
BA (Hons) Architecture
DURATION
3 up to 4 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
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EARLIEST START DATE
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TUITION FEES
GBP 13,450 *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* full-time international tuition / £9250: full-time UK tuition / £13450: full-time EU tuition
Scholarships
Explore scholarship opportunities to help fund your studies
Introduction
"Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, examinations may be replaced by an alternative form of assessment during the academic year 2021/2022. Please refer to the Programme Specification on these pages for further details."
Why choose this course?
Gain practical skills alongside theory
This course empowers you to satisfy the requirements of a brief and re-energise our environment. You’ll learn the technical knowledge to inspire your professional portfolio. We’ll teach you how to analyse, develop, test, and communicate your ideas. You’ll be working on drawings and models for domestic, public, and commercial projects, such as houses, museums, and cityscapes. Be creative. Spend time in our fantastic studios and workshops. We have woodworking, metalworking, and casting workshops to help you develop real-world skills. Try your hand at ceramics (for building facades), printmaking, and life-drawing classes to enhance your sketching skills. Use our specialist computer software suites and even download software onto your personal laptop. With 3D printers, laser cutters, a welding booth , and studio space at your fingertips, we’ll help you bring your idea to life.
Discover the history that has influenced architecture. From garden cities, new towns built after WW2, to today’s contemporary cities. How do the needs of society motivate design? You’ll learn to be an innovative and responsible architect. To evaluate a building’s purpose, the impact of materials, and the cultural factors which underpin design. You’ll gain insights into the international and national perspectives of the built environment. We’ll encourage you to question the role of technology, gender, politics, and economics in design. You’ll debate the issues confronting architects, including sustainability, urban sprawl, and gentrification. By analysing theory and practice you’ll become confident in the founding principles of design philosophy.
Every step of the way, you’ll be inspired by our expert teaching team including researchers, authors, and acclaimed architects. We have excellent links to the industry. You can benefit from mentoring schemes and work placement opportunities with the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Hertfordshire Association of Architects. We’re awarded TEF Gold for our standard of teaching. This means that you’ll be studying at one of the best Universities in the UK for teaching and support.
Do you want Professional Accreditation?
To become a registered architect, you need to complete Part 1, 2, and 3 of your studies. This degree programme is Part 1 prescribed by the Architects Registration Board. Upon successful completion, you don’t need to take any extra exams when you graduate. You can progress straight to your Part 2. We also have RIBA candidacy status. This means that our professional standards have been recognised by the Royal Institute of British Architects.
What's the course about?
In the first year, you’ll learn skills in sketching, drawing, and Computer-Aided Design, as well as model making and 3D representation. We’ll teach you 2D and 3D analogue and digital technologies so you can visualise your design ideas. You’ll produce technical drawings to multiple scales. You’ll take part in demonstrations and workshop-based activities to understand how engineering and technology inform practice. We’ll teach you skills in problem-solving, research and analysis, as you explore the relationship between culture and design.
In the second year, you’ll grow as a critical thinker. Your knowledge of culture and theory will fuel your creativity. Explore the fascinating relationship between buildings, people, and the environment. Design a public building and public space. You’ll learn to integrate hand drawing with digital editing, Computer-Aided Design, and 3D Modelling in your proposals. We’ll help you improve your skills with 2D and 3D printing, CNC routers , and laser cutters. You’ll learn technologies to map and analyse cities and infrastructures. Discover how design can complement the world around us. Be curious. How can architecture be functional and expressive? Through reflection and debate, you’ll feel confident about your understanding of contemporary architecture and your place within it.
In the third year, you’ll write your dissertation, a 6000-word essay on a topic that interests you. We’ll help you develop a professional portfolio as you work on real-life projects and pitch your ideas in a competitive environment. This is your chance to inspire. The pinnacle of your studies is a major project. You’ll investigate the use of space and analyse how architecture impacts a city and its population. You’ll use your expert design and technology skills to innovate. This is your chance to prove you’re ready for professional practice or postgraduate study.
Your main campus is College Lane
This is where the creative arts, science, and health-related subjects are based. This means you’ll share the campus with future nurses, scientists, artists, and more. You can use the common rooms to relax with friends, work out in the 24-hour gym or have a drink in our on-campus pub or cafes. We also have restaurants for you to eat in or grab something on the go. Our Learning Resources Centres are open 24/7, which means you can study whenever suits you best. Want to pop over to the other campus? You can take the free shuttle bus or walk there in just 15 minutes.
What if I need support?
You’ll get a personal tutor to guide you through your course, all the way to graduation.
