Dan Jary

As Head of Learning and Teaching I am responsible for the development and enhancement of taught courses across the School of Architecture.

After graduating from Sheffield University in 1992, I spent a number of years in practice, combining this with part-time studio teaching.

In 2008 I became a full-time University Teacher. Having initially operated as Year One Leader and then Undergraduate Course Director, in 2015 I became a Studio Leader in MArch.

In 2011 I received a Senate Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, awarded in recognition of inspirational learning and teaching.

Design research tools

Sheffield DesignLAB, 2025

Welcome to DesignLAB!An interdisciplinary platform for researchers, educators, and practitioners who use design as a way of thinking, making, and collaborating. Based at the School of Architecture and Landscape at the University of Sheffield, DesignLAB brings together those exploring design as a methodology in research and teaching. It’s a space to share ideas, challenge perspectives, and build connections across the built environment disciplines. Join us in shaping new ways of seeing, questioning, and creating through design! Feel free to explore the design tools in our library, add one of yours or engage with our media content.Website, Design, Participation, Design, Carolyn Butterworth, Dan Jary, Emre Akbil and Leo Care

UoS Our People Awards

Inspirational Women Award, 24th June 2024

Showcasing and celebrating women from across our University and increasing the number of women represented in portraits and photography around campus."Diversity in architecture is so important. We’re all participants in society and have a role to play in making it a place for all. We should design for all, as our world is diverse. From an educational point of view, this translates to the idea that anyone can be an architect. This idea cascades down and supports more student diversity and the materials they’re learning from should reflect that.""Encouraging diversity, and intersectionality, starts right at the beginning of the education journey. Reaching out to different people from different socioeconomic backgrounds is so important and a core part of the outreach activities we are involved with. We've got a responsibility to provide opportunities and avenues to all young people. The school curriculum can be jam-packed and there isn't always an emphasis on creativity and that's creativity of all varieties. We’ll meet children who haven't had the opportunity to consider design. These events are an opportunity for them to explore avenues that bring them passion."Exhibition, EDI, Participation, Jennifer Kerr and Dan Jary

(p)ersonalised (VE)ntilation and shading (D)esign for residential elderly (Ca)re environment

pVEDCa, 2024

Ongoing collaboration with academic colleagues, students and a "live" client to simultaneously develop analysis and proposals for a case study sheltered housing project located in Sheffield, together with teaching materials based on the work for use in a variety of academic modules.Climate Emergency, Building Performance, Pedagogy, Sam Brown, Dan Jary

DJary L+T conference 2018.pdf

UoS Learning and Teaching Conference

A flexible pathways approach to curriculum design, 2018

Sheffield School of Architecture Curriculum Review:

A programme level approach in a professional context
Programme level leadership
Introducing a flexible ‘pathways’ approach
Level One foundation year to be undertaken by all students
Opportunities for ‘earn-while-you-learn’ practice based learning
Key challenges - progression and distinctiveness

Event, Presentation, EDI, Pedagogy, Participation, Dan Jary

Studio Collaborative Production 2017-18.pdf

MArch teaching

Studio Collaborative Production, 2017 - 2018

Studio: Collaborative Production is a design studio run as part of the MArch degree course at Sheffield School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield. The studio explores the creation of a built environment which supports the collaborative production of objects, processes and infrastructures; generating an architecture which utilises local resources and expertise and is responsive to local needs. The Studio ran over a 20 week period between November 2017 and May 2018, and was attended by 13 students in the 5th and 6th year of their studies, working towards their RIBA Part 2 professional qualification.Report, Booklet, EDI, Pedagogy, Participation, Dan Jary

aae-2017-proceedings_full-paper-Jary Hodgson Moore.pdf

MArch teaching

Reflections on Architectural Education, 2017

This paper introduces the work of students on a joint MArch and Masters level module entitled ‘Reflections on Architectural Education’. The module explores innovative approaches to learning and teaching, whilst encouraging students to reflect on their own learning experience. Comparisons are drawn between architectural and non-architectural, UK and international contexts. The module engages students in wider debate about architectural education and ultimately in actively exploring and shaping practice in the School itself. In doing so it asks the students to consider teaching models employed within other disciplines, and the learning which takes place outside the studio.Journal Article, EDI, Pedagogy, Participation, Dan Jary

HEDQF conference presentation 2017.pdf

HEDQF Conference

Studio Collaborative Production, 2017

Presented at HEDQF conference in 2017.Event, Presentation, EDI, Pedagogy, Participation, Dan Jary

“I found the live projects to be particularly useful in terms of learning management skills etc., I think it will be a very valuable part of my education and I am looking forward to next year’s.”

