It’s time to rethink design and construction education

By Justin Lunn 2025-06-06T06:10:00

Our industry is full of specialists who tend to be siloed in their thinking. A new qualification at the University of Leeds aims to produce graduates with a broader range of skills across architecture, building services and structural engineering, writes course leader Justin Lunn

The world of design and construction has shifted dramatically over the past 30 years and it is widely accepted that our industry suffers serious and significant problems of knowledge sharing, clarity of responsibility and mutual understanding. At best this leads to inefficiency, at worst it can lead to disaster.

The consequences of the most catastrophic recent failure – Grenfell Tower – have produced waves of reform in terms of regulation and working practice recommendations. While these measures are welcome, we may be collectively missing a bigger opportunity for reform because many of the fundamental problems encountered in design and construction are rooted in our education system.

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