield Campus. The creativity and confidence on show were outstanding! 👏

We’re proud that this work was recognised at the Building The Future - Construction and Built Environment Sector Awards 2026 in Birmingham last week, where we received a Highly Commended in the Best HE Provider Supporting Careers in Construction category, a scheme that showcases excellence in connecting education and industry.

Huge thanks to United Living Group, Dr Paul Hampton / Paul Boden who coordinated from the School of Architecture and Built Environment, and everyone involved. Supporting the next generation is a core part of WLVArchitecture, and we’re already building on this momentum for 2026. 🚀

Our amazing student led Springfield Architectural Association (SAA) is running a food collection to support a local Wolverhampton food bank this festive season and we’d love the whole University of Wolverhampton network and wider architectural community to get involved.

🧺 What to donate (non-perishable only): cans, cereal, rice/pasta, long-life items and other dried goods (please avoid damaged or swollen cans).

📍 Any donations can be dropped off at the third-year Architecture studio, on second floor of our Springfield building, you can leave items under the tree in the studio. We appreciate every single donation 🌟

If you’re unsure what’s most useful, national guidance suggests checking typical food-parcel staples (e.g., cereals, tinned goods, pasta/rice, UHT milk, tea/coffee, toiletries) and donating what’s currently needed locally.

Thank you for supporting our students’ wonderful and thoughtful community initiative, and for helping our neighbours across Wolverhampton this winter 🙏

🚀 Members of our WLVArchitecture team, including staff, a current PhD student, and KTP Associate with E Poppleton & Son Ltd headed to Digital Construction North at Manchester Central earlier this month. It was a fantastic day of knowledge sharing between practitioners and researchers, and we’re already feeding insights back into our studio teaching and live briefs.

Shout out to our part-time PhD student Sagal Rooble, who presented at the event in her role as Digital Strategy Coordinator at Chetwoods 👏 Sagal presented a session on The Best Means of Saving Carbon and her PhD work on Neuroarchitecture is amazing! Check out her LinkedIn and her Mindfulness Monday posts 💡

We were also proud that Dr Nigel Moore and Mohammadreza Abedin were there representing our ongoing Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships project with E Poppleton & Son Ltd, which is focusing on the use of Digital Twins and AI to support the real-world digital transformation in industry 🤝

Thanks to everyone we met, and great to catch up with our friend and colleague Dr. Mohammad Mayouf, from BCU and talk all things digital (It's a small and friendly community in the digital world 😀). Looking forward to further collaboration from the great people we met and turning ideas into impact 🤝

📸: Sagal Rooble

Amsterdam was our first overseas study trip after the pandemic - and it didn’t disappoint. A group of WLVArchitecture students and staff spent an inspiring few days in Amsterdam, soaking up world-class architecture, attending an industry talk at VMX Architects, exploring the urban design of IJburg, having lunch on the rooftop route at Sluishuis, seeing WoZoCo up close, and visiting lots modern icons by MVRDV.

We still talk about some the highlghts including: ⭐Understanding how IJburg’s man-made islands expand the city with climate-aware urbanism ⭐Walking the public rooftop route at Sluishuis and having lunch with those views 😍 ⭐Seeing MVRDV’s WoZoCo, a classic of inventive housing

Since then, we’ve kept the momentum going with study visits to Dublin and Porto, and plans are already underway for this academic year’s trip.

Yesterday we shared how our students use VR in the Holodeck so to balance things out, today we thought we’d show the other end of the analogue-digital spectrum, our fortnightly Speed Sketching Club. Every other week, WLVArchitecture students (and the odd staff member 😁) grab pens, set a timer, and sharpen their eye by capturing details around our Springfield Campus. It’s fast, social, and brilliant for building confidence.

