Ben Couture

Assistant Professor

School: Architecture and Built Environment

Ben is Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture & the Built Environment at Northumbria University and Fellow HEA. He is an active designer, researcher and maker with specialisms in spatial/furniture design, exhibition-making and modular construction. He has a broad range of design work with an extensive portfolio of realised projects.

Prior to joining Northumbria in 2020, Ben founded Jardine Couture Ltd, which operated for 15 years in the UK and Europe providing design and production for furniture and spatial projects. The company undertook work with national museums and numerous blue chip organisations.

Ben also worked as a Director and founder of Sawhorse Ltd (2010-2024) creating modular buildings and studios based on the innovative 3rdSpace Modular system. Their work has been featured in media including Wall Street Journal & Elle Decoration and print publications by Thames & Hudson and RIBA Publications.

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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Ben’s research interests centre around design in the built environment; covering digital & spatial exhibition environments, intersections of art & architectural space, and modular construction. An ongoing series of curator interviews and exhibition reviews are documented on website archxclimate.com

Recently a series of group exhibitions and engagement projects have been set up between Northumbria schools of Architecture and Design, and cultural institution English Heritage.

As a practicing designer with a broad portfolio of realised works, his research specialisms draw upon practice-based methodologies. Work has been included in a number of online and print publications, including Dezeen and numerous social platforms. A selection of realised work is presented on bencouture.studio