Paul Ring

Associate Professor

School: Architecture and Built Environment

Associate Professor Paul Ring joined the University in September 2005 and was Head of Subject for Architecture within the Dept. of Architecture & Built Environment from 2018 - 2025. He is the author of the BA(Hons) and Pg Cert Interior Architecture programmes and was formerly the Faculty of Engineering & Environment’s Director of Review, Approvals and Academic Portfolio. His specialism is within creative reuse and building adaptation, developing research, academic and partnership activity around the adaptation or heritage spaces. Paul continues to focus his research and academic practice on the authenticity of the adapted interior and is co-lead on a partnership with the National Trust.

Paul has submitted research by design portfolios and an Impact Case Study to REF2021, authoring work on creative partnerships and heritage adaptation. His practice as an interior designer has developed a broad portfolio of work and he was awarded Scottish Interior Designer of the Year in 1997. He has previously worked collaboratively in studio with artists, sculptors, and designers on a wide range of projects, including architectural competitions and urban interventions, interior design, furniture and art installation works. He is a member of the ARCH [Adaptive Reuse and Cultural Heritage] research group within the international Scientific Research Network READ.ADAPT.REUSE. Reading and transforming the As Found (2024-2029). This transnational project, coordinated by Hasselt University (Belgium), involves 15 European Universities and is funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO).

As a member of SCOSA (Council of Heads of Schools of Architecture), the SCOSA Teaching Excellence Awards Committee and as Secretary of Interior Educators, Paul makes contribution to the education of Architecture and Interior Architecture nationally and is an experienced external examiner, examining at Regents, Salford, UCA, Edinburgh School of Architecture and Manchester Metropolitan Universities.

Email Paul

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Creative Central NCL Exhibition (2025) Farrell Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne: An exhibition of proposals from Newcastle and Northumbria Universities for fostering creativity in the heart of Newcastle city centre, Ring, P., Couture, A., Austin, S., Mackinnon, K., Czigler, A., Villamizar Duarte, N. 3 Jul 2025
Exhibition Co-Design: Creative Central NCL Exhibition (2025) Farrell Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, Ring, P., Couture, A. 3 Jul 2025
Practice: Interior Educators International Conference 2024 Proceedings, Ring, P., Couture, A. 31 Aug 2025
Developing Academic Literacies through Assessment Rubrics for Architecture Curricula, Couture, A., Ring, P., Holgate, P., Jones, P. 21 Jun 2024, International Assessment in Higher Education Conference 2024
Imagined Heritage, Ring, P., Couture, A. 9 Sep 2024, Proceedings of the As Found Network Symposium/Workshop, Brussels, Belgium, Luca School of Arts
RS6 | Transformational Involvement Collaborative Co-Design For Heritage Interventions: The National Trust, Seaton Delaval Hall, Ring, P. 1 Aug 2022
The co-creation of knowledge and the development of soft skills, Brown, J., Ring, P. 10 Aug 2022, Rising Stars, The National Trust
Transformational Involvement, Ring, P., Sheil, S. 10 Aug 2022, Rising Stars, Swindon, The National Trust
Rising stars: a Creative Partnership: Seaton Delaval Hall, the National Trust, Ring, P., Brown, J. 28 Jan 2021

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: Biennale Sessions: 19th International ArchitectureExhibition Biennale di Venezia: UAH! Unconventional Affordable Housing! 2025
Publication Peer-review: Interiors: Design, Architecture, Culture (Journal) 2025
Organising a conference, workshop, ...: Practice: Interior Educators International Conference 2024 2024
Hosting an academic visitor: Jane Hall 2024
Hosting an academic visitor: Jonathan Tuckey 2024
Hosting an academic visitor: Graeme Brooker 2024
Hosting an academic visitor: Lionel Devlieger 2024

PGR Supervision

Kathleen Gatward Adaptive Reuse Tactics - Practice-based research for the continued occupation of the UK’s At-risk Heritage Buildings. Start Date: 01/10/2022