Ranbir Lal BA (Hons), DipArch, PPDip
Subject Group Leader for Interior Architecture and Design
Summary
I am Course Leader for Interior design at Sheffield Hallam University. I’m also a practising architect.
I have worked within education since 2006 at various universities across the UK and have strong passion for teaching and developing projects through narrative-based scenarios. My interests are in public installation, sculpture and spatial sequences within buildings and cities informed by stories.
About
I studied architecture at undergraduate level at Greenwich University in 1996. I then pursued my postgraduate studies at Westminster University during which time I found a more poetic approach to design and theory. During my time in London I worked on a verity of interior projects, from very small scale private houses with complex client briefs to large media companies in the West End. After my ten year London stint I worked at Birmingham City University for 4 years, after which I took a post at The University of Sheffield School of Architecture for seven years. I have had a real desire for teaching alongside my architectural career. Being Course Leader at Hallam University has reinforced my passion for teaching. I enjoy working with students on develop ideas and engaging with other design disciplines to find new and creative outputs.
Specialist areas of interest
My interest lies in two areas of Interior design and architecture. The first of these is looking at prefabricated temporary installations which I’ve built over the years. Using a component-based modular approach that utilises one repetitive but identical component throughout to achieve the desired form. This has sparked a more theoretical interest in exploring ‘Spatial Narratives’ within Interior Design and Architecture.
Teaching
Subject area
Fashion and Interior Design
Courses
BA Interior Design
Modules
Level 6: ID Inhabitation and ID Resolution and teaching on MA Project.
Research
Work with Professor Ian Sobre, from Sheffield Teaching Hospital, whose research is within respiratory diseases. Our collaboration is around developing a series of small Installations which reflect his output and can be used as a travelling exhibition to medical conferences.
Continuing with the concept of ‘Spatial Narrative’ I’m currently working on a house for a family of three in Sheffield. My research is around my client’s expertise as a fabricator, and the future adaptability of the house and site. Key areas that I will look at are changing spatial needs for the families has they progress through life.
Future collaboration with Nippon Paints, following on from the Colombo Arts biennale in 2016, to develop a strategy for enhancing local school environments though colour and graphic representation in Slave Island in Colombo.
Selected research projects
Evolving family house
Collaborators and sponsors
ADRC, Private Client, Nippon Paints
Publications
Artefacts
Lal, R. (2007). T-House. [Building].
Presentations
Jones, S., O'Fee, S., & Lal, R. (2016). Dispensary Lane - Slave Island Photograhic journal. Presented at: Conceiving Space : Colombo Art Biennale 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2016