Doctor Ahmed Ehab Abdelsalam BSc (Hons), MArch (Dist.), PhD

About

Dr Ehab is an architect, lecturer and researcher specialising in architectural design, sustainable urbanism and computational design. He joined Sheffield Hallam University in January 2024 as a Lecturer in Architectural Design and Technology within the Sheffield Creative Industries Institute.

Dr Ehab holds a BSc in Architecture Engineering from Loughborough University, an MArch in Design (with Distinction) and a PhD in Architecture Design (Social Science) from the University of Nottingham. His doctoral research examined how virtual reality and immersive co-design methods can enhance public engagement and inclusivity in urban environments, advancing concepts of sustainable vertical urbanism, vertical public realms and mixed-use resilient cities.

Before joining Sheffield Hallam, Dr Ehab held academic and research appointments across the UK. He taught as a Studio Tutor in Architecture at the University of Nottingham and as a Lecturer in Architecture at Nottingham Trent University, leading design studio and digital communication modules. He later joined Loughborough University as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Digital Creativity, contributing to interdisciplinary projects on immersive design and digital innovation. He also contributed to the £640,000 Derby Urban Sustainable Transition (DUST) project, collaborating with the Canal and River Trust, Derby City Council, Marketing Derby and transport agencies to co-design urban interventions and develop a digital-twin model for sustainable city transformation.

Dr Ehab has also worked in professional architectural practice in the United Arab Emirates, where he led and contributed to a range of mixed-use and urban design projects. His work focused on integrating sustainable principles, digital design methods and human-centred spatial strategies into contemporary architectural practice.

His research focuses on inclusive urban design, healthy building design, digital twins, computational and immersive workflows for smart and resilient cities. His main areas of interest include Digital Architecture and Computational Design Methods; Urban Resilience and Inclusive Public Space Design; Smart Technologies Applications in the Built Environment; Urban Design and Planning; Sustainable Urban Futures and Smart City Development; Co-Design and Participatory Planning Processes; and Human-Centred Design for Smart Homes and Healthy Buildings.

He has published extensively in Q1 international journals, alongside book chapters with Springer Nature and peer-reviewed conference papers presented at HCI International and other international venues. His long-term goal is to advance interdisciplinary research connecting digital technologies with socially responsible architectural design.

At Sheffield Hallam University, Dr Ehab teaches across architectural design and technology modules, integrating sustainable, inclusive and digital design principles within the design studio. His teaching philosophy emphasises experiential learning, preparing students to address the environmental, social and technological challenges shaping contemporary architecture and urbanism.

Dr Ehab is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT), a Member of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), a Member of the British Computer Society (BCS) and an Affiliate Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He is also an active reviewer for ScienceDirect journals, including Sustainable Cities and Society and Urban Forestry & Urban Greening.

He welcomes PhD students and collaborators interested in digital and sustainable design, immersive environments and inclusive urbanism, and is open to partnerships that bridge academia, practice and emerging technologies.

Teaching

Sheffield Creative Industries Institute

College of Social Sciences and Arts

Architectural Design and Technology

Dr Ehab contributes to teaching across several undergraduate and degree apprenticeship programmes, including:

BSc (Hons) Architecture

BArch (Hons) Architecture

BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology

Design and Construction Manager Degree Apprenticeship (Module Leader)

Dr Ehab contributes to the delivery and coordination of a range of undergraduate and degree apprenticeship modules within Architecture and Architectural Technology programmes, including:

Environmental Architecture Design Project 2: Dwelling and Climate

Environmental Architecture Design Project 4: City

Environmental Architecture Design Project 5: Landscape

Residential Environmental Design (Digital)

(DA) Residential Design and Construction Project (Digital and Presentation)

Histories and Theories of Architecture 2

Introduction to Architecture

Research

• Culture and Creativity Research Institute

Dr Ehab’s research examines how digital technologies can advance sustainable and inclusive design practices in architecture and urbanism. His current work explores the use of virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twins to support co-design, enhance user experience and strengthen urban resilience. He has contributed to several interdisciplinary projects, including the Smart and Sustainable Cities Project with the Department for Transport and Lacuna Agency (£80 000), the Dementia-Friendly Housing VR Project (£80 000) and the Derby Urban Sustainable Transition (DUST) Project (£640 000) which developed a digital-twin model for sustainable city regeneration.

