Architecture

With a strong sustainability focus, informed by expert research and industry developments, this course will equip you with skills and knowledge to design buildings of the future and play your part in addressing the global climate emergency.

You will develop technical, practical, and professional skills to create site-specific, climate-responsive designs addressing community needs. Modules such as Creating Architecture explore sustainable strategies like zero-carbon construction, biophilic design, and retrofitting, while promoting inclusivity and health.

The design studio is at the heart of your learning experience, fostering collaboration with students from various disciplines to tackle live design challenges, such as reimagining Leicester’s urban spaces. These projects are guided by cutting-edge industry thinking and technologies, all within a vibrant community dedicated to revolutionising the construction industry, addressing the global climate emergency, and shaping a sustainable future.

• This course is accredited by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Architects Registration Board (ARB), with students also exempt from RIBA and ARB Part I examinations.

• Benefit from our 125-year legacy in architectural education, with a curriculum that integrates craftsmanship, ethical design, and climate-conscious practices.

• Join graduates who lead in sustainable architecture, working for globally renowned firms like Heatherwick Studio, Make Architects, and Shigeru Ban Architects, reshaping the built environment in response to the climate crisis.

• Enjoy working in our inspiring Vijay Patel Building, with access to multipurpose studios, cutting-edge CAD labs, and workshops equipped for metalworking, woodworking, digital printing, water-jet cutting, and prototyping.

Course Modules

First year
Block 1: Studio 1: Exploring Architecture
Block 2: Studio 2: Experiencing Architecture
Block 3: Studio 3: Creating Architecture
Block 4: Studio 4: Writing Architecture

Second year
Blocks 1 and 2: Exploring Ethical and Climate Literacy, Contextualizing Architectural Humanities
Block 3 and 4: Practicing Ethical Design, Applying Climate Literate Design

Third year
Blocks 1 and 2: Design Enquiry and Strategy, Critical and Cultural Thinking
Blocks 3 and 4: Design Proposition and Synthesis, Design Resolution and Professionalism

https://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate-courses/architecture-ba-degree/architecture-ba-degree.aspx#what-you-will-study

Overview
The Leicester School of Architecture (LSA) emphasises learning through modelling and making, both manually and digitally, making it an important feature of the course. We encourage and support you to become a productive student by focusing on the design studio as your key learning environment.

In the design studio you will:

• Work and collaborate with peers and tutors in drawing, digital drawing and fabrication, model making, discussion and debate
• Meet regularly with design tutors for small group learning, individual advice and guidance, assessment and feedback
• Engage in instructional/guidance lectures and workshops to develop key manual and digital techniques
• Have design work reviewed by guest architects and critics

A programme of lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops support your learning in the four key strands of the curriculum:

• Architectural design – project-based learning and assessment
• Architectural communication – project-based learning and assessment around key skill sets including CAD, BIM, digital modelling and fabrication
• Technology and environment – project-based learning and assessment combined with testing your knowledge of key principles
• History