Professor Henrik Schoenefeldt

Qualifications: BA(Hons.), MPhil.(Cantab.), PhD (Cantab.) PGCHE (Kent), FSA, NTF

Henrik Schoenefeldt, Professor of Sustainability in Architectural Heritage, was educated as an architect, and holds an M.Phil and PhD in environmental design from the University of Cambridge.

In his PhD, Henrik studied the history of glass architecture from an environmental perspective, which has illustrated how early examples of highly-glazed buildings were designed to cope with winter and summer conditions, including historic heat waves, without mechanical air-conditioning.

Henrik has been based at the University of Kent since September 2011. At Kent the focus of research has been on the environmental history of the built environment, looking at the design and technology of large and complex public buildings.  His research has widely published in academic journals, book chapters, and monographs. His latest book, Rebuilding the House of Parliament – David Boswell Reid and Disruptive Environmentalism, was published with Routledge in 2021.

In addition to making contributions to academic scholarship, his research is concerned with facilitating innovations. He strongly believes that teaching, practice, and research are equally important and closely interconnected. Underlying his research is an interest in the role of these three areas in the advancement of the architectural profession.  Being embedded within live architecture projects, he has been able to work at the coal face of practice. Since 2016 he has been on a long-term secondment to the Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Programme, to act as Academic Research Lead. Palace is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is the largest heritage project in the UK. In this context of this role, he has been developing and embedding new knowledge and working practices into industry and client bodies, and contribute to the development of new technical standards.

In 2021, he was appointed Director of Graduate Studies, a role which he held until December 2024. In the context of this role he oversaw the PhD programme, and coordinated changes in the design and delivery of the school’s postgraduate taught programmes. For his contribution to architectural education he has been awarded the Teaching Prize of the University of Kent, and became a National Teaching Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

He is currently supervising PhD students, and is convening modules of the Master of Architecture, and MSc in Architecture and Sustainable Environment, MSc Architectural Conservation, MSc Urban Planning and Resilience.

Henrik has an international profile. He is regularly invited to speak at professional bodies, practices,  and universities, conferences. He also features on tv and radio, and he has contributed as a writer to newspapers and magazines, nationally and internationally.

·       History of environmental design in architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture.

·       Climate resilience in the historic built environment

·       History of science in the context of architecture

·       Retrofit and Adaptive Reuse of existing, including heritage buildings.

·       Architectural practice in nineteenth, twentieth century and present.

·       Theory and history of architecture and urban design

·       Architectural education

Henrik’s interest is in the study of sustainable design principles an  technologies deployed in contemporary as well as historic buildings. His academic research is concerned with the history of environmental design. This research also offers a historical perspective on current issues, such as climate adaptation, energy security, fire safety or air pollution.  Moreover, it offers understanding of historic building design that can inform the restoration or adaptive reuse of heritage buildings.

Since June 2016, Henrik been based at the Houses of Parliament in London to lead large research projects that underpin the development of the Palace of Westminster restoration and renewal programme. The research is concerned with the history, design, and performance of the Houses of Parliament from an environmental and technological perspective. The core objectives of this research to gain a critical understanding of historic principles of ventilation, climatic control, fire protection, and to explore how this understanding can inform the development of modern solutions for the forthcoming restoration. It enables the development of solutions that work with original principles. The first phase of this ongoing project, which lasted from 2016 and 2019, was funded through a grant from the AHRC. This first phase is the subject of the documentary film, 'Restoring the Palace' which has been shortlisted for the 2021 RIFA film awards under the categories 'Best Research Film' and 'Inspiration.' 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-wAbebHLqc&feature=youtu.be

ARCH6008 – Sustainability in Urban Design.- Convenor

ARCH6009 – Technology in Design. - Convenor

ARCH6471 - Technology 5 L7AP - Lectures

ARCH7012 – Rediscovery - Understanding Historic Buildings and Past Environmental Technologies. - Convenor

ARCH7030 – Methods of Research in Academia and Practice. - Convenor

ARCH7031 – Dissertation and industry-based project. - Convenor

Prof. Schoenefeldt  is supervising PhD students working in any subject broadly related to his research expertise.  

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries

National Teaching Fellow, Higher Education Academy.

Member of SAHGB, The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain

Academic Research Lead of the Palace of Westminster Restoration and Renewal Programme.