Quick sketching boosts observation, design thinking and communication and hand drawing helps you really see space and ideas which is why it stays hugely relevant in architectural education and practice. It's great to see students across all years supporting each other during the sessions too 👏

With Springfield’s rich heritage 🏛️ and award-winning building as our backdrop, there’s always something new to draw! If you fancy joining us, bring a sketchbook, we’ll bring the timers and the Haribo sweets (for energy 😁) ⏱️🖊️

Our Level 6 BSc (Hons) Architectural Design Technology students have been using the Holodeck facility at our Springfield Campus to review and refine their studio design projects in Virtual Reality. In collaborative VR sessions using the amazing Arkio (thanks to Johan Hanegraaf and the whole Arkio team for their ongoing support 🙏), they brought in their Autodesk Revit design models, navigated them at full scale, marked up areas for improvement, and co-reviewed live with peers and tutors, all in the same collaborative virtual space 🤝

Guided by our Dr Nigel Moore Moore and his years of commercial experience in VR simulation development for AEC, students use our Holodeck to access leading visualisation tech: VR/AR headsets, a visualisation wall and omni-directional treadmills so they can test designs during modules and get continual feedback before final assessment submission. The tech we use is industry-leading and hands-on, providing relevant learning that gets students ready for industry 🚀

We’re thrilled to share more good news from the Faculty Annual Awards:
🏆Professor David Heesom – Winner of Leader of the Year award
🏆Dr. Mo Tammo - Winner of Module Leader of the Year award
🏆Olive White – Shortlisted in the Student Experience & Engagement award

Huge congratulations to our colleagues for the recognition of their leadership, teaching excellence and student-first approach. It’s brilliant to see our team’s impact celebrated across the faculty 🚀

These wins build on a standout year across our WLVArchitecture community, including:
🎉Samantha Elliott, BSc(Hons) Architecture - Regional winner & national finalist, Women in Property Awards.
🎉Joel Woodward, BSc(Hons) Architectural Design Technology - National winner, CIAT Dissertation/Report of the Year.
🎉Danielle Edwards, BSc(Hons) Architectural Design Technology - Chancellor’s Prize at Summer graduation.
🎉Professor David Heesom & Dr Nigel Moore - Excellence in Knowledge Exchange at the University’s Research Awards.
🎉Plus six of our students were selected to showcase their work at the West Midlands “Best in the Built Environment” event hosted by Chetwoods, a brilliant platform for emerging regional talent.

A fantastic way to round out 2025! Congratulations to everyone in our WLVArchitecture community. Here’s to an amazing 2026! 🚀

🤝 Huge thanks to Michael Parinchy and the team at ProBuild360 for inviting some of our final-year students to a live site visit on War Lane, Birmingham - touring homes at different stages of construction and seeing airtight retrofit in progress 🏠🔨

Getting onto site made the learning real. Students could trace how design intent meets delivery, discussing:
🔹 Sequencing and access choices that shape real-world buildability
🔹 Where and how airtightness is created and verified in domestic retrofit
🔹 Critical fire-stopping/compartmentation that keep residents safe

Visits like this show our students why early collaboration between architects and builders is critical for quality outcomes, turning drawings into robust decisions. Thank you again to Michael and all at ProBuild360 for the insight and generous Q&A 🙌

📸: Level 6 Architecture Students

We were delighted to see Dr Nigel Moore representing WLVArchitecture as an invited speaker at the UK Brownfield Regeneration Summit 2025 in Manchester on 13 November, a national gathering focused on unlocking sustainable brownfield reuse. Nigel presented on how Artificial Intelligence can support every stage of brownfield regeneration and then joined a panel to discuss joined-up data collection and management strategies that optimise site characterisation and restoration.

Drawing on his collaboration with our National Brownfield Institute (NBI), Nigel shared examples of generative design applied to both large and small brownfield sites, showcasing how our research is shaping practice.

Key takeaways from the session:
✅ There is capacity for ~1.41 million homes on brownfield land in England and data remains the major bottleneck.
✅ We must invest in a standardised, structured data backbone to be truly AI-ready.
✅ Human-in-the-loop is essential: AI should co-design with practitioners rather than replace them.

This appearance reflects the national impact of our staff and the way WLVArchitecture connects research, education and industry to address real-world challenges in regeneration.

🏛️ We were delighted that students from across WLVArchitecture were able to take part in the West Midlands Heritage Careers Fair hosted at our fantastic National Brownfield Institute in October 🏛️✨

Alongside professionals from across the heritage sector, we hosted a hashtag#WLVArchitecture stand, and with our students in attendance, it gave them the opportunity to:

✅ Meet employers specialising in building conservation, heritage architecture, archaeology, historic building management and more
✅ Ask questions about volunteering, career pathways and skills
✅ See how their studio projects in heritage architecture, regeneration and conservation connect directly to real careers in practice

The event brought together students, young professionals and career-changers, and it was brilliant to see our students engaging so confidently with organisations who are shaping the future of the historic environment.

