Designing towards sustainable regeneration
A 10 credit (5 ECTS) module taught by the School of Architecture and Landscape as part of the Sheffield International Summer School 2026.
Module overview
This course introduces a diverse range of research-based design and design-oriented research approaches to sustainable regeneration, with a particular focus on the regenerative design and ecological regeneration of the British historic environment.
It will explore practical and philosophical debates within architectural, landscape and urban studies, addressing contemporary issues and employing complementary approaches that have recently been innovated by the core teaching team.
The tutors and lecturers are leading landscape architects, historians at the forefront of their field.
Module prerequisites
Applicants must be registered at another university and be achieving an equivalent of UK 2:2 (50%) or US GPA 2.7 on an undergraduate programme in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design or a related field.
Current first year students who do not yet have grades should provide a transcript confirming the modules they're enrolled on and an academic reference.
Students not from a majority English speaking country must be able to provide evidence of having English language at the following level: IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component, or equivalent.
Learning outcomes
- To develop knowledge of social, cultural, economic, political and ethical issues relating to sustainable regeneration design.
- To develop an understanding of the range of conceptual design and research methods in architecture and landscape.
- To develop the ability to interpret and evaluate design within the British historic environment.
- To develop the visual and verbal skills to debate design approaches.
Teaching and assessment details
The module is delivered as an intensive, design-led summer school that integrates lectures, seminars, tutorials, design workshops and field-based learning. The teaching format is structured to support the translation of theory into design practice, with a strong emphasis on research-informed design thinking and critical reflection.
Most teaching days are structured around a combination of:
Lectures and seminars, introducing key theoretical frameworks, design strategies and research-based approaches to sustainable regeneration within architectural, landscape and urban contexts. These sessions are interactive and may include short discussions and group-based activities.
Design studios, workshops and tutorials, where students develop a conceptual design response to a selected site. These sessions provide opportunities for iterative design development, peer learning and direct feedback from tutors.
Field trips and site visits, including an off-site visit to York and other regional destinations, enabling students to critically engage with the British historic environment and landscape infrastructure through on-site observation and discussion.
Independent study time, scheduled throughout the programme to allow students to reflect on taught content, advance their design work and prepare for assessment.
Given the intensive nature of the summer school, students are expected to attend all scheduled teaching activities, actively engage with teaching materials, and undertake independent study alongside contact hours. Students should expect to spend additional time outside of timetabled sessions developing their presentation and preparing assessment materials.
Assessment
Assessment will be based on an individual presentation at the end of the summer school. Students will provide a 30 minute presentation to show their concise visual and written report, demonstrating their ability to apply sustainable regeneration concepts to a site-based design proposal and to communicate ideas in a clear, structured and professional manner. The presentation accounts for 100% of the module assessment.
Module timetable and content
The timetable for the module consists of a variety of lectures, seminars, tutorials, design workshops and field-based learning taking place on weekdays (Monday to Friday) from Monday 20 July to Friday 31 July.
Lectures provided on the module include:
- Liveable cities = Green cities
The world continues to urbanise – but what does this mean for our quality of life in the future? Quality green space is vital for a healthy, vibrant, happy urban society. This lecture will explore the rationale for providing space for nature within the city, and what the nature / human relationship will look like as the impacts of climate change take hold. The lecture will cover aspects including different types of green space, biodiversity, flood mitigation, city cooling, opportunities for urban food-growing and human health and well-being.
- Social Equity and access to urban natural environments
Integrating natural environments and ecological habitats into the urban environment can have important social and cultural benefits for residents. This session explores equality and social justice aspects of access to local natural environments. Despite facilities like parks being usually free of charge to use, there may be significant variations in who visits them the most. We’ll look at research on access to nature in cities by different groups and discuss design and management approaches which can support social equity.
- Dynamic, Diverse, and Tuned to the Nature: Ecological and Horticultural Practices in the UK
In this session, you will be introduced to how the creative application of ecology and horticulture is central to the practice of landscape architecture, and to the principles behind the planting design approach often referred to as the “Sheffield School". This approach is characterised by beautiful and sustainable solutions for public space, with high public appeal, and rich in biodiversity. You will have the opportunity to explore a range of bold and highly dramatic naturalistic urban greening projects developed in the UK in recent years, including Sheffield’s Grey to Green project, the London Olympic Park, Grosvenor Square in London, and the new Queen Elizabeth II Memorial landscape in St. James' Park, London.
- Urban Modelling and Low-carbon Design Integration
It will describe the principles of low Carbon design, and more general design for sustainability and resilience, where relevant linking to the lecturers’ new book Science and Technology of Low Carbon Design (Sheffield Pressbook, 2024).
- Case Studies in Architecture and Landscape for Sustainable Urban Regeneration
It will present a series of case studies from both architecture and landscape disciplines with an aim and ambition for sustainable urban regeneration, based upon the lecturers’ new book Case Studies in Architecture and Landscape (Routledge, 2025). As part of the methodological training, this session will also introduce case study as both a precedent study and method of inquiry.
- Understanding Place and Heritage towards Sustainable Urban Regeneration
This session introduces a range of theoretical and practical approaches to architectural design interventions in the historic built environment. It will explore conceptual and philosophical debates within architectural conservation and heritage studies, addressing the conflicting and complementary approaches that have historically been employed.
- Urban greening policies and urban (micro)climate
Urban green infrastructure has been recognized as a pertinent Nature-based Solution in urban heat mitigation and climate change adaptation. Greening efforts, especially in compact cities, face multiple constraints and challenges that require innovative justifications. To effectively improve urban greening, government agencies and local communities worldwide have devised diverse greening policies, which often include optimizing the cooling potential. In this session, you will have the opportunity to understand the greening motivation and policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in typical cities around the world.
Experience Sheffield for yourself
The best way to find out what studying at Sheffield is like is to visit us. You'll get a feel for the atmosphere, the people, the campus and the city.