Urban planning expert Space Syntax is launching a range of specialised training courses to teach architecture industry professionals how to use and apply its longstanding approach in their own work.

The Space Syntax Academy is being set up to share the same theories and methodologies that Space Syntax provides to its clients, who include Arup, Aedas, Wilkinson Eyre, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Foster + Partners, Rogers Stirk Harbour, Richard Rogers and hundreds more.

“Our business plan is built around the idea of dissemination. We’ve developed a powerful and effective urban technology and we’ve always believed that it should be used more broadly than just by us,” said Tim Stonor, managing director at Space Syntax.

“We’ve been working on setting up the Space Syntax Academy for some time and now it’s really taking off,” Stonor said. “We recently taught a planning institute in northeast China in Changchun, a one-year contract where we trained 20 young planners to be hands-on using our technology. They created plans from scratch with Space Syntax embedded in their thinking. That’s a perfect example of what we want to do more of.”

The Academy teaches individuals and organisations to better understand human behaviour in cities and buildings and how to achieve the best social, economic and environmental performance for their project and surrounding communities in an analytical and evidence-based way. These techniques have been developed through over 25 years of academic research and consulting experience.

Space Syntax Academy is designed with all stakeholder groups in mind, whether they are architects, designers, planners, economists, politicians, developers or investors. The team has already delivered courses – which are tailored to suit individual clients – at Swindon Borough Council, University College London, the Architectural Association, Harvard University and the Changchun Institute of Urban Planning and Design.

FEATURE: Interview – Space Syntax