A big thank you to West Midlands Heritage and our colleagues at the National Brownfield Institute for organising such an inspiring day and for including our WLVArchitecture students in the conversation.

📸 Photo credits: National Brownfield Institute 👏

👋 We were delighted to welcome students from Thomas Telford UTC into our WLVArchitecture studios a couple of weeks ago 👋

Their visit was perfectly timed with our Vertical Project Week, so they experienced studio life at full speed – busy desks, collaborative pin-ups, models in progress and mixed-year teams working hard on their live design brief.

UTC students had the chance to:
🔹 Explore our studio spaces on Springfield Campus
🔹 Hear more about studying Architecture and Architectural Technology with us
🔹 Watch live project presentations and see just how dynamic, supportive and exciting studio culture can be

It’s always a pleasure to welcome our neighbours from the UTC, and we hope the visit has inspired many of them to continue their journey into architecture and the built environment with us in the future 🚀

🌳 Another successful Vertical Project Week for WLVArchitecture 🌳

During October’s Vertical Week, every student from every year group and course in our department (including our foundation years) came together for a major live design challenge: Timber Un-Build.

Working in mixed-year teams, students explored how low-carbon, timber-led design could improve the pedestrian and cycle connection between our Springfield Campus and Wolverhampton city centre, responding directly to the emerging Six Mile Green development within the Green Innovation Corridor. Their proposals focused on:
🔹 Safety, accessibility and inclusivity
🔹 Wayfinding, lighting and legibility
🔹 Landscape character and overall user experience

To support their work, students engaged with:
✅ Specialist sessions on wood, sustainability and architecture
✅ Case studies of innovative timber buildings
✅ A CPD on timber construction from Michael Parinchy (ProBuild 360)
✅ Attended a fantastic evening organised by Shropshire Society of Architects with a lecture from Yvonne Farrell (Grafton Architects)
✅ An inspiring lecture from Professor Peter MacKeith (University of Arkansas) to give an international perspective on the topic

Across the week, teams worked hard to develop their schemes, producing detailed site analysis, concept diagrams, physical models, final designs culminating in a group presentation – all this while strengthening collaboration, confidence and professional awareness. We were also joined by over 60 students from the Thomas Telford UTC and our Associate Dean, Dr. Ruth Shiner. From everyone in WLVArchitecture we would like to thank Ruth and the Faculty for their support and funding which enables this amazing event happen every year!

Student feedback said it all:
“A great way to work collaboratively. Set the tone of the semester and the year.”
“My ideas were respected and incorporated into the project, which strengthened my confidence.”

This is our fourth annual vertical week and it’s now a highlight of the academic year, putting collaborative architectural education in action.

☕ An early start at our Springfield Campus for this year’s Meet the Employer event ✨

A few weeks ago our students had the opportunity to connect with a wide range of architectural practices and wider built environment employers – exploring roles they can take on during their studies and as they plan for life after graduation.

With employers setting up stands in our Springfield Atrium, students were able to move around freely, network, and have honest, informal conversations about potential future opportunities 🤝

Alongside this, there were supporting workshops on:
🔹 CV writing
🔹 Portfolio presentation
🔹 Interview skills

A huge thank you to all the employers who joined us, and to Dr Paul Hampton for organising this key date in the hashtag#WLVArchitecture calendar.

Last month our academic team were proud to support the Thomas Telford UTC Careers Fair right here on our Springfield Campus 🎓✨

With our Architecture studios and staff offices overlooking the UTC, this partnership couldn’t feel more natural. It was a brilliant opportunity to:
🔹 Talk with students about pathways into Architecture and Architectural Technology
🔹 Highlight the wide range of career routes across the built environment
🔹 Connect with an amazing group of enthusiastic learners – many already taking their first step into the profession through the fantastic T-Level programmes at UTC

We’re excited to keep supporting the next generation of built environment professionals growing on our doorstep.

