Erik L'Heureux

Erik L'Heureux
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Washington University in St. Louis Princeton University Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Occupation	Architect
Employers	Monash University NUS Cooper Union Washington University
Awards	Wheelwright Prize

Erik G. L'Heureux is an American architect,^[1] educator, and academic focusing on equatorial architecture, urbanism, and sustainable design.^[2] He is the recipient of the Wheelwright Prize,^[3] the Holcim Foundation Bronze Award for Sustainable Construction,^[4] and design awards from the American Institute of Architects and the Society of American Registered Architects.^[5]

He is Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture at Monash University.^[6]

Education and career

He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, where he graduated summa cum laude.^[7]

He later received a Master of Architecture from Princeton University School of Architecture^[8] and a PhD from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.^[9]

His doctoral research focused on equatorial building envelopes and tropical urbanization, earning him the RMIT Prize for Research Excellence.^[10] He taught at the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union in New York.^[11]

L'Heureux was faculty member of National University of Singapore from 2003 to 2025, teaching courses on equatorial architecture, envelope design, and Southeast Asian urbanism.^[12] He was the Vice Dean for Special Projects and Director of the Master of Architecture program.^[13] He also held a Ruth and Norman Moore visiting professorship at Washington University in St. Louis and has lectured internationally on sustainable design and equatorial architecture topics.^[7][14]

He is the founder of design practice Equator Works. L'Heureux has designed projects focusing on sustainability and climate-responsive architecture largely in the equatorial belt.^[15]

Erik G. L'Heureux was the lead designer^[5] in retrofitting the Equatorial School of Architecture (SDE 1 & 3) at the National University of Singapore (NUS), a net-zero energy adaptive reuse project.^[16] The design won the AIA New York City Design Merit Award in 2025^[17] and INDE Award for Best of 2021, Learning Space in Australia.^[18] L'Heureux's work also included the retrofit of Yusof Ishak House, a 1979 building transformed into a net-zero energy structure also on the NUS campus.^[19]

In 2025, he was appointed as Professor and Head of Department of Architecture at Monash University.

Research

His research focuses on the intersection of climate, architecture, and urbanism, particularly in equatorial regions. He has led design studios and research initiatives, including the "1000 Singapore's" project, which explores the compact city model as a sustainable urban form.^[20]

His research focuses on the impact of hot and wet climates, particularly in equatorial cities, and how architectural forms and building envelopes can respond to these extreme conditions.^[21][22]

Selected bibliography

Books

• L'Heureux, Erik (2025). Hot Air. Applied Research & Design. p. 230. ISBN 9781961856035.
• L'Heureux, Erik G. (2014). Deep veils (1st ed.). San Raphael: ORO editions. ISBN 978-1-941806-34-0.
• L'Heureux, Erik; Cossu, Giovanni, eds. (2022). Renovating Carbon: Re-imagining the Carbon Form (1st ed.). Novato: Oro Editions. ISBN 978-1-954081-44-4. OCLC 1374561227.
• Ryan, Daniel J.; Ferng, Jennifer; L'Heureux, Erik G.; Chee, Lilian, eds. (2022). Drawing climate: visualising invisible elements of architecture. Basel: Birkhäuser. ISBN 978-3-0356-2460-1. OCLC 1285317274.
• L'Heureux, E. G; Khoo, P. B (2015). 1000 Singapores: Eight Points of the Compact City (1st ed.). Design Singapore Council. ISBN 9789810985769.

