MSc Architecture and Environmental Design 2025 Welcome to MORE 2025

Paolo Cascone (Course Leader), Rosa Schiano-Phan, Carine Berger, Mehrdad Borna, Kartikeya Rajput, Filomena Russo, Rofayda Salem, Vera Sarioglu, Juan Vallejo

Paolo Cascone is Senior Lecturer and Course Leader of the MSc in Architecture and Environmental Design. He is an AA-trained architect with a PhD at the intersection of environmental design and ecological construction, and is the author of African Fabbers Atlas, published in 2025. 

Rosa Schiano-Phan is Reader at the University of Westminster, and has lectured internationally. Rosa has worked in environmental design consultancy and research for almost 25 years, and is co-director of the Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment (ProBE). 

Juan Vallejo is an architect and environmental design consultant working and teaching internationally between Spain, Italy and the UK. Juan’s expertise lies in the field of building performance simulation, natural ventilation and passive cooling.

Filomena Russo is a doctoral researcher with a MPhil degree in Environmental Design in Architecture from the University of Cambridge. She is a registered qualified architect in Brazil and the UK, and has practiced sustainable architecture in the UK and internationally.

In 2024/25 the Architecture and Environmental Design MSc, in collaboration with our partners Hilson Moran and PRP Architects, analysed the environmental performance of working environments, with an emphasis on two existing office buildings in central London. The study investigated the two collaborative partners’ working environments, considering and analysing their local climate, urban microclimates, architectural features and occupant behaviours. This analytical and empirical research-based project explored the mutual effects that these factors may have on indoor/outdoor activities, environmental quality, human comfort, health and wellbeing as well as the energy consumption of the buildings. 

These evaluation projects led to the semester 2 design brief on The Environmental and Energy Retrofit of Work Environments in London. Proposals for user-centred environmental design solutions in the existing buildings were offered by the students, paying particular attention to the compounding requirements of user-wellbeing and energy performances. The course successfully continued the Collaborative Thesis Programme with industry partners from a range of architectural firms and environmental consultancies. To date, the resulting theses have featured a variety of topics in different climatic and socio-political contexts. This initiative has led to employment opportunities for our students.

Guest Critics: Dimitris Argyros (Haptic Architects), Mari-Joe Daccache (Hilson Moran), Emma Galvin (Haptic Architects), Pil McIlwain (Quantum Acoustics), Amedeo Scofone (Hilson Moran)

Special Thanks: Anna Boldina (University of Cambridge), Alessandro Cirillo (Hilson Moran), Kan-chane Gunawarden (TU Delft), Dean Hawkes (University of Cambridge), Maddalena Laddaga (Milan Polytechnic), Adam Mitchell (Homefolk), Mike Sefton (Expedition), Michelle Waters (Homefolk)

Students:

• Nesrine Abdelkrim
• Hana Bawamia
• Zahra Ghenaat
• Vishweshwaran Sundar Meenakshisundaram Kannan