Digital architectural production for social good

About the research team

We are a multidisciplinary team of researchers and external partners with expertise in architectural design, participatory design methods, product design, digital arts, digital design and fabrication, project construction management, and data science.

Our research encompasses technologies and their impacts in society and the environment, and follows a participatory approach. Our work has been funded by the AHRC, Forestry Commission, and EPSRC.

We work directly with community groups, housing organisations, academic partners, and industrial networks, ensuring the co-creation of projects and solutions which are relevant, inclusive, and tailored to local needs.

Our research methodologies include the development of technology, adoption studies, and participatory methods in partnership with community and industry organisations – such as research in residence, action research, and co-design activities.

Recent publications

Veliz Reyes, A., Yilmaz, A., Olmez, D., Bakan, Ö., Burke, R., Carr, A., Kızılörenli, E., Morales-Beltran, M., Pedergnana, M., & Pericic, L. (2025). Modern methods of construction for the social good: An investigation of technological adoption for prefabricated tiny house communities in Izmir, Türkiye. Abstract from Housing, Health and Extreme Events.

Veliz Reyes, A., Olmez, D., & Carr, A. (2024). Early-stage codesign of a material passport for volumetric timber building components. In A. Estevez, & D. Torreblanca-Diaz (Eds.), Proceedings of the SIGRADI 2024 Conference: Biodigital intelligent systems: XXVIII International Conference of the Ibero-American Society of Digital Graphics (pp. 841-852).

Veliz Reyes, A., Carr, A., & Crabtree, T. (2024). Chapter 21: Co-making and Prototyping Community Housing Futures. In V. Fors, M. Berg, & M. Brodersen (Eds.), The De Gruyter Handbook of Automated Futures (pp. 339-358). (De Gruyter Handbooks of Digital Transformation). de Gruyter.

Veliz Reyes, A. (2024). A multimodal study of augmented reality in the architectural design studio. International Journal of Technology and Design Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-024-09895-5

Carr, A., & Veliz Reyes, A. (2024). Spaces for co-creating rural futures: Bridport's Living Lab. In S. Leighton, & E. Barrett (Eds.), Careful Collaborations: Ethics and Care in Cultural Knowledge Exchange and Trans-Disciplinary Research (pp. 26-30). The National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange.

Veliz Reyes, A., & Holmes, M. (2024). Digital Hybridities: Theorising the ‘Social’ and the ‘Local’ of Fabrication Technologies in Craft Practice. In Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering (pp. 111-117). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0621-1_14

For more publications, view the profiles of the researchers involved:

Opportunities for commercial and research collaboration

We invite key stakeholders and potential funders to join us in our mission to drive innovation in place and create a sustainable impact. We offer multiple collaboration pathways, including project and grant collaboration, contract research and consultancy, research in residence, and living labs embedded within community organisations.

For more information and to explore collaboration opportunities, please contact us at alejandro.velizreyes@plymouth.ac.uk

Addressing global challenges through the lens of place

Plymouth's cross-institutional place-based research aligns with government agendas for people and place, as well as UKRI and British Academy priorities.

A critical mass of Social sciences, Humanities and the Arts for People and the Economy (SHAPE) researchers in collaboration with Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) colleagues are tackling global challenges associated with health, marine and sustainability.