The Architecture Foundation is delighted to announce that architect and educator James Woodcock has been selected as the first recipient of the Matthew Bonye Research Fellowship.
Established in memory of Matthew Bonye, a long-serving trustee of the Architecture Foundation, the Fellowship has been created to support the research activities of a practising architect and to generate a distinctive contribution to the Foundation’s public programme. Generously supported by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, where Matthew practised for 32 years and was a partner and head of the London Real Estate Dispute Resolution practice, the three-year Fellowship will culminate in the production of a publication.
Woodcock’s fellowship project, 'Embodied Energy: Conversations with People Making Architecture', will explore the often-overlooked knowledge of the people who physically construct buildings. Through 50 anonymous, long-form conversations with tradespeople, fabricators and makers across the UK, the project will document the lived experience, skills and insights of those whose work is essential to architecture but too rarely represented in architectural culture.
The research addresses a pressing issue within the profession: the growing distance between architectural design and the realities of making. Woodcock argues that this disconnect has consequences not only for the quality and character of buildings, but also for the climate crisis, material literacy and the way architectural workers understand construction. His project seeks to initiate a vital feedback loop between designers and makers, foregrounding the human knowledge embedded in building.
James Woodcock is director of Field Practice, a multidisciplinary studio focused on work with existing buildings and low-impact materials. Alongside practice, he is an MArch Studio Leader at the University of Sheffield School of Architecture and Landscape, where his postgraduate teaching centres on the creative adaptation and retrofit of existing buildings.
Jeremy Walden, Executive Partner, UK and EMEA, at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, comments: "It is great to see James Woodcock selected as the first recipient of the Matthew Bonye Research Fellowship. The Fellowship is a fitting tribute to the legacy of an amazing lawyer and dear friend who is still much missed in our community. I warmly congratulate James on this recognition."
About Matthew Bonye
A real estate partner at law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Matthew Bonye (1969-2024) was a brilliant lawyer who was instrumental in the realisation of such landmark projects as the London Eye, Tate Modern and the Broadgate Campus. Matthew was a devoted husband and father, a gifted pianist and bass player, and an enthusiastic triathlete. He served as a Trustee of the Architecture Foundation for six years.
About Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer is a global law firm of 2,700 lawyers based across 26 offices. With particular strengths in the real estate sector, Herberts Smith Freehills Kramer has advised on many of the largest and most prominent developments in the major cities of the world, including Barangaroo in Sydney, Hudson Yards in New York and the Broadgate Campus in London. Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer is a Council level supporter of the Architecture Foundation.
James Woodcock