Dr Philip Graham

Philip is a postdoctoral ‘UKRI Design Innovation Scholar’ at the University of Cambridge, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). He is also an architect at Cullinan Studio, London and a visiting lecturer in sustainable housing design at Tampere University, Finland. He is funded to write a book on Adjustable Housing - a transdisciplinary concept spanning the fields of architecture, real estate and economics that he framed in his PhD (2022). This addresses the failure of the ‘property ladder’ to deliver longer term satisfaction and wellbeing since the Global Financial Crisis, leading to a proposal for a whole-system approach to housing design that helps homeowners manage the economic shocks and nonlinear pathways that have come to characterise 21st Century urban living. His work includes a handbook for implementation and a programme of knowledge exchange across industry, practice and UK/Nordic researchers.

Philip has current teaching experience (University of Reading) and almost 20 years in practice, with awards from the RIBA (Research Trust Award) and RIBA Journal (Rising Star). Before splitting his time between practice, teaching and research, Philip spent over a decade designing housing for UK urban regeneration projects, and as in-country lead in eastern Libya masterplanning a new city and world heritage sites. He studied in Sheffield and Romania (Ion Mincu), worked in London and the USA (Olson Kundig), and has held leadership roles in early years education, employee ownership and the British Army. He lectures extensively between fields and across the boundaries of academia and industry.

Research grants

2023-2026 (PI) UKRI Design Innovation Scholar (Arts and Humanities Research Council), £200,000. Seconded from Cullinan Studio, London to the University of Cambridge.

2018-2021 (PhD) Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence doctoral studentship (University of Reading), £60,000. Doctorate, spanning architecture, economics and real estate.

2016-2017 (PI) RIBA Research Trust Award (Royal Institute of British Architects), £8000. For the advancement of architecture in the UK through part time research in practice (Cullinan Studio, London).