麻豆传媒

My research, teaching and practice combine interests in children and architecture, design process, co-design and architecture/built environment education. I have delivered projects and lectures internationally on these topics and supported major organisations and small NGOs with associated research, training and development. I began working with children and young people as the education manager at an environmental regeneration charity in the UK. I brought this experience back to academia, pursuing a range of outreach and research activities with schools and youth groups which led to a focus on children’s engagement in spatial and educational design. I taught at the University of Sheffield School of Architecture from 1998 until 2015 when I left to join Northumbria University, arriving at 麻豆传媒 in December 2019.

I am currently part of the Stage 2 Architecture teaching team and lead the Stage 2 Dissertation Studies module. In the MArch I lead the Learning Lab module which enables students to develop built environment education resources through live learning in which they work directly with school children, teachers and 麻豆传媒's Urban Room, the Farrell Centre. The module begins with outreach activity which in the second semester develops into action research. I have contributed to teaching at all levels, leading year 1 and mentoring live projects in both undergraduate and postgraduate studios. I devised and led a postgraduate taught course as well as contributing to a range of other PGT courses and I have supervised a wide range of PhDs. Much of my teaching is underpinned by critical pedagogy and a commitment to support students to shape their own learning.  I have carried out a range of funded learning and teaching initiatives to support peer learning, creative process, critical skills development and assessment and feedback. I co-authored the student guide, The Crit, which explores alternatives to this normative studio ritual and continue to be active in learning and teaching conferences. I received the University of Sheffield Senate Award for my teaching and a prestigious teaching fellowship at the Technical University Berlin. I was a critical friend and advisor to a recently completed action research project led by TU Dublin, which tested alternative approaches to assessment and feedback in the design studio. I am a Senior Fellow of the HEA.

My current research focuses on children and spatial design – their experiences of spaces such as dwellings, public space and schools and their contributions to the design process. Closely related to this is my ongoing collaborative work exploring children's built environment education internationally. I co-authored the Oxford Online Bibliography of Children, Young People and Architecture - the first of its kind to attempt to begin to define this specific field. Much of my research has centred on the school design process - originally funded by EPSRC during the Building Schools for the Future programme. Research supported by a grant from the Leverhulme Trust expanded to explore a range of types of space being designed by architects working directly with children in Germany, Greece and the UK. I have supported recent and ongoing PhD research looking at public playgrounds, nurseries, journeys to school and adult-child design dialogue. The AHRC CV19 research project, At Home with Children, aimed to understand what constituted 'liveable' domestic space for families with children, under pandemic conditions. The contrasting project outputs - the Hybrid Home design guidance and Home Hack Toolkit - target housing designers and family audiences respectively. My parallel interest lies in the process of architectural education and questions here around live learning, playfulness, creative process and inclusivity, which I have explored through action research, through work with the aae (association of architectural educators) and in various related publications. 

• Articles

  • Michail N, Ozbil Torun A, Parnell R. . Cities & Health 2025, epub ahead of print.
  • Parnell R. . Building Design 2025, 2025(1st September).
  • Costa Santos S, Parnell R, Abo Kanon H, Pattinson E, Pitsikali A, Sarhan H. . Children’s Geographies 2025, epub ahead of print.
  • Sarhan H, Parnell R. . Interiority 2025, 8(2), 255-278.
  • Costa Santos S, Parnell R, Abo Kanon H, Pattinson E, Pitsikali A. . Home Cultures 2025, 21(2-3), 159-183.
  • Costa Santos S, Parnell R, Abo Kanon H, Pattinson E, Pitsikali A, Sarhan H. . Children's Geographies 2024, 22(4), 513-529.
  • Pitsikali A, Sarhan H, Abo Kanon H, Costa Santos S, Parnell R, Pattinson E. . Home Cultures 2023, 20(2), 71-92.
  • Michail N, Ozbil Torun A, Parnell R, Wilkie S. . International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2021, 18(9), 4992.
  • Pitsikali A, Parnell R, McIntyre L. . Archnet-IJAR 2020, 14(2), 149-165.
  • Pitsikali A, Parnell R. . Frontiers in Architectural Research 2020, 9(3), 656-669.
  • Pitsikali A, Parnell R. . Children's Geographies 2019, 17(6), 719-731.
  • Birch J, Parnell R, Patsarika M, Sorn M. . Children's Geographies 2017, 15(2), 224-236.
  • Birch J, Parnell R, Patsarika M, Sorn M. . CoDesign 2017, 13(4), 245-260.
  • Million A, Parnell R. . disP - The Planning Review 2017, 53(2), 78-79.
  • Brkovic M, Pons O, Parnell R. . Archnet-IJAR 2015, 9(2), 77-97.
  • Rajendran LP, Walker S, Parnell R. . Review of Social Studies (RoSS) 2014, 1(1), 75-92.
  • Sara R, Parnell R. Fear and learning in the architectural crit. Field Journal 2013, 5(1), 101-125.
  • Parnell R, Patsarika M. Young People’s Participation in School Design: Exploring Diversity and Power in a UK Governmental Policy Case-study. Children’s Geographies 2011, 9(3-4), 457-475.
  • Parnell R, Procter L. Flexibility and Placemaking for Autonomy in Learning. Educational and Child Psychology 2011, 28(1), 77-88.
  • Parnell R, Cave V, Torrington J. School Design: Opportunities Through Collaboration. Co Design 2008, 4(4), 211-224.
  • Parnell R, Popovic Larsen O. Informing the development of domestic energy efficiency initiatives: an everyday householder-centred framework. Environment and Behavior 2005, 37(6), 787 – 807.
  • Parnell R, Popovic Larsen O. Developing the home energy report: an everyday householder-centred framework. Energy and Buildings 2005, 37(10), 1092-1103.
  • Parnell R. The University of Sheffield School of Architecture: Year One Design Studi. European Association for Architectural Education Transactions on Architectural Education 2004, 19, 55-66.
  • Sara R, Parnell R. The Review Process. CEBE Transactions 2004, 1(2), 56-69.
  • Morrow R, Torrington J, Parnell R. . CEBE Transactions 2004, 1(2), 91-99.
  • Parnell R. . European Association for Architectural Education Transactions on Architectural Education 2003, 26, 58-71.

