Dr Sam Clark

(he/him)

MA(Cantab) BArch PgDip PhD ARB FHEA

Publication

• Date
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Research

Current research

My research spans the fields of Architecture, Housing, Planning and Environmental Gerontology. I am the author of numerous publications across these areas reflecting interests in architecture for ageing, health and wellbeing – specifically, housing design and residential/care institutions. My post-doc research resulted in the book 'Inside Retirement Housing', a practice-led ethnography of retirement housing that offers new perspectives on ageing-in-place. Through stories and visual vignettes, it presents a range of stakeholders involved in the design, construction, management and habitation of third-age housing in the UK. I am now expanding my research into other fields and housing forms outside private sector retirement-living and currently exploring UK almshousing as a one-thousand-year-old model for the provision of affordable community housing where older people can live interdependently. Specifically, I have undertaken research residencies in new-build almshousing in Central London, involving ethnographic observations of staff and beneficiary resident processes of ‘getting in place’ and homemaking in support/prospect of ageing-in-place. I have also engaged in design analysis focused on the translation of design concepts to lived experience and exploring inherent tensions between designing for domesticity and making a residential institution. Related to this work, I have participated in mutli-stakeholder research workshops organised by the Almshouse Association, an organisation which provides guidance, support and representation to almshouse charities. Furthermore, I am interested in multicultural perspectives on ageing-in-place and currently exploring these through doctoral supervision and research exchanges involving international scholars, to better understand how different global regions are responding to ageing populations.

Past research

My doctoral thesis 'Architectural Reflections on Housing Older People' presented and interpreted the stories of nine actors involved in the design, construction, management and inhabitation of third-age housing in the UK. Here I integrated original storytelling with architectural survey, analysis and design techniques; bringing together the social science practice of participant observation with architectural post-occupancy evaluation. The research foregrounded 'designerly' modes of inquiry, resulting in design-relevant feedback for those involved in the production of retirement-living environments. Aspects of this research were practice-led, with work packages commissioned by a UK property developer specialising in retirement-living apartments. For instance, feeding design methods into a ‘product review’ that sought to evolve established design patterns for retirement housing. Here I introduced design thinking to shared lounges – see book chapter within 'Design Research for Change'. While another work package led to the co-production of an industry guide for planning and design professionals, 'Retirement Living Explained'.

Previous research areas include design pedagogy, particularly student transitions into architectural education and design practice; architect roles within disaster relief and reconstruction sectors, including international humanitarian aid and UK flooding, and architect capacities to design for communities generally. As a former narrowboat owner, I am also interested in waterscapes, namely UK inland waterways and the opportunities they offer for water-based dwelling.

Future work

I am open to potential research collaborations involving academic and/or industry partners. I am the academic lead for the Design Research & Professional Practice Research & Scholarship Group at the WSA. I have experience in using different research methods from Design (practice-led inquiry, including design analysis, post-occupancy evaluation, etc.) and the Social Sciences (ethnography, participatory action research, etc.).

I am also happy to receive enquiries and applications from potential PhD students interested in any of the following themes and approaches:

• Practice-led Design Research
• Design Ethnography
• People-Centred Design / Empathic Design
• Architecture for Ageing / Health & Wellbeing
• Housing Design / Dwelling Differently
• Design of Residential / Care Institutions
• Design of Residential / Care Institutions

Teaching

Teaching profile

I have been teaching at the Welsh School of Architecture (WSA) since 2008 when I started as an external practitioner contributing part-time to undergraduate design studio teaching. I became a full-time staff member in 2009, working as a professional tutor, supporting first and second year design teaching. Since then, I have contributed to a wide range of teaching activities at every level of the BSc and MArch architecture programmes (details listed below). In 2012 I became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and was nominated for the 2014 HEA National Teaching Fellowship Scheme. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2018 for excellence in teaching, in the areas of design and design methods, with a specialism in housing for older people. In 2022 I was awarded Readership based on a sustained contribution towards the leadership of undergraduate design teaching, as well as the development of new areas of teaching. For instance, an elective for creative practice/research techniques (‘Fieldwork’) and two research-led MArch design studios (‘Expanded Practice’ and ‘Dwelling Differently’). I have also grown a cohort of PGR students exploring interdisciplinary research into design for wellbeing and person-environment studies.

