Live Works is an initiative led by the School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield. Our aim is to open up our pioneering teaching, design and research to the benefit of the city of Sheffield and beyond.

We work with the public sector and community organisations in the co-production of real projects and we are always interested in developing new collaborations. Through Live Works our students, graduates and researchers work with community partners to support active local participation in the co-production of our buildings, streets and neighbourhoods.

The School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield is one of the best in the UK, recognised nationally and internationally for its commitment to socially-engaged design and research. We value opportunities to work with local communities because of the mutual benefits to our students and researchers, and to the community groups they work with.

Our students, staff and graduates are committed to producing architecture that makes a difference and working with community groups helps us develop better ways of doing this. Community groups benefit from the networks, knowledge and design proposals that develop through the collaborations. Students and researchers, working closely with the people who live and work in an area, can campaign for better architecture that is locally relevant, resilient and sustainable.

Since our launch in 2014, Live Works has worked with many local partners across the city and region, and engaged over 5000 members of the public, many of whom have visited our city centre Urban Room.  We are playing a key role in the co-production of Castlegate in Sheffield, in partnership with Sheffield City Council and local community groups. We have worked with volunteer groups, charities, local councils, arts organisations, schools; from Pitsmoor to Heeley, from Doncaster to Derby.

Find out more about how we achieve our aims here.

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