You might also want or need extra support during your time with us. Rest assured, no matter what you study, we’ve got you covered. For help with study skills, including referencing, essay writing, and presentations, you’ll have access to our academic support services. You can attend workshops, 1-to-1 sessions, and online tutorials. Both our Learning Resources Centres's run drop-in study skills sessions. And the best thing is, it’s all free.
In the School of Creative Arts, we also have a dedicated Student Liaison Officer. So you can access academic support with someone who understands the requirements of creative arts courses. Plus, there’s additional support if you have dyslexia. For international students, we also have a Creative Arts International Support Officer. The Creative Arts Toolkit is a fantastic resource, where you can find lots of information about facilities, equipment, and study skills. You can feel confident that we’ll support you for all your educational, wellbeing, and disability needs.
This course includes the options of:
- Work placement
- Study abroad
Gallery
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Curriculum
What will I study?
Degree programmes are structured into levels, 4, 5 and 6. These correspond to your first, second and third/final year of study. Below you can see what modules you’ll be studying in each.
Level 4
- Design Skills 1 II 30 Credits II Compulsory
- Architectural Design Studio 1 II 30 Credits II Compulsory
- Introduction to Technology II 30 Credits II Compulsory
- C&CS L4 History and Theory – Introduction II 30 Credits II Compulsory
Level 5
- C&CS L5 History and Theory - People, Buildings and Cities II 30 Credits II Compulsory
- Advanced Technology II 30 Credits II Compulsory
- Architectural Design Studio 2 II 30 Credits II Compulsory
- Architectural Design Skills 2 II 30 Credits II Compulsory
- Year Abroad II 0 Credits II Optional
Level 6
- C&CS L6 Degree Essay: Dissertation II 30 Credits II Compulsory
- Advanced Design Skills II 30 Credits II Compulsory
- Final Project (Architecture) II 60 Credits II Compulsory
- Year Abroad II 0 Credits II Optional
- Sandwich Year (Creative Arts) II 0 Credits II Optional
Study abroad
An opportunity for an amazing experience, which will help make you stand out from the crowd. With more and more companies working internationally, the experience of living in another country can make a great impression on future employers.
This course offers you the opportunity to enhance your study and CV with a sandwich year abroad. The University has partnerships with over 150 universities around the world, including the USA, Canada, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America and closer to home in Europe.
If you study abroad between your second and third year of study, you’ll pay no tuition fee to the partner university and no tuition fee to us either. We’ll ask you to make your decision in your second year, so there is plenty of time to think about it.
Work placement
Graduate with invaluable work experience alongside your degree and stand out from the crowd.
This course offers you the opportunity to enhance your study and CV with a work placement sandwich year. It’s a chance to explore career possibilities, make valuable contacts and gain sought after professional skills.
Our dedicated Careers and Employment team are here to help guide you through the process.
The programme supports the student in opportunities to undertake live projects which may arise through their own endeavour and works to build such opportunities into the student’s learning and assessment through negotiation of briefs and presentable outcomes. The term ‘live projects’ refers here to a range of activities that extends well beyond those that are primarily commercial and includes social enterprise projects undertaken in connection with community groups, arts organisations and other agencies. Where a student wishes to undertake a live project, it is a requirement that before it commences there is in place a learning contract that specifies clearly how it enables the student to fulfil the module Learning Outcomes, the materials to be submitted for assessment, the date of submission for that material, what the word means in terms of the student’s attendance and workload and an appropriate strategy for supervision by a tutor. That contract has to be agreed upon by both the module tutor and the Programme Leader.
If you take up a work placement between your second and third year of study, at the University of Hertfordshire you’ll pay no tuition fee for this year. We’ll ask you to make your decision in your second year, so there is plenty of time to think about it.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
What's next for my career?
As an architecture graduate, you can opt to continue to the second stage of the architectural education (A.R.B./R.I.B.A. part 2), as well as decide to work within an architectural or interior architecture practice, or as part of a multi-disciplinary design consultancy. You may also move into areas such as urban design, real estate, and retail design.
The course offers an excellent network of industry partners. You will work closely with architectural practices both nationally and internationally on a variety of projects and collaborations. Visiting lectures from some of the most prestigious architectural practices contribute to teaching and learning. In addition, we draw on exemplars from regional, national and international architecture to inform the teaching.
During the course of study, students produce a series of projects which result in a professional portfolio representing a high degree of spatial and technical resolution that shows the development of a clear design approach and provides evidence of their employability relevant to their preferred career ambitions.
As an architecture graduate, you can continue to the second stage of architectural education (A.R.B./R.I.B.A. part 2). You can also start your career within an architectural or interior architecture practice, or join a multidisciplinary design consultancy. You could also move into areas such as urban design, real estate, and retail design.