A Part 1 RIBA and RTPI accredited course
About this course
- Entry year: 2012/13
- Course code: KK14
- Applications: UCAS
- Level: Undergraduate
- Department: Planning and Architecture
- Campus: Frenchay
- Duration: Four years full-time
- Delivery: Full-time
- Study Abroad: No
- Programme leader: Elena Marco ARB Architect
Introduction
Walk down any street - and try to draw a line between what is Architecture and what is Planning. You can't, because how we experience and inhabit the built environment is seamless. Yet for nearly 40 years the teaching and practice of designing the built environment in Britain has been split between two professions: Architecture and Planning. The problems this creates can be seen all around us. Problems that become ever more apparent as we begin to understand the environment more holistically and seek to create more 'joined up' and humane sustainable environments.
UWE Bristol wanted to tackle this problem and to educate a new kind of designer: highly creative architect-planners able to work singly and in teams, from the scale of the city to the scale of a door-handle, responding to people, context and sustainability - the three keywords of the course. The result is a course unique in Britain: an Architecture course that extends itself to include the whole of our built environment; or looked at another way, a Planning course that extends to include the making of the environment.
The strength of the Planning and Architecture Department when delivering undergraduate architecture programmes lies in the importance of providing our students with the essential skills of two disciplines, creating a new type of graduate with the core knowledge and skills of both professions from the outset. This remains central to our approach, which is now well established and remains unique.
Who is this course aimed at?
We are looking for enthusiastic and talented people who are not afraid to make a greater level of commitment in return for a dual degree. We need highly motivated students with a greater sense of responsibility to rise to the challenge.
We have created a truly versatile degree within the architecture profession, to help develop the rising stars of the profession with the broad and interdisciplinary architectural education that industry is repeatedly asking us to provide.
News
UWE Architecture building wins 2011 South West RIBA award
The building, designed to inspire and help educate our architecture students, has won the public sector award 2011. Read more.
plan+make degree show June 2011
Have a look at our students' work which was on display at the plan+make degree show 2011. Students from across the Department of Planning and Architecture exhibited along with students from across the Faculty. The event, held in June each year, enables our students to showcase their final year projects to both family and friends as well as employers from the region.
Structure
Teaching and learning
The core of the student experience is the Design Studio and the creative output of each student. Design Studios are structured around different themes in every year and include a rich variety of conceptual and pragmatic projects. These culminate in the final year with a year-long special study which combines rigorous research and a fully integrated architectural design project. In addition to carrying out design tasks students are introduced to a variety of techniques including CAD, drawing, modelling and mapping.
A wide range of assessment methods is used, with a balance between coursework and examinations. To support students in the Studios there are tutorials and reviews, visiting practitioners and guest lecturers, consolidated by lecture courses on urban design; history, theories and contexts of architecture and planning; planning policy and implementation; technology and construction; and projects where you work with students of other disciplines, to prepare you for careers where you will work with professionals from related fields.
A strong emphasis of the learning approach will be to engage with current practice in architecture and planning. You will undertake an agency project based in an architect's office, a local planning authority, or other appropriate organisation. The School's inter-professional approach includes projects where you will work with students from other disciplines within the built environment. This encourages mutual respect and understanding of the professions which you are likely to be working with during your career, and helps you to develop and practice the skills of presentation, negotiation, communication, and delegation.
Study time
When starting the course at UWE Bristol you register for six years of full-time study, so that you can complete a full architectural education. After four years you will complete the BA(Hons) Architecture and Planning (RIBA Part 1) and then spend a year in an architectural practice. You then proceed to the BArch/MA (RIBA Part 2) course, either at UWE or another institution, which is two years full-time, but may also be taken part-time.
Special Features
Professional accreditation
The degree is validated by both the architectural and planning professions. It is recognised by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Architects Registration Board (ARB) as giving exemption from RIBA Part 1 examinations, and is accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) as providing the academic qualifications for entry to the planning profession.
Bristol UWE is the first new RIBA validated architecture course in Britain for over 30 years, and with the completion of its new Studio Building in 2002 has the most modern home of any architecture school in the country.
Fieldwork
There are three field trips which are subsidised by the Department. You are expected to contribute to the cost. Recent visits have been to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin and Glasgow. The course includes a stream of practical design projects, culminating in a special study which combines a fully integrated design project and a rigorous research component.
Study facilities
A range of specialist facilities are provided by the Department. A suite of computer rooms supports software for word processing, data analysis and spatial enquiry. They provide access to e-mail and internet, including Department and University websites which enable you to use a vast number of specialist electronic journals and publications, and resources provided by lecturers to support their modules.
A Project Room provides space for students to work on individual and group assignments, together with a range of materials and equipment. An audio-visual group provides support for photography, digital imaging, filming and sound recording.
