Architecture

First founded in 1908, as the Birmingham School of Architecture, education in architecture, currently located in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, has been at the heart of the profession in the city and across the region for over 100 years. This synergistic and interdisciplinary link between architectural education, industry, and the city’s wider history of making, continues to be part of the ethos of the course – building professionals that are adapted to the unique challenges of contemporary practice, and of the city we are rooted in.

The BArch (Hons) RIBA Part 1 course reframes architectural education as a tool for equity, civic responsibility, and cultural transformation. The course aims to equip our students with the skills to be creative, ethical, and entrepreneurial – capable of rising to 21st century challenges. We encourage our incredibly diverse student body to bring their lived experiences into studio generating design responses that reflect their own backgrounds. We empower students to radically respond to the urgent issues facing our city and the world, from climate crisis, to urbanisation, and the changing landscape of our cities. We seek not only to diversify the profession but to change what architecture is and does in our own communities.

What's covered in this course?

The programme is scaffolded over three years to help students grow and build confidence, specialist knowledge, professional literacy, and critical agency, to go out into the world as change makers. Each year includes design studio, professional studies, history/theory, and technology/environment modules that are taught as holistic interrelated topics. Here students have an opportunity to come out with their own unique set of skills, style, and approach as they develop and take ownership over their own design process and agendas.

Through a mixture of industry activities, live clients, real world scenarios, and engaging with our professional networks in Birmingham and beyond, students can be sure they have the skills they need for a professional practice that is rapidly changing.

We have a long tradition of fostering entrepreneurship, with multiple award-winning practices having been founded by our entrepreneurial graduates. With many of our visiting lecturers coming from architectural practices with active experience working on projects that are helping to define our growing city and region, and with major projects and development on our doorstep, there are lots of great opportunities for our students and graduates to learn from and participate in the design that will radically change the way the entire region functions. Through engaging with live clients and projects, local site visits, guest lectures, and engaging with local visiting critics you will be offered ample opportunities to be a part of the future of Birmingham and beyond.

Professional Placement year

This course offers an optional professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, following successful completion of your second year, and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies.

If you choose to pursue a placement year, you will need to find a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will be able to draw on the University’s extensive network of local, regional, and national employers, and the support of our Careers teams. If you are able to secure a placement, you can request to be transferred to the placement version of the course.

Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year.