Programme Director Architecture, Associate Professor

  • Academic
  • Research
Sam McElhinney

Sam McElhinney currently leads the BA and Master of Architecture courses at UCA Canterbury. He has previously run MA and BA degrees in the same school.

Sam McElhinney

Bio

  • Aug. 2019 to present Programme Director BA Architecture, Master of Architecture, PG Certificate Professional Practicein Architecture and Level 7 Architecture Apprenticeship.
  • Aug. 2016 to July 2019 Course Leader (BA Architecture) UCA, Canterbury School of Architecture.
  • April 2015 Guest Lecturer in Residence, ‘Visual Morphologies’ University of Texas, Austin.            
  • Aug. 2014 to July 2016 Course Leader (BA Interior Architecture and Design) UCA, Canterbury School of Architecture.
  • April 2014 to date Association for Professional Studies Advisors in Architecture - Committee member.
  • Course Leader (MA Architecture, MA Interior Design) Aug. 2013 to July 2016 UCA, Canterbury School of Architecture.
  • Research Associate (Space Group) Sept. 2013 to Aug. 2014 UCL's Bartlett School of Graduate Studies Developing realtime isovist based syntactic spatial analysis methods.
  • Jan. 2012 to Oct. 2015 Thesis Tutor (MA Graduate Architectural Design) UCL's Bartlett School of Architecture.
  • Oct. 2006 to May 2014 Studio Tutor (BA Architecture Third Year) UCA, Canterbury School of Architecture.
  • May-December 2013 Research Consultant (Design with Heritage Programme) UCL's Centre for Sustainable Heritage and The V&A Museum Virtual articulation and manipulation of the narrative experience of real exhibition spaces.
  • January 2012 Certificate in Professional Practice & Management UCL's Bartlett School of Architecture (ARB/RIBA Part 3), graduated with distinction/commendation.
  • August 2010  Postgraduate Advanced Architectural Research UCL's Bartlett School of Architecture.
  • July 2009 MArch UCL's Bartlett School of Architecture.
  • July 2003 MA. (Cantab.)  Cambridge University. 

Further information:

Research statement

Sam’s ongoing research is focused on developing real-time and motive spatial analytic models. He is a former member of the ‘Space Group’ at University College London (UCL) and has expansive theoretical and exhibit based research into adaptive maze and labyrinth spaces.

In 2009 Sam won UCL’s Ambrose Poynter Prize for his thesis 'Labyrinths, Mazes and the Spaces Inbetween' and in 2010 he won the prestigious ‘Best Paper’ at the European Meeting of Cybernetics and Systems Research in Vienna. In the past he has lectured and presented papers at numerous institutions including Porto Architecture Faculty, Cambridge University and the MAXXI in Rome.

Professional Membership, Affiliation and Consultancy

  • UK Registered Architect (ARB)
  • Committee Member, Association for Professional Studies Advisors in Architecture (APSAA)
  • Director, MUD Architecture (www.mudarchitecture.com)
  • External examiner, University of Suffolk.
  • 2009 - UCL’s Ambrose Poynter Prize for his thesis 'Labyrinths, Mazes and the Spaces Inbetween'.
  • 2010 - Prestigious ‘Best Paper’ at the European Meeting of Cybernetics and Systems Research in Vienna.