Univesity of Sheffield Masters' Student

Studio Collaborative Production 2016-17.pdf

MArch teaching

Studio Collaborative Production, 2016 - 2017

Automation and robotisation are changing the nature of labour and production, and transforming the way people engage with local governance, education and cultural exchange. How can we ensure that the new society which emerges from this change enriches people’s lives, is socially inclusive and is protective of the environment?Studio: Collaborative Production is a design studio run as part of the MArch degree course at Sheffield School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield. The Studio ran over a 20 week period between November 2016 and May 2017, and was attended by 12 students in the 5th and 6th year of their studies, working towards their RIBA Part 2 professional qualification. The studio explores the creation of a built environment which supports the collaborative production of objects, processes and infrastructures; generating an architecture which utilises local resources and expertise and is responsive to local needs.The studio is located within Sheffield’s proposed Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMID) which links the University’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to the city centre along the Don Valley corridor. The project began with an investigation of the AMID study area, carried out alongside a critique of the existing local authority and University-led proposals. This revealed a vision which is primarily commercially driven, and lacking in opportunities for engagement of the local community. The students were keen to explore ways in which AMID can become a more socially diverse, inclusive and vibrant part of the city.Report, Booklet, EDI, Pedagogy, Participation, Dan Jary

Studio Collaborative Production 2015-16.pdf

MArch teaching

Studio Collaborative Production, 2015 - 2016

Studio: Collaborative Production is a design studio run as part of the MArch degree course at Sheffield School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield. The Studio ran over a 20 week period between November 2015 and May 2016, and was attended by 11 students in the 5th and 6th year of their studies, working towards their RIBA Part 2 professional qualification. The educational nature of the Studio requires the students to produce projects of a scale and complexity that goes beyond what is likely to be immediately realisable in the current economic and political context. As a result the proposals are deliberately provocative and aspirational. The ideas and imagination shown hopefully offer a vision of the future which can inspire and empower the next generation.The starting point for the Studio is a realisation that the prevailing economic model of speculation and market-driven change is broken, and that there is a need for greater recognition of interdependency, social capital and local value. Goldthorpe – a former mining town in South Yorkshire – has been identified as a place marginalised by current economic and social policy, and a rich context in which to explore an alternative approach.The work of the students explores a future where a sharing economy becomes mainstream, promoting non-market production and social enterprise. Students have been encouraged to develop an architecture which supports the collaborative production of objects, processes and infrastructures; an architecture which utilises local resources and expertise and is responsive to local needs.Report, Booklet, EDI, Pedagogy, Participation, Dan Jary

"I would say that the module has changed the way I think about my architectural training, provokes thoughts to how it could be changed in the future, and may encourage more progressive ways of teaching for future years."

-Masters' student feedback to a Module

DJary L+T conf slides 2017.pdf

MArch teaching

Working with marginalised communities, 2015 - 2016

This presentation explores the work carried out by students from the School of Architecture in Goldthorpe, a former mining village in South Yorkshire, exploring the value of:

Sustained community engagement
A range of project types and activities
Working across disciplinary boundaries
Working collaboratively to address local needs
Engagement through participation
Research by design

https://studiocollaborativeproduction.wordpress.com/Presentation, EDI, History and Representation, Pedagogy, Participation, Dan Jary

TESS slides LC and DJ 2015.pdf

Teaching excellence in social sciences conference

Liveness in the School of Architecture, 2015

The School of Architecture has pioneered a range of ‘Live’ learning experiences for UG and PG students. The richness and value of such approaches are recognised by staff and students alike, with Live projects firmly at the centre of the School’s identity and student offer. We see Liveness as a central approach to our future teaching, providing a supportive academic environment for students to interact with real people in the real world with real issues to address.One of the challenges that we face in Live project work is making the assessment process an integral part of the learning experience rather than a tick box exercise. But how can we equitably, accurately and sensitively assess Live work, when processes and outputs are heavily influenced by the vagaries of a real life context, client whims and a myriad of public viewpoints?Our presentation will be based around the following key themes, which will act as a framework around which various Live projects from UG and PG will be explored. We will aim to reflect on the successes of the projects in terms of Liveness and look at how our approach can be refined for future students, to ensure that a resilient and sustainable model is in place.Presentation, EDI, Pedagogy, Placemaking, Material Cultures, Building Performance, Participation, Dan Jary and Leo Care

Healthy Design Creative Safety Agenda 25 March 2014.pdf

Approaches to health and safety teaching and learning in schools of architecture

Healthy Design Creative Safety Agenda, 25th March 2014

Healthy Design, Creative Safety - WorkshopEvent, EDI, Pedagogy, Participation, Material Cultures, Building Performance, Dan Jary and Leo Care

Healthy design creative safety report 2013.pdf

Approaches to health and safety teaching and learning in schools of architecture

Healthy Design, Creative Safety, 2013

Key findings of this report:

This research has found evidence of innovative and creative ways of teaching health and safety. It has also revealed that such good practice often addresses H&S in indirect ways and knowledge is rarely shared between institutions, resulting in variability of approach and delivery of the subject.
Health and safety is an appropriate subject to cover in undergraduate schools of architecture. There is an academic imperative to the subject and it is not just something that should be dealt with in practice. Many interviewees recognised the need for the subject to be creatively addressed.
‘Health and safety’ is sometimes perceived negatively by students and staff. This is largely due to a misconception that the subject is purely concerned with applying a set of rules in practice.
Live Projects offer an effective context to learn about risk management and issues of health and safety. Students benefit from working with real clients and scenarios, and from an active engagement with the process of making.

Report, Journal Article, EDI, Pedagogy, Participation, Material Cultures, Building Performance, Dan Jary and Leo Care

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