Professor Paul Chamberlain
- Professor of Design and Co-chair of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design
Paul is Professor of Design and Co-chair of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. His research explores the role of the designed environment in supporting quality of life.
Paul supports the leadership and strategic vision of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design.
He is a graduate of the RCA and was co-founder of FLUX Design (in Partnership with Peter Christian, Head of Executive Education RCA). Prior to his role at the RCA, Paul was co-founder and head of Lab4Living, a design-led interdisciplinary research unit based at Sheffield Hallam University. He has generated over £10m of research funding. He has published over 100 texts, and his design work has been exhibited internationally securing major awards.
Paul was a panel member (Art & Design, History, Practice and Theory) for the UK’s Research Excellence Framework 2021 and is founding editor of the Design for Health Journal (Taylor and Francis).
Key details
School, Centre or Area
Gallery
More information
Research interests
Paul’s interest lies in designing and developing research tools and methods to encourage and engender social innovation and applies this with a focus on health, wellbeing, ability and ageing. His work explores the multi-sensory aspects of design and the role of artefacts that help define pertinent social questions as much as present solutions. His creative artefacts provide more inclusive and open-ended alternatives to traditional research methods, that are often prejudiced by the researcher.
Paul’s artefacts adopt a ‘thinking through things’ approach and his exhibitions become ‘theatres for conversation’ to engender co-creativity.
His research has led to numerous applied and commercial outcomes.
He has led major interdisciplinary projects and delivered keynote lectures at leading international events that have played a significant role in supporting regional industrial reconstruction.
Paul was PI on an EPSRC three-year funded project that adopted an inclusive design methodology to understand user behaviour to inform the Future Bathroom. The work informed commercial products through Vitra.
Paul was more recently the principal investigator of a £4m Research England funded project that focused on the Future Home and was the first visiting international resident scholar of the Neutra Institute (USA).
He has examined over 30 PhD research students.
Research funding
Co I. The state of design theory in healthcare. AHRC network grant £52,000 2014
CLARHC YH Tele health and Care and Technologies, design lead £129,000 2014/18
CLARHC YH Evidence based Transformation, design lead £68,000 2014/18
Academic lead – KTP Consolite Technology Ltd £146,000 2016/18
Co. I. Situated learning, Design Lab AUT Catalyst Fund, Royal Society N.Z. £80,000 2016/18
Co. I Design to Care. Marie Curie (in collaboration with Cambridge University. £460k 2017/19
Co. I. Non-intrusive Empowering Solutions and Technologies for Older people to Retain Everyday life activity. H2020 5,000,000 euro 2017/21
P.I. Buddy Watch, Wearable health monitor, Innovate UK. £250,000. 2017/19
Academic Lead. KTP. Equi Trek, 2017/19 £150,000
P.I. Expanding Excellence. Research England. The future home and the 100-year Life. 2019/22 £4,027,482
P.I. Expanding Excellence Research England. Sustainability bridging Award 2022/23 £402,748
Awards
Most Innovative Design UK, over 50’s Housing Association UK (2017).
“Stigmas’, Art on Chairs, International Design Competition, ‘Imagining Chairs’, Major Prize Winner (2017).
Publications, exhibitions and other outcomes
Publications (selected)
CHAMBERLAIN, P., Craig, C., (2016) A Design Primer for the domestication of health technologies. In Lloyd, P., and Bohemia, E., (eds) Proceedings of DRS 2016: Design + Research + Society – Future-Focused Thinking. London, Design Research Society, 1499-1514.
CHAMBERLAIN, P., Craig, C., Dexter, M., (2016). InTacT: Insights into Telehealth and care Technologies. In Langdon, P., Lazar, J., Heylighen., A., Dong., H., (eds) Designing Around People. Springer, Cham https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29498-8_9
Craig, C., CHAMBERLAIN, P. (2017) Behaviours: Design and Behaviour Change in Health, Design for Health (Chapter 10) , edited by Emmanuel Tsekleves & Rachel Cooper, Published by Routledge ISBN-13: 9781472457424, ISBN-10: 1472457420
CHAMBERLAIN, P., Craig, C., (2017) Co-designing co-design. Shifting the culture of practice in healthcare. Design for Next, 12th European Academy of Design, Sapienza University, Rome April
Craig, C., CHAMBERLAIN, P. (2017) Behaviours: Design and Behaviour Change in Health, Design for Health (Chapter 10), edited by Emmanuel Tsekleves & Rachel Cooper, Published by Routledge ISBN-13: 9781472457424, ISBN-10: 1472457420
CHAMBERLAIN, P., Craig, C., Dulake, N. ‘Thinking through things to support cooperative design in the development of technology to support health & wellbeing’. Proceeding of Interfaces and Human Computer interaction 2019, Porto, July Portugal 2019.
CHAMBERLAIN, P., Craig, C., Dulake, N. (2021) ‘Found in translation: innovative methods of co-design in the development of digital systems for promoting healthy aging’. Chapter 3 in ‘Designing Digital and Techno- logical innovation for ageing better’, edited by Andreoni and Mambretti (Eds.): Published by Springer, ISBN 978-3-030-72662-1
CHAMBERLAIN P., (2025) Agonistic Co-design: ‘Managing Consensus or Embracing Conflict?’. In, Design and Democracy: Essays `Towards Democratic Imagination. Ed. Duarte, E., and Batalheiro Ferreira, J., IADE Press. ISBN 978-989-35792-5-1
Exhibitions (selected)
‘Challenging the Domestic Quotidian’. Time, Space, Existence, Venice Architectural Biennale. (2021).
‘The Rest of your Life’. Open Space, Marinaressa Gardens, Venice (2020).
‘New Domestic Landscape’ (solo exhibition). UMPRUM Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic (2017).
‘HOSPITAbLe’ (solo exhibition) – Theatrum Anatomicum, WAAG Society, Amsterdam (2017)
External collaborations
- HEFCE UK 2021 REF panel member Art and Design, History, Practice and Theory.
- Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF), New Zealand, International panel member (2018).
- Peer Review College member, Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
- International jury member for the Design Turkey Industrial Design Awards. Organised by the International Societies of Industrial Design Turkey (2014).
- AHRC advisor Design Theme Advisory Group 2017/2020.
- Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Arts panel member) Portugal (2014 & 2017).
- Jury member Design Bloc, Prague, Czech Republic (2017).