Teaching roles while at WSA

• PGR Director (Acting), 2019-20
• MArch Year 2 Deputy Chair, since 2021
• MArch Year 2 Unit Leader (Dwelling Differently), since 2020
• MArch Year 2 Unit Leader (Expanded Practice), 2017-18
• MArch Dissertation Supervisor, since 2011
• BSc Year 3 Elective Leader (Fieldwork), 2018-20
• BSc Year 2 Module Leader (Architectural Design), 2012-13; 2019-20
• BSc Year 2 Studio Tutor (Architectural Design), 2008-09; 2012-16; 2019-20
• BSc Year 2 Chair (Acting), 2012-13
• BSc Year 1&2 Vertical Studio Co-ordinator, 2011-13
• BSc Year 1 Module Leader (Design Principles & Methods), 2011-18
• BSc Year 1 Module Leader (Architectural Design), 2010-14; 2018-19; 2020-21
• BSc Year 1 Studio Tutor (Architectural Design), 2009-14; 2018-19; 2020-21
• BSc Year 1 Deputy Chair, 2018-19
• BSc Year 1 Chair, 2010-14
• Personal Tutor, since 2010

Student Honours & Distinctions

• Honourable Mention for students' competition entry to the Buildner Senior Housing Design Challenge 2024: Beyond Isolation. Project: ‘Custodians of the Castle’. Students: Yat Aaron Fan, Chantelle Lennard, Samantha Powell, Christopher Adams (MArch Studio ‘Dwelling Differently’ members).
• Student Nomination for RSAW Design Thesis Award 2024. Project: ‘Cardiff Intergenerational Living: An exploration into the coexistence of students and older people within a new sheltered housing typology’. Student: Hannah Payne (MArch Studio ‘Dwelling Differently’ member).
• Student Nomination for RIBA Dissertation Medal 2024. Project: Home and The Home: An Ethnographic Exploration of a Familial Home and Residential Institution for Dementia Care. Student: Charlotte Woodfield (MArch dissertation tutee).
• Student Nomination for RIBA Dissertation Medal 2023. Project: Subverting Colonial Identities: A Space Syntax Analysis of the (D)evolving Singaporean Home. Student: Jo Yee Ng (MArch dissertation tutee).
• Students' shortlisted competition entry to Berlin Affordable Housing Challenge 2021. Project: ‘Refuge(e) within the Community’. Students: Dan Gibbons, Christina Hristova, Macourley James (MArch Studio ‘Dwelling Differently’ members).

Biography

Biography 

I received my architectural education in the 2000’s at three different UK universities, including two top-ranking schools of architecture in England and Wales. Back then the predominant route to registration involved completing three qualifications – Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 – and two years of practical experience. I studied Part 1 at Churchill College, Cambridge University, 2000-2003; Part 2 at The Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, 2004-2006; Part 3 at Kingston University, 2006-2008, and practised in London while training (Parts 2 & 3). I qualified as an architect during the Financial Crisis of 2007/08 and during this time contributed to undergraduate design teaching as a part-time studio tutor in London and Cardiff.

My industry experience includes appointments at five London-based architectural offices, involving a variety of professional projects, ranging from private homes and social housing schemes through to school refurbishments and other commercial work. Plus, more recent consultancy involving private clients on domestic alterations, conversions and extensions, as well as whole-house remodelling projects. A particularly formative experience for me was my employment as a Part 3 architectural assistant at Levitt Bernstein, which cemented my interest in housing design and practice-led research, learning from the firm’s contribution to Housing our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation (HAPPI) – a 2009 report commissioned by government to consider how best to address the challenge of providing homes that meet the needs and aspirations of the older people of the future.

My formal academic career started when I took up a teaching-only appointment at Cardiff University as a Professional Tutor (2009). Since arriving in Cardiff, I have been promoted through the roles of Lecturer (2010), Senior Lecturer (2018), and Reader (2022). I undertook doctoral studies at Newcastle University, 2014-2018, where I completed a PhD by Creative Practice sponsored by a national property developer specialising in retirement housing. Aspects of this work received Commendation in the 2017 RTPI Research Excellence Awards (Planning Consultancy Award) and were Shortlisted in the 2019 RIBA President’s Awards for Research (Annual Theme).

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I switched from a Teaching & Scholarship (T&S) to Teaching & Research (T&R) career pathway. My previous scholarship explored design pedagogy, particularly transitions into architectural education, plus architect roles within disaster relief and reconstruction. My current research centres on housing and specialist residential institutions, engaging the wider fields of gerontology, healthcare, planning, and architecture. In 2022, I produced my first research monograph, Inside Retirement Housing: Designing, developing and sustaining later lifestyles, published by Bristol University Press.