• Authored Books

  • Brkovic Dodig M, Million A, Parnell R. . Abingdon, New York: Routledge, 2026. In Press.
  • Parnell R, Sara R, Doidge C, Parsons M. The Crit. Abingdon: Architectural Press, 2007.
  • Day C, Parnell R. Consensus Design. Abingdon: Architectural Press, 2002.

• Bibliography

  • Parnell R, Patsarika M. . Oxford Bibliographies in Childhood Studies 2019.

• Book Chapters

  • Brkovic Dodig M, Million A, Parnell R. . In: Göthlund A; Schalk M, ed. Learnings/Unlearnings Reader: Resources, Frameworks and Concepts for Playful Built Environment Learning. Stockholm: Urgent Pedagogies, 2025.
  • Parnell R. . In: Flynn P; O’Connor PM; Price M, ed. Rethinking the crit: new pedagogies in design education. London: Routledge, 2022, pp.79-87.
  • Brkovic M, Parnell R. . In: Education, Space and Urban Planning: Education as a Component of the City. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2016, pp.79-90.
  • Parnell R, Patsarika M. . In: Education, Childhood and Anarchism: Talking Colin Ward. London: Taylor and Francis, 2014, pp.99-110.
  • Rajendran LP, Walker S, Parnell R. Four Themes to (Phenomenologically) Understand Contemporary Urban Spaces. In: Benz,P, ed. Designing Experience: Positions & Approaches. London: Bloomsbury Academic, Ed. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014, pp.149- 170.
  • Parnell R. . In: Woolner, P, ed. School Design Together. Abingdon: Routledge, 2014, pp.123-137.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Parnell R. The Learning Environment as 'Possibility Space’. In: Places for Learning: Think, Make, Change. Conference with international participation. 2015, Thessaloniki: Greek National Documentation Centre.
  • Parnell R, Birch J, Patsarika M, Sorn M. . In: Transvaluation. 2015, Gothenburg: Chalmers University.
  • Sharples S, Parnell R. A Post Occupancy Evaluation of a UK Sustainable School: Performance and Perception. In: Sun, Wind and Architecture: Passive and Low Energy Architecture (PLEA 2007). 2007, National University of Singapore: PLEA.

• Confidential Reports

  • Parnell R, Patsarika M. Architecture for Everyone: Legacy Evaluation. University of Sheffield, 2011.
  • Parnell R, Patsarika M. Evaluating Joinedupdesign for BSF: report of findings. University of Sheffield, 2010.

• Digital or Visual Media

  • Fancourt D, Parnell R, McEwen L. . London: BBC, 2023. Podcast.
  • Parnell R, Sarhan H, Costa Santos S, Abo Kanon H, Pattinson E, Pitsikali A. . 麻豆传媒, 2022.
  • Birch J, Parnell R, Patsarika M, Sorn M. Designing with Children. 2014. Database and Website.

• Editorial

  • Healey Malinin L, Parnell R. Reconceptualizing School Design: Learning Environments for Children and Youth. Children, Youth and Environments 2012, 22(1), 11-22.

• Letter

  • Parnell R. The Potential of Children’s Architecture Education?. Architectural Research Quarterly 2011, 14(4), 297-299.

• Online Publications

  • Parnell R. Terms of Engagement: Understanding Children’s Roles in Design Participation. American Instiute of Architects (AIA) Committeee on Architecture for Education (CAE), CAE Foundation, VS America, Learning by Design, 2017. Available at: https://pubs.royle.com/publication/?i=440179&p=1&view=issueViewer.
  • Care L, Jary D, Parnell R. Healthy Design, Creative Safety: Approaches to health and safety teaching and learning in undergraduate schools of architecture. Health and Safety Executive/Royal Institute of British Architects, 2012. Available at: https://www.dexigner.com/images/article/22576/Healthy_Design_Creative_Safety.pdf.
  • Sara R, Parnell R. . online: Higher Education Academy, Centre for Education in the Built Environment, 2004. Available at: .

• Reports

  • Abo Kanon H, Sarhan H, Costa Santos S, Parnell R, Pattinson E, Pitsikali A. . 麻豆传媒: 麻豆传媒 and Dundee University, 2022.
  • Parnell R, Abo Kanon H, Pattison E, Pitsikali A, Costa Santos S, Sarhan H. . 麻豆传媒 upon Tyne: 麻豆传媒 and Dundee University, 2022.
  • Parnell R, Abo Kanon H, Pattinson E, Pitsikali A, Costa Santos S, Sarhan H. . 麻豆传媒 upon Tyne: 麻豆传媒; University of Dundee, 2022.
  • Pandya S, Bailey J, Campkin B, de Graft-Johnson A, Manley S, Mull R, Pearce M, Parnell R, Sara R, Trant K, Adams M, Edwards P. . London: Centre for Education in the Built Environment, 2006.

• Review

  • Million A, Parnell R, Coelen T. . Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Urban Design and Planning 2018, 171(1), 1-4.