The Studios in which you will be based were designed by a member of the Department, and incorporate a colour theory installation which won in 2004 the Royal Fine Art Commission 'Building of the Year' award for Architectural Education. "The Studios are more of a textbook than a building, an object lesson in functional and sustainable design. They are to function as a learning tool and provide an opportunity for research through their construction, the use of innovative materials and performance monitoring." Royal Institution of British Architects Journal, September 2002. A brand new extension opened in 2010, providing more studio space, teaching rooms, a multi-use lecture room and improved ICT facilities.
Facilities include integrated studios for CAD, model-making and drawing. Architectural modelling resources include a laser cutter, computerised router, an artificial sky, a wind tunnel, wood, metal and concrete workshops. There are also facilities for surveying, GIS and spatial analysis, photography, digital imaging, film and sound recording and editing.
Student representatives sit on a wide range of committees, where they can influence discussions and decisions which affect your learning experience. Students have set up their own society, BARK, which acts as a support system for students on architecture and design-related courses. The aim is to enable the integration of like-minded students, to actively further their design interests through guest lectures, field-trips, live projects and social events.
Careers/further study
The intertwined study of two disciplines provides the added value of the UWE BA(Hons) Architecture and Planning Part 1 course, making it a unique programme in the UK. With accreditation by both professions, it delivers a sound foundation for students who intend to become architect-planners and those who choose to get further qualifications in only one of the two relevant professional disciplines. Graduates intending to become architects will have the benefit of an understanding of the aims, techniques and culture of planning, giving greater meaning, resonance and focus to their architectural skills and knowledge. For those who do not wish to become an architect, the BA(Hons) Architecture and Planning Course enables a student to enter employment as a town planner with a strong training in design, or to specialise in an area such as urban design or conservation.
Whichever direction our graduates choose to move in, having a dual qualification in Architecture and Planning opens up a wide range of opportunities in the job market. They are equipped to deal with real-life solutions where good building design is the result of effective and holistic collaboration between the two disciplines of architecture and planning disciplines. We want our students to have a more complete academic profile which will allow them to project their employability prospects to a global market.
Graduate destinations
Find out what our graduates are doing six months after graduating - includes examples of careers, employers and further study. Download a PDF from graduate destinations.
Key employer partnerships
Our degrees can lead to a wide variety of career choices. To ensure that our degrees make you as employable as possible we work closely with partner employers in our planning and architecture consortium.
Creating employable students
UWE places strong emphasis on employability and skills development at every level. Through work placements, volunteering, study abroad and UWE initiatives which nurture talent and encourage innovation, students gain valuable real world experience and graduate with diverse career opportunities and a competitive place in the job market.
See great graduate prospects for further information.
Be inspired
Read about what being an architect or a town planner involves.
Watch a youtube film of our Architecture and Planning students on a visit to Rotterdam.
Useful links
UWE - careers in architecture
UWE - careers in planning
Guardian - what to do with a degree in architecture
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
The UWE careers service provides guidance and support throughout your studies in addition to useful resources, CV checks, career coaching and details of current job vacancies.
Entry
Typical offers
- GCSE: Maths and English Language at grade C or above required.
- Specific subjects: None specified
- Access: Achievement of the Access to HE Diploma; achievement of level 2 credits in Maths and English Language. Contact us for further advice for Access students.
Advice on typical offers
In addition to the 'typical offer' given here, please read the general information about entry requirements.
Fees
Details regarding fees and funding are available on the Money matters webpages.
How to apply
Please see the general information about applications.
As you will have read in the course description, we take a broad view of architecture, and we do not want to recruit from a narrowly defined group of applicants. We like to have students from a variety of subject backgrounds, and value the diversity that this brings. Therefore, we make our offers in terms of UCAS tariff points, and do not specify particular subjects. The course is open to applicants who have studied art, and those who have not, and we offer support if you need it to develop your drawing skills. We do not normally require a portfolio.
We welcome applications from students without the conventional entry requirements but who do have substantial relevant work or other experience and whose motivation and skills would enable them to succeed on the course.
Students who successfully complete the Built and Natural Environments foundation course may be permitted to transfer onto the first year of this degree course.
Students with disabilities
We welcome applications from people with disabilities. Following is a list of the types of activities that the course normally involves. We are committed to supporting students with disabilities, and wherever possible we will make reasonable adjustments to these activities to enable students with disabilities to successfully complete the course. We encourage applicants to disclose any disabilities or support needs in their application forms, so that we can offer information, advice and support. There is a Disability Service at UWE Bristol and a Disability Support Co-ordinator in the Department.
- Use a computer
- Read and produce drawings, plans and maps
- Visually inspect buildings and locations, including physical movement around and through buildings and locations
- Participate in field courses or activities away from the University
- Take part in discussions and presentations
- Team working and negotiation
Open days
We run open days throughout the year, when you can meet lecturers and current students, see the facilities and resources that we offer, and visit the student accommodation. For further details visit our open days web page.
For further information
Page last updated 14 December 2011