Speakers

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Ann Vanner is an undisciplined and unconventional thinker reshaping the future of architecture and education.

A Living Future Accredited Professional (LFA), Chartered Architectural Technologist (FCIAT), Chartered Architect, and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), Ann is driven by a belief in the power of practical creativity—combining hands-on making, inspirational pragmatism, and socially responsive design to create spaces that are healing, inclusive, and ecologically restorative.

As the Founder of Healing Buildings, Ann is committed to creating environments that do more than shelter—they nurture, regenerate, and inspire. Her work is grounded in social and environmental justice, drawing on the power of community, cooperation, and biophilic design to heal people, place, and planet.

Ann spent over a decade as Principal Lecturer in Architecture at UCLan, leading programmes in architecture, architectural technology, and professional practice. She continues to champion learning through doing, embedding values-led, hands-on approaches into architectural education at all levels.

Her practice is informed by deep curiosity and neurodivergent thinking—she proudly identifies as Made By Dyslexia and embraces this as a creative superpower. Her perspective is shaped by international lived experience, from post-Wall Berlin’s radical reuse cultures to Seattle’s ecological design scene, infusing her work with global insight and rebellious optimism.

Ann’s key passions include:

• Biophilic and regenerative design

• Cooperative models for housing and practice

• Social enterprise and participatory design

• Innovative, transformative architectural education

Fluent in German and active in international collaborations, Ann shares regenerative design practices across borders, helping to build capacity for systems change in the built environment.

Whether leading workshops, reimagining social housing, or supporting climate-positive retrofits, Ann champions design processes that centre social equity, ecological intelligence, and everyday joy. Her passion for biophilia, creative learning, and collective agency runs through her work with communities, cooperatives, and students alike.

As a published writer, facilitator, and speaker, Ann offers cross-disciplinary insights into how the built environment can empower people and support regenerative futures.

In all she does—facilitating, teaching, mentoring, or advocating—Ann holds fast to a simple, powerful belief: Buildings should uplift, belong, endure—and ultimately, heal.

STATEMENT:

I bring an unconventional passion for the built environment, backed by detailed construction knowledge and a drive to make a meaningful difference—whether through design, education, or public advocacy. My journey is shaped by diverse experiences. From the West Coast of America, influenced by Lawrence Halprin’s ecological design philosophy, to post-Wall Berlin’s squats, where I explored adaptive reuse and community-driven architecture, my practice is deeply rooted in creativity, social consciousness, and regenerative design.