🏫This semester some of our students are working on a major live project with Walsall Community Association, reimagining a victorian school building as the Black Country Commonwealth House – a vibrant, inclusive and sustainable community hub 🏫✨

Earlier in the summer we digitally captured the building using laser scanning to create a detailed dataset for our students. This semester they’ve taken that work on-site: exploring the spaces in person, studying the building’s character and history, and speaking directly with key stakeholders to understand community needs and ambitions as students begin their design studio projects 🗣️🤝

It’s a brilliant opportunity to connect advanced digital methods with communities, social value, heritage and real-world design challenges – exactly the kind of learning experience we’re proud to offer 💛

⏰ Where did the time go!!! The first half of the semester has flown by 💨

It already feels like a long time since we were welcoming our new hashtag#WLVArchitecture students to campus for Welcome Week in September.

It was a packed week and we kicked off the year with: 📌 Fun activities to build friendships and studio culture 📌 Talks from professional bodies, including RIBA, to connect students with the profession from day one 📌 A fantastic immersive Photography Tour across the City of Wolverhampton, using the city as our open-air studio and exploring the architecture that surrounds us

Now everyone’s settled in, studios are buzzing and it’s all systems go on a wide range of exciting design projects across our Architecture courses.

👀 Keep checking in to see how it started vs how it’s going…

On Thursday, our first-year Architecture and ADT students visited the Capability Brown landscape at Weston Park Enterprises Ltd near Shifnal for their first design module. This project is a brilliant opportunity to translate a real client’s multi-strand brief into an architectural proposal, grounded in site analysis and sound design principles. Special thanks to Gareth Williams for setting up the project, and to Rebecca Alexander, Colin Sweeney and Alison Poole for facilitating the visit. Rebecca’s enthusiasm and clear explanation of the client’s needs on the day were inspiring. Now for the students to get creating!

✈️ Back from Hong Kong… and straight into the studio! 🏗️

It was a real pleasure to spend time with our brilliant students at City University of Hong Kong / CityU SCOPE, where we explored all things Digital Construction and shared insights across continents.

Great to see the fantastic progress being made over there — and fascinating to compare notes with our own work at University of Wolverhampton. The trip also gave me a chance to explore the city, snap a few photos 📸, and gather ideas that we’ll be feeding back into our WLVArchitecture teaching — helping give our students an even broader, global perspective on the built environment 🌏

Now back on home soil, and straight into eight hours of studio and class time yesterday with our Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT) BSc (Hons) Architectural Design Technology students — kicking off a collaborative BIM project built around ISO 19650. No better way to beat jet lag than jumping headfirst into teamwork and model coordination! 💻🧱 😀

This academic year is moving fast!!!

✨ A fantastic winning evening! ✨

We're so proud of WLVArchitecture colleagues David Heesom and Nigel Moore's brilliant success at the inaugural University of Wolverhampton Research & Enterprise Awards 2025! Dave and Nigel won the award for Transformative Impact in Knowledge Exchange, Enterprise, Industry, and Innovation 🏆 The award recognised their ongoing applied work in #digitalconstruction, #BIM and #DigitalTwins. Dave and Nigel were genuinely honoured to be acknowledged alongside so many brilliant people doing impactful work across the University. Huge congratulations to all the winners and finalists — it was amazing to see the wealth of creativity, innovation, and enterprise on show 👏

Thanks also to everyone who we work with from industry who are open to innovation and adopting new (and sometimes radical) technologies as we transform the construction sector. A big congratulations to Prof Prashant Pillai MBE, Ceri David Jones, and the entire team at the University of Wolverhampton Research and Enterprise Directorate (RED) team for hosting such a memorable evening as part of the hashtag#BeyondFutures Festival of Research & Innovation 🎉 The following day, Dave's little boy decided he should get an award too, 🥇 citing room tidying, starting the new School year and generally 'being awesome' - a compelling case, so the art box came out and Mum obliged 😁

We’re absolutely thrilled to celebrate the success of our recent Architectural Design Technology graduate, Joel Woodward, who has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT) hashtag#ATAwards for Student Report of the Year! 🎉

Joel’s outstanding research explored how large point cloud datasets can be seamlessly integrated into real-time game engines to enhance the design process — a forward-thinking project with real impact. As part of the research Joel was mentored by WLVArchitecture staff Professor David Heesom FCIAT, Nigel Moore & Dr. Mo Tammo, with kind support to use real project data collected by the National Brownfield Institute. 👏👏

Congratulations, Joel — an incredible achievement, and we couldn’t be prouder of you! 👏👏

Great to welcome The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) to our Springfield Campus yesterday! 👏

Member of our WLVArchitecture team – Professor David Heesom FCIAT, Karis Cochrane and Nigel Moore – shared how we’re pushing the boundaries of AI in education, alongside some fascinating talks on AI in the construction industry.

