Overview
Take your first step to becoming a registered architect on our BA (Hons) Architecture degree course – accredited by Architects Registration Board (ARB) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
You’ll join a distinctive learning environment, with access to cutting-edge facilities, working on stimulating and client-driven design projects. You’ll master key design skills, from the scale of the body's interactions with materials and constructions, to the domains of cities and landscapes, engaging in social, cultural, political, aesthetic and environmental challenges of the world we're part of.
You'll focus, with our passionate and supportive community of professional architects, on the themes, values and methods relevant to architectural education and the profession to ensure your practice is future-proof and industry-standard.
After graduation, you'll have the theoretical and practical foundations to pursue Master’s study and advance in your registration. You can also begin a career in the architecture, sustainability and construction industries, such as architectural design, urban design, and landscape architecture.
Course Highlights
- Fast-track your architect registration by completing this degree and getting Part 1 qualification – an ARB and RIBA requirement
- Broaden your professional experience by working with actual clients in our in-house Architecture Project Office
- Experience a professional design studio by working in our dedicated studio spaces, developing your individual and collaboration skills
- Get a taste of working in the architecture industry by taking an optional one-year placement
- Impress future employers by showcasing your work at our annual Graduate Show
- Enrich your experience and knowledge of architecture by going on site visits to major international cities – past trips include Rome, Venice, Barcelona, New York and Berlin
- Master your communication skills, from hand drawings and models to using professional industry software – including Building Information Modelling (BIM), advanced parametric modelling, and 3D scanning and printing
Careers and opportunities
You'll develop as a multi-skilled practitioner, able to work in diverse sectors, including construction, engineering, public, creative, and property development.
Many graduates on this course continue their architect training with paid, mentored professional experience in a practice, before studying at postgraduate level for a Master of Architecture degree.
Graduate jobs
Jobs our graduates have taken on include:
- Architectural designer
- Interior designer
- Landscape architect
- Urban designer
- Planner
- Architectural technologist
- Product designer
- Graphic designer
- Lighting designer
- Set designer
Graduate destinations
Companies graduates have worked for include:
- Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt
- Make
- Re-Format
- Grimshaw
- PAD Studio
- Hawkins Brown
- Design Engine
- Architecture plb
- Hampshire County Architects
- Squire & Partners
- Allies & Morrison
- Penoyre & Prasad
Past students, having completed their registration, have gone on to run their own practices. For example, Simon Astridge Architecture Workshop, DMWA and PCA.
Placement year (optional)
After your second or third year, you can complete an optional work placement year to gain valuable work experience in a design practice or in the wider construction industry. It will hone your skills and build your knowledge for your final year.
You can either work for a studio or company or set up and run your own business, either with fellow students or on your own. Our Creative Careers team will help and support you no matter what path you choose.
Placement destinations
Students on placements have worked at:
- Design Engine Architecture
- House of Commons
- WATG (Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo)
Creative Careers
Our in-faculty Creative Careers team has extensive recruitment experience and knows the creative sector well, making it easier for students to find placements within the creative industries.
They can guide you through every step of the application process, including:
- Searching for the ideal job through their database of vacancies
- Giving tips on how to write an interesting CV that will catch employers' attention, no matter the role
- Organising mock interviews, so you can hone your technique and familiarise yourself with the recruitment environment
- Writing your startup business proposal – if you're going down the self-employment route
The team will continue to give you support throughout your placement year.
