Dr Carl Meddings
MArch Programme Leader
Carl is the Programme Leader for the M.Arch in Sustainable Architecture. He has taught at several architectural schools at all levels from pre-first-year undergrad to final year at masters level and beyond. As an architect and educator, he is passionate about educating architects in our rapidly changing cultural and professional environments.
Carl joined CAT in 2022 as the Programme Leader for the M.Arch in Sustainable Architecture. He is an architect and educator with a passion for educating architects in a rapidly changing cultural and professional environment. His pedagogic position is one of mentor and facilitator, as students navigate their personal development journeys, through dialogue and guided reflection. He maintains a broad and open-ended approach to teaching and learning.
Before teaching at CAT, Carl was a practitioner for several years working in several architectural practices, as well as running his own practices, first with Core Architects in the 1990s and later with Bareham Meddings Architects in the early 2000s. More recently Carl was the Subject leader for architecture at The University of Huddersfield and has taught at all levels from pre-first-year to final year at undergraduate level (Part 1) as well as at all stages at masters level (Part 2). He has also been a professional studies advisor in post-Part 1 and post-Part 2 and has overseen the programme and examinations for Professional Practice and Management in Architecture (Part 3). Carl is an active member of the RIBA, serving on Validation Boards, the New Courses Group and the Membership Eligibility Assessment Panel.
His design ethos is rooted in critical regionalism; the exploration of appropriate architecture that is culturally, socially and environmentally responsive. This underpins and informs all aspects of his teaching agenda, from the technical resolution and tectonic expression of architecture to the social and cultural opportunities and responsibilities of urban design and placemaking.
His primary research area in recent years has been into processes of architectural education. There is a very strong aspect of co-learning in architecture. One of the key features of this model of education is the relationship between the design work produced and the dialogue and guidance that takes place. In particular, Carl’s doctoral thesis critically examines the design project review and its contribution to becoming an architect. The research demonstrates that architectural education is fundamentally concerned with individual expression, and that the design project review, situated within the educational landscape, is a focal point, around which effective learning programmes can be developed, and through which constructive critique can occur in a rational, creative and supportive environment.
Qualifications
Doctor of Education (EdD)
RIBA/ARB Part 3 (Chartered Architect)
Diploma in Architecture (RIBA Part 2)
BA Architectural Studies (RIBA Part 1)
Chartered Manager (Chartered Management Institute)
Fellow of Advance HE (formerly Higher Education Academy)
Teaching Activities
M.Arch in Sustainable Architecture
Research Interests
Teaching and Learning in Architectural Education
Psychogeography
Place and identity
Selected Publications
Gomes, D. Meddings, C. and Tzortsopoulos, P. (2018) Contradictions in architecture design studios: Reflections on the concepts of design embedded in architectural education. Proceedings of S.Arch 5th Conference on Architecture and the Built Environment.
Meddings, C. (2013) Discovering Place. Proceedings of the Association of Architectural Educators Conference.
Fellows, F. and Meddings, C. (2010) Reflections on 20 years of the international course at the Huddersfield Department of Architecture. University of Huddersfield Publication