Professional memberships

• Cardiff Ethnography Group; Member since 2022
• Architectural Humanities Research Association (AHRA); Member since 2019
• British Society of Gerontology (BSG); Member since 2015
• Association of architectural educators (aae); Affiliated since 2013
• Higher Education Academy (HEA); Fellow since 2012
• Architects Registration Board (ARB); Architect since 2008

Academic positions

• Reader (Associate Professor), Cardiff University, since 2022
• Senior Lecturer, Cardiff University, since 2018
• Lecturer, Cardiff University, 2010-18
• Professional tutor (full time), Cardiff University, 2009-10
• Design tutor (part time), Newcastle University, 2014-16
• Design tutor (part time), Cardiff University, 2008-09
• Design tutor (part time), Kingston University London, 2007-08
• Guest lecturer / design reviewer to UK schools of architecture, since 2007

Committees and reviewing

• PSE College Admissions & Recruitment Group 
• WSA School Executive Board
• WSA School Board
• WSA School Research Committee
• WSA PGR Education & Student Experience Committee
• WSA Board of Studies

Supervisions

PhD Supervision areas

I am the academic lead for the Design Research & Professional Practice Research & Scholarship Group.

I have an interest in supervising postgraduate research (PGR) candidates in the areas of:

• Practice-led Design Research
• Design Ethnography
• People-Centred Design / Empathic Design
• Architecture for Ageing / Health & Wellbeing
• Housing Design / Dwelling Differently
• Design of Residential / Care Institutions

Doctoral works-in-progress

I am currently supervising the following post-graduate researchers:

• Almaki, N. (-) Almshousing and Designing for Ageing-in-place: Exploring the limits of independent-living and design interventions to support future scenarios [working title] Cardiff University. Thesis pending. (Supervisors: Clark, S. & Turnbull, N.)
• Chen, Y. (-). Multi-scale spatial quality and older women in Chinese gated communities under Home and Community-Based Care Service [working title] Cardiff University. Thesis pending. (Supervisors: Wulff, F. & Clark, S.)
• Edytia, MHA. (-) Housing and Care Culture for Older People in Aceh, Indonesia: The building design implication [working title] Cardiff University. Thesis pending. (Supervisors: Clark, S. & Basavapatna Kumaraswamy, S.)
• Kasem, M. (-) Architecture for people with learning disabilities: Utilising co-design to move toward equitable public buildings [working title] Cardiff University. Thesis pending. (Supervisors: Clark, S. & Sakellariou, D.)
• Kendassa, R. (-) Designing for Well-being and Socialisation in Residential Care: An architectural analysis of social spaces within care homes in Wales [working title] Cardiff University. Thesis pending. (Supervisors: Clark, S., Turnbull, N. & Butcher, L.)
• Kilic, A. (-) Co-Creating Age-Friendly Public Realm for Vision-Impaired People: Learning from their wayfinding experiences in Cardiff city centre [working title] Cardiff University. Thesis pending. (Supervisors: Clark, S., Acton, J. & Davis, J.)
• Lang, B. (-) Dementia-Friendly Community Spaces in China: Inclusive community engagement and risk preventing [working title] Cardiff University. Thesis pending. (Supervisors: Muna Bauza, M. & Clark, S.)
• O’Dwyer, S. (-) Establishing the commonality between aesthetic and sustainable architecture to deliver Holistic Design Excellence in design philosophy education [working title] Cardiff University. Thesis pending. (Supervisors: Gwilliam, J. & Clark, S.)

Current supervision

Menatalla Kasem

Ruba Kendassa

Aysenur Kilic

Yijun Chen

Sarah O'Dwyer

Najwa Awwadh J Almalki

Muhammad Heru Arie Edytia

Bizheng Lang

Past projects

The following candidates completed their doctoral studies under my supervision:

• Bellamy, A. (2022) Designing dying well: Towards a new approach to the co-production of palliative care environments for the terminally ill. Cardiff University. Thesis. ORCA Repository. https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/151445 (Supervisors: Clark, S. & Anstey, S.)
• Ponting, Elizabeth (2024). How can the architectural design of residential care facilities in the UK be improved to make them more suitable for older autistic people? Cardiff Metropolitan University. Thesis. Figshare Repository. https://doi.org/10.25401/cardiffmet.27035800.v1 (Supervisors: Keay-Bright, W., Fennell, J. & Clark, S.)