Ana Gatoo Jimenez de Laiglesia

Department of Architecture

Ana is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Natural Material Innovation (CNMI) in the Department of Architecture, where she is a Cambridge Trust Scholar and an Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership scholar. Ana has previously worked as a researcher at the CNMI for three years developing structural bamboo products as well as better housing with natural materials in informal settlements. The focus of her current research is the development of flexible interiors for affordable housing with the use of engineered timber and digital tools for future cities.

Ana is a partner at Light Earth Designs a practice focused on environmentally sensitive architecture and innovative engineering, which has received several international architectural awards. She is also a Board Advisor for Prospectives Journal, and a Committee Advisor for REDER Journal. She holds a Bachelor’s in Engineering and a Master’s in Architecture. She has worked for several years with INGOs on emergency architecture, disaster response and development with the use of natural materials and sustainable technologies in various countries.

My research develops flexible interiors with engineered timber and digital tools for affordable housing, creating a sustainable and adaptable living that cares for the planet and the people. Engineered timber acts as a carbon sink. Flexibility of interior spaces has become crucial with social, economic, and environmental benefits. With mass customization, the growth of digital factories and open-source designs, interior walls can become affordable, sustainable and creative. This research, exhibited at the London Design Biennale 2021, has received a prestigious Design Exchange Partnership from AHRC. The outcomes will be published and exhibited this summer at the Design Museum in London.

I am leading this research. For the pavilion at the London Design Biennale which I led, I collaborated with PLP Architecture and colleagues at Cambridge. Through my Design Exchange Partnership recently received, I will continue to collaborate with PLP Architecture and colleagues to exhibit my findings at the Design Museum.