A Lancaster University project, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) in sustainable construction methods, has been selected as a showcase at a prestigious national AI event.
Working with the 2025 RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Stirling Award Winners and architects of Eden Project Morecambe, Grimshaw Architects, Professor of Computational Architecture Des Fagan has been invited to showcase his team's work at AI UK, the Alan Turing Institute's national showcase of data science and artificial intelligence on March 19 and 20.
This follows on from a highly successful public event; the AI & Architecture Summit 2025: Sustainability which took place opposite the Eden Project Morecambe site in the Morecambe Winter Gardens in January, attracting more than 300 visitors and speakers including from the Alan Turing Institute, Autodesk, Harvard and UCL.
The project is funded by the University's Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA).
Professor Fagan, who heads the University's School of Architecture, said: "This is quite a result to be chosen through competitive application as a demonstrator at the UK's national showcase of data science and AI. This will increase engagement numbers and prestige significantly.
"The showcase will feature our work with Grimshaw, including a Virtual Reality model of Eden Morecambe that can adapt its form and material using AI tools to analyse and anticipate carbon savings in its design and construction."
Building on the success of this year's event, the showcase at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster, will include two days of thought-provoking debates, innovative demonstrations, and hands-on workshops.
Across 50 sessions, world-leading speakers from academia, industry and the public sector will explore the latest innovations in data science and AI. This will include topics such as foundational AI, digital twins, AI ethics, and regulation.
Chief Scientist of The Alan Turing Institute Professor Mark Girolami said the event would offer innovative content from world-leading experts to show how data science and AI can help solve real-world challenges - from health to the environment.
"The Turing is uniquely placed to bring together people from all parts of the AI ecosystem and AI UK plays a crucial role in this," he said.
"By convening people in academia, policy and industry at AI UK we hope to encourage knowledge sharing and community building across these different disciplines."
It was also announced this week that Professor Fagan has been appointed to a key role on a UK higher education quality assurance organisation.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), an independent charity working to benefit students and higher education, and one of the world's experts in quality assurance, has announced the appointment of new Chairs and Deputy Chairs to lead the review of six Subject Benchmark Statements in 2025-26.
Professor Fagan will take up the job of Deputy Chair for the QAA Subject Benchmark in Architecture for 2025-26.
Subject Benchmark Statements, which have been drafted and published by QAA for more than two decades, describe the nature of study and the academic standards expected of graduates in specific subject areas.
Professor Fagan's particular focus will be on the impact that AI has on the education of the architect, including how teaching content, delivery and assessment will need to adjust to suit new skillsets required to use those tools.