Journal articles

• L'Heureux, Erik. "Inheriting Climate: Review of Climate Inheritance, by Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy (DESIGN EARTH), New York, Actar Publishers, 2023, 152 pp., ISBN 978-1-6384-0099-8". Architectural Theory Review. 0: 1–4. doi:10.1080/13264826.2024.2403178. ISSN 1326-4826.
• Ferng, Jennifer; L'Heureux, Erik (2022). "Background Building: A Net Zero Energy and Super-Low Carbon Adaptive Reuse at the National University of Singapore". Future Anterior. 19 (1): 68–90. doi:10.1353/fta.2022.a924440. ISSN 1934-6026.
• L'Heureux, Erik. "Inheriting Climate: Review of Climate Inheritance, by Rania Ghosn and El Hadi Jazairy (DESIGN EARTH), New York, Actar Publishers, 2023, 152 pp., ISBN 978-1-6384-0099-8". Architectural Theory Review. 0: 1–4. doi:10.1080/13264826.2024.2403178. ISSN 1326-4826.
• Ferng, Jennifer; Chang, Jiat-Hwee; L'Heureux, Erik; Ryan, Daniel J. (2020-07-02). "Climatic Design and Its Others: "Southern" Perspectives in the Age of the Anthropocene". Journal of Architectural Education. 74 (2): 250–262. doi:10.1080/10464883.2020.1790935. ISSN 1046-4883.
• L'Heureux, Erik (2019-10-02). "Hot and Wet: Architectures of the Equator". Drawing on: Journal of Architectural Research by Design. 3: 77–90. doi:10.2218/csdcq829. ISSN 2059-9978.
• Erik, L'Heureux (1 January 2012). "Between the Open and Closed: A Simple Factory Building for the Tropics". Proceedings of 4th International Network for Tropical Architecture Conference: Tropics 2050.

References

1. "Veils, envelopes and atmospheres: Erik L'Heureux, Pencil Office". ArchitectureAU. Archived from the original on 2015-07-08. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
2. "Featured Member: Erik L'Heureux, FAIA". AIA New York. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
3. "Erik L'Heureux, winner of the 2015 Wheelwright Prize - e-flux Education". www.e-flux.com. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
4. Peter, Grave; Lisa, Kealhofer; Kaseka, Phon; Piphal, Heng; Stark, Miriam T.; Been, Marsh; Ea, Darith; Chhay, Rachna; Marrimer, Gary P. (2017). "Holcim Awards 2023 Announces Global Winners". Architexturez. 125.
5. "2025 AIANY Design Awards". AIA New York. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
6. "Monash University appoints new head of architecture". ArchitectureAu. Archived from the original on 2025-03-22. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
7. Early, Rosalind (2016-09-09). "Designing for the tropics". The Source. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
8. Madsen, Deane (2015-04-27). "Erik L'Heureux Wins 2015 Harvard GSD Wheelwright Prize". Architect. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
9. "Alumni - RMIT University Practice Research". practice-research.com. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
10. "2022 Research Awards Recipients". www.rmit.edu.au. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
11. "Cooper Union School of Architecture: Faculty". archweb.cooper.edu. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
12. Bustler. "Erik L'Heureux wins 2015 Wheelwright Prize". Bustler. Retrieved 2025-02-16.
13. "Practicing Sustainability – A Glocal Perspective in Vietnam – AIA Hong Kong". Retrieved 2025-02-19.
14. "SPACE-Korea Meteorological Administration Net Zero National Meteorological Center International Invited Design Competition". vmspace.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2025-02-19.
15. "Pencil Office | METALOCUS". www.metalocus.es. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
16. "School of Design and Environment 1 & 3". architectureprize.com. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
17. Roche, Daniel Jonas (2025-01-14). "Shigeru Ban, Reiser+Umemoto, Only If, Studio Gang, Snøhetta, and others take home 2025 AIANY Design Awards". The Architect's Newspaper. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
18. Henderson, Jan (2022-05-12). "INDE.Awards winners reflect on what it means to win | IndesignLive". Indesign Live: Interior Design and Architecture. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
19. "NUS Yusof Ishak House | Holcim Awards". www.holcimfoundation.org. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
20. hackethal I., anita (2010-09-09). "1000 singapores: a model of the compact city at venice architecture biennale". designboom | architecture & design magazine. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
21. "Retrofit case studies: an international survey". ArchitectureAU. Archived from the original on 2024-05-23. Retrieved 2025-02-19.
22. "Erik L'Heureux, "Hot & Wet"". Harvard Graduate School of Design. Retrieved 2025-02-19.