A big thank you to CIOB for the invitation and to all involved for the insightful discussions. We look forward to building on these collaborations 🚀

We’re thrilled to share that our David Heesom FCIAT and Nigel Moore have been shortlisted for the ‘Transformative Impact in Knowledge Exchange, Enterprise, Industry, and Innovation’ category at the 2025 University of Wolverhampton Festival of Research – Research and Enterprise Awards!

Yesterday saw the cameras rolling 🎥 with our talented friends at Stone's Throw Media, capturing the story behind their impactful, collaborative work. Best of luck to David and Nigel — fantastic to see their applied research getting the recognition it deserves! 👏🌟

We're thrilled to announce WLVArchitecture's fantastic results in the National Student Survey (NSS) 2025!

Our students have rated us exceptionally well, placing WLVArchitecture among the very top nationally across multiple NSS themes. These results are the best we've ever had and reflect our ongoing commitment to providing outstanding teaching, support, and student experience.

✨ Highlights include:

✅ Teaching on my Course: 97.6%
✅ Assessment and Feedback: 93.3%
✅ Learning Opportunities: 94.3%
✅ Academic Support: 95.2%
✅ Student Voice: 93.7%

These fantastic results place WLVArchitecture in the first quartile and the national top 10 for six out of seven NSS themes. Even better, we’re ranked second nationally against benchmark for Student Voice and Assessment & Feedback.

With Clearing opening imminently, it's the perfect time for future architects to join a programme recognised by students themselves for its excellence. At WLVArchitecture, you'll benefit from high-quality teaching, clear assessment criteria, excellent academic support, and a vibrant student community.

Congratulations and thank you to our students and staff who've made these outstanding results possible!

Explore our courses today—there are still places available!

Yesterday, we proudly celebrated the graduation of our amazing WLVArchitecture students at the University of Wolverhampton. It was a day full of smiles, pride, and a few happy tears – as well as some seriously impressive achievements!

Following the official ceremony, we continued the celebrations with the School of Architecture and Built Environment own prize-giving event on the Springfield Campus, generously supported by industry partners. We’re thrilled to share that WLVArchitecture students took home some of the top accolades:
🏆 Danielle Edwards – Chancellor’s Award
🏆 Aditya Hira – RIBA West Midlands Prize
🏆 Nathan Millward – CIAT Outstanding Student Award
🏆 Rayan Mohammad – Atkins Outstanding Woman in Construction
🏆 Esha Khan – Wolverhampton Homes Women in Property and Construction Prize

A huge congratulations to the entire Class of 2025 – we’re incredibly proud of all you’ve achieved and can’t wait to see where your talents take you next. Wherever your journey leads, remember:

💛 Once WLVArchitecture, Always WLVArchitecture 💛

Ready to move beyond buzzwords and dive into the real-world challenges of retrofit?

Join RIBA West Midlands for a full day focused on Retrofit, Reuse, and Adaptation, where practical workshops meet strategic thinking.

Whether you’re an architect, planner, developer, or student, you’ll gain:
🔧 Practical tools you can use right away
🏗️ Inspiring case studies on sustainable reuse and adaptation
♻️ In-depth knowledge on Whole Life Carbon and Material Passports
💬 Developer insights on making retrofit commercially viable

Hosted by WLVArchitecture and the National Brownfield Institute, with speakers including Sagal Rooble and Ellen Willis of Chetwoods, this is an event you won’t want to miss.
📅: Thursday 11 September
🕙: 10am – 4pm
📍: Lady Aruna Building, University of Wolverhampton, WV10 0JP
🎟️: Limited spaces: https://bit.ly/44ygGWT
🥪: Lunch and refreshments included.

📸: Ben McPhee