The built environment
We live in a world shaped by human activity. Our researchers explore the past, present, and future of the built environments that we inhabit.
York researchers have explored the historical, cultural and societal significance of the buildings and human-made spaces that we are born, live, work, relax, worship and grow old in. Their work shows how the shape and form of the built environment constrains and affects the way we live our lives.
St Stephen’s Chapel is reborn with digital technology
St Stephen’s Chapel had been at the heart of royal and political life at Westminster for centuries when it burned to the ground in 1834. Now our researchers have helped bring this this stunning, long-lost seat of worship and debate back to life in digital form.
Explore the St Stephen's Chapel Westminster Visual and Political Culture 1292 to 1941 project
Featured researcher
John Cooper
Principal Investigator, St Stephen's Chapel
Dr Cooper's research centres on the Tudor monarchs, their policies in church and state and the relationship between court and country.
Featured researcher
Tim Ayers
Co-investigator, St Stephen's Chapel
Professor Ayers' research interests are in British art and architecture of the later middle ages.
Buildings in the making
While architects aren’t health and social care professionals, they’re often employed to create buildings in which care takes place. A better understanding of their ways of working and their contribution to the design and delivery of care is the focus of this research.
Read more about the Buildings in the making project.
Featured researcher
Sarah Nettleton
Principal Investigator, Buildings in the making
Professor Nettleton undertakes research into topics as diverse as health promotion, medically unexplained symptoms, lay people's use of e-health resources, food allergies, the working lives of medical doctors, and recovering heroin users. Her particular interests are in the sociology of the body and developing an embodied sociology.
Centre for Housing Policy
York's Centre for Housing Policy (CHP) is one of Europe's leading centres for interdisciplinary housing and social policy research, with interests in housing and social justice, housing and later life and the operation of housing markets.
Read more about the Centre for Housing Policy.
Featured researcher
Nicholas Pleace
Director of the Centre for Housing Policy
Professor Pleace has an interest in experimental and quasi-experimental service evaluation and international comparative research. He is a specialist in mixed methods and interdisciplinary research.