Simon Chadwick

School of Architecture and Landscape

Senior University Teacher, Deputy Head of School

Simon Chadwick
Profile picture of Simon Chadwick
simon.chadwick@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 0311

Full contact details

Simon Chadwick
School of Architecture and Landscape
Arts Tower
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
Profile

Simon Chadwick is a registered architect holding membership of both RIBA and ARB, and has been involved in teaching for over twenty years. 

A graduate of the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art, Simon holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching from the University of the Arts London and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).

Simon has practiced in London, at Foster and Partners and EPR Architects, and in Scotland, working with Micheal Laird Architects and Reiach & Hall Architects where he was part of the City of Glasgow College campus design team which was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in 2017. Simon is currently a director of London based design practice StateStudioLtd

Joining Sheffield University in 2012, Simon is a Senior University Teacher and has fulfilled several roles including Deputy Head of School, Undergraduate Programme Director, Postgraduate Taught (PGT) Programme Director and Head of Years 2 and 3. He is currently Architecture Programmes Leader for the School of Architecture and Landscape.

Simon has completed External Examiner positions at the University of Newcastle School of Architecture, Portsmouth University School of Architecture, and taken part in the Revalidation Review of the BA and MArch courses for the University of Hertfordshire. He began an External Examiner position for the Part 3 course at the Bartlett UCL (June/July 2022) and was appointed to the RIBA validation panel (October 2022). Simon represents Sheffield University at SCOSA (The Standing Conference for Schools of Architecture).

During 5 years teaching at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art, Simon was Head of Year 2 and has held posts as a part-time tutor at Strathclyde University and the University of Nottingham. Simon has contributed to both Undergraduate and Masters programmes at The Bartlett UCL, Brighton University, Sheffield Hallam University, the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing and the University of Illinois in Chicago. 

Simon has been a member of the judging panel for the RIBA Bronze Medal 2024 and for the Sheffield Design Awards 2024-26. He currently serves as a Committee Member for QuEAN (Queer Educators in Architecture Network) and also for AAE (Association of Architectural Educators). Simon has been a longstanding member of the Sheffield Society of Architects and Sheffield Civic Trust.

Teaching activities

For more than ten years I have led learning and teaching programmes across Sheffield School of Architecture, and within the Undergraduate design studio in particular. We have reinvested in the design review as a primary method of learning and teaching delivery and developed new methods for the review and assessment of design projects using a variety of innovative digital technologies that have aimed to cultivate a fairer, more collaborative studio environment.

Broadening our use of software has enabled more versatile opportunities for engagement for students in both studio and lecture based modules. An approach to the digital portfolio has been cultivated with a strong emphasis on the representation of the hand crafted aspect of the design process to ensure that this is celebrated within the work of each student.

I lead the Employability and Enterprise delivery within the undergraduate course and also oversee the presentation of SSoA courses at undergraduate open days, the Summer Exhibition and the SSoA London Exhibition.

For the last two years I have been at the forefront of the Sheffield School of Architecture response to the Climate Emergency and have developed strategies to expand and integrate knowledge of sustainable building practices throughout all UG modules. I organise the ‘Towards Zero Carbon Lecture Series’ which incorporates talks by contemporary practitioners and academics at the forefront of the response to the climate emergency. 

SSoA Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee

I am a founding member of the SSoA Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee. The vital work of the committee has been instrumental in cultivating a rich discussion amongst students and staff within many social, cultural and political debates. It is my hope that these discussions continue to provide the context for design projects and community engagement within the School.

Professional activities and memberships

I have worked throughout my teaching career to bring the visibility of LGBT communities into design projects within schools of architecture. One of the first of these was LGBT Live, part of the SSoA’s programme of annual ‘Live Projects’ within which I mentored a group of MArch and PGT students to devise a design project and design ‘tool kit’ for Sheffield’s community of LGBT youth. Through this and many other projects, most notably in the Year 3 studio, I have developed and broadened my commitment to diversity and inclusivity within the architectural profession and within education in general.

I am a committee member of Sheffield Society of Architects and a former trustee of Sheffield Civic Trust. I have worked closely with the Yorkshire branch of the 20th Century Society on numerous campaigns including an attempt to save Sheffield’s Castle Market from demolition, and supported Sheffield Modern in the organisation of the festival of events, specifically building visits and walks. I am a former chairman of the New Glasgow Society- an urban design pressure group set up in 1965 to champion responsible planning and excellent architecture in the city. 

Our current campaign to save the former John Lewis department store in Sheffield, designed in 1963 by YRM has led to the building’s listing at Grade II and a variety of public consultation initiatives designed to reuse this excellent piece of urban fabric.