Selected Publications

• Ehab, A., Aladawi, A., & Burnett, G. (2025). Exploring AI-Integrated VR Systems: A Methodological Approach to Inclusive Digital Urban Design. Urban Science, 9(6), 196. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci9060196
• Ehab, A., Burnett, G., & Heath, T. (2025). Elevating the public realm: A framework for designing resilient urban green spaces in hyperdense cities. Discovery Sustainability, 6(10). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-024-00755-9
• Ehab, A., Heath, T. (2024). Critical Factors Affecting the Design and Use of Elevated Urban Spaces: The Sky Garden, London. In: Pigliautile, I., Piselli, C., Karunathilake, H.P., Fabiani, C. (eds) Urban Resilience, Livability, and Climate Adaptation. HERL 2023. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54911-3_5
• Ehab, A., Heath, T. (2024). Rethinking the Design of Vertical Green Spaces in the Post-pandemic Era: Visitor Behaviour and Real-Life Cognitive Experience at Crossrail Place, London. In: Cheshmehzangi, A., Sedrez, M., Zhao, H., Li, T., Heath, T., Dawodu, A. (eds) Resilience vs Pandemics. Urban Sustainability. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8672-9_2
• Cook, S., Burnett, G., Sung, K. J., & Abdelsalam, A. E. (2024). An Exploration of Immersive Virtual Reality as an Empathic Modelling tool. Immersive Learning Research-Academic, 143-152.

https://doi.org/10.56198/U6C0WZVJX

• Ehab, A., Burnett, G., & Heath, T. (2023). Enhancing Public Engagement in Architectural Design: A Comparative Analysis of Advanced Virtual Reality Approaches in Building Information Modeling and Gamification Techniques. Buildings, 13(5), 1262. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13051262
• Ehab, A., & Heath, T. (2023). Exploring Immersive Co-Design: Comparing Human Interaction in Real and Virtual Elevated Urban Spaces in London. Sustainability, 15(12), 9184. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129184
• Ehab, A., Heath, T., & Burnett, G. (2023). Virtual reality and the interactive design of elevated public spaces: Cognitive experience vs VR experience. In C. Stephanidis, M. Antona, S. Ntoa & G. Salvendy (Eds.), HCI International 2023 Posters. HCII 2023. Communications in Computer and Information Science (Vol. 1836). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36004-6_24
• Bussell, C., Ehab, A., Hartle-Ryan, D., & Kapsalis, T. (2023). Generative AI for immersive experiences: Integrating text-to-image models in VR-mediated co-design workflows. In C. Stephanidis, M. Antona, S. Ntoa & G. Salvendy (Eds.), HCI International 2023 Posters. HCII 2023. Communications in Computer and Information Science (Vol. 1836). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36004-6_52
• Abdelsalam, A. E. (2018). Sustainable Vertical Urbanism as a Design Approach to Change the Future of Hyper Density Cities. Journal of Advance Research in Mechanical & Civil Engineering, 5(7), 2208-379. https://doi.org/10.53555/nnmce.v5i7.300

List of collaborators and sponsors for the above research activities are as follows:

Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Loughborough University, UK

University of Nottingham, UK

University of Derby, UK

Department for Transport (DfT), UK

Derby City Council, UK

Canal and River Trust, UK

Marketing Derby, UK

Nile Engineering Consultancy, UAE

Publications

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Ehab welcomes PhD students with interests in architecture, urban design, and digital innovation within the built environment. His supervisory focus explores how architectural design, computational and immersive technologies, and inclusive planning methods can inform sustainable and human-centred approaches to the cities of the future.

He is particularly interested in supervising research on:

Architectural and urban design strategies for smart, resilient, and inclusive cities

Mixed-use and vertical urbanism, exploring how rooftop landscapes and elevated public spaces can foster vibrant and inclusive urban life in dense settings

Sustainable and healthy building design integrating environmental performance and occupant wellbeing

Virtual and mixed-reality applications in architectural education and participatory co-design

Digital-twin models for sustainable urban transformation

Participatory and human-centred design processes for public space and housing