Dr Anas Lila

Qualifications:

BSc., MSc., Ph.D., FHEA

Position:

senior Lecturer of computational methods of architecture

Department:

College of Arts, Technology and EnvironmentFET - Architecture and the Built EnvironmentSchool of Architecture and Environment

Telephone:

+441173281873

About me

Anas is a computational architect and Senior Lecturer in Computational Methods of Architecture at UWE Bristol. He joined UWE in 2020. Before that he taught at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, and spent several years in architectural practice across the Middle East and North Africa, working on healthcare, university campus, hospitality and urban development projects.

His work brings together artificial intelligence, optimisation algorithms and environmental simulation to support climate-responsive design at building and neighbourhood scale. His research is motivated by the realities of practising in Global South contexts, where thermal stress, energy poverty and poor working environments shape everyday life. That motivation drives his interest in the health and comfort effects of design decisions, especially for underserved communities.

Anas is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and co-initiated the Architecture Research Group within CABER. He has played a central role in shaping the digital strand of UWE's reformed BSc and MArch Architecture programmes, which were among the first in the UK to be approved under the new ARB framework.

Anas leads teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate architecture, with a focus on computation, environmental performance and design representation. At UWE he leads the MArch sustainability studio, which is deliberately situated in Global South contexts and uses parametric environmental simulation as a design driver. He is Module Leader for Urban Sentience and Computing Complexity on the MSc Computational Architecture, Design Representation for BSc Architecture Year 2, and the cross-programme Work-Based Research Project. He also teaches Physical Computing, Investigating Structures, and supervises undergraduate dissertations.

He has supervised more than 35 MSc dissertations. His graduates have gone on to roles at Buro Happold, Foster + Partners, WSP, AtkinsRéalis and PDP, as well as research and academic posts.

Anas is Director of Studies for a PhD applying Graph Neural Networks to energy demand prediction in central business districts, and co-supervises a second doctoral project in computational architecture. He has served as an internal PhD examiner at UWE and as an external tenure reviewer for the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore.

He welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD students, collaborators and practice partners in these areas.

Area of expertise

 Research focuses on:

• AI and machine learning for climate-responsive urban and neighbourhood design
• Multi-objective and genetic algorithm optimisation of building and urban form
• Urban heat island mitigation and neighbourhood energy demand prediction
• Thermal comfort and healthy built environments in the Global South
• Robotic 3D printing of earthen materials (cob) for low-carbon, adaptive architecture
• AI in architectural design education

Research projects

As Principal Investigator:

• Adaptive Fenestration Design Using 3D-Printed Earthen Materials for Climate Control in Architecture (2025), Bridge Exploratory Fund, in collaboration with the British University in Egypt
• Climate-Responsive Residential Neighbourhood Design: An Algorithmic Approach for Urban Neighbourhood Energy Demand Optimisation Using AI Methods (2024), UWE Vice-Chancellor's Early Career Researcher Award, with Stolon Architects and Malmö University. The resulting tool is being tested in live practice with a design consultancy in the Middle East.
• A Building-Urban Approach for Energy Efficiency, Thermal Comfort, and Emission Reduction: Car Maintenance and Repair Urban Cluster (2021), Cresmi Challenge Prize, British Council and Newton Fund. This was the only project in its cohort delivered in full during COVID-19, and its findings were presented at COP27.

Publications

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