AJ 40 under 40: Design Office, Newcastle University
11 December 2020
By will hurst, illustration by Simon Hayes
Part of Newcastle University, AJ 40 under 40 practice Design Office combines built projects with books, comics and academic papers
A novel architecture and urban design consultancy run by Newcastle University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, the Design Office is led by a team of five, four of whom are under 40 – Yasser Megahed, 39, Kieran Connolly, 31, Aldric Iborra Rodríguez, 33, James Longfield, 33 –plus Adam Sharr, 47. Its focus is on research-led practice.
Helping the university to transfer knowledge and allow its research to have impact on the wider world, the Design Office produces a wide range of architectural output including books, comics, collages, social media and academic papers as well as built projects. These are linked to the school’s research themes and often challenge sub-optimal aspects of practice such as value-engineering or unimaginative standard specification by researching and exploring these areas and highlighting their shortcomings.