Sarah Wigglesworth

Sarah Wigglesworth (born 16 May 1957, London) is a British architect. She was also a professor of architecture at the University of Sheffield until 2016.

Career Wigglesworth founded her own architectural practice in 1994. Her practice has a reputation for sustainable architecture using alternative, low energy materials. The practice designed the Straw Bale House in Islington, London, as a home for Wigglesworth and her partner, Jeremy Till, as well as an office for Sarah Wigglesworth Architects. Constructed of straw bales, cement-filled sandbags, silicon-faced fibreglass cloth and gabions filled with recycled concrete, she described it as not "like a traditional green building." Her stated aim was "to bring green architecture into the mainstream by making it more urban and urbane."

She was Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield from 1999 to 2016 where she founded the PhD BY Design in 2002. Her academic work often blended with her 'live' projects and she describes her research focus as "revealing the workings of practice."

Alongside the Straw Bale House, Wigglesworth's Sandal Magna School has been described as an exemplar of passive, sustainable design. Wigglesworth also places an emphasis on user involvement in the design of buildings. Her Mellor Primary School incorporates spaces for natural habitats and is designed to aid the school's curriculum and help pupils interact with the building.

Sarah Wigglesworth is an advocate for the role of women in architecture. In 1995, she initiated of Desiring Practices: Architecture, Gender and the Interdisciplinary, an exhibition, symposium, catalogue and book that explored gender differences in architectural practice. She has criticised the architectural profession for failing properly to support female architecture students and practitioners.

Notable works Straw Bale House and office, London (2001) – RIBA Award and RIBA Sustainability Prize Siobhan Davies Dance Studios, London (2006) – RIBA Award Cremorne Riverside Centre, London (2008) – RIBA Award Heathfield Children's Centre, London (2008) Sandal Magna Community Primary School, Wakefield (2010) – RIBA Award Mellor Primary School, Stockport (2015) – RIBA Award

Personal life Wigglesworth grew up in north London, attending Camden School for Girls.

Her long-term partner, Jeremy Till, is Head of Central Saint Martins and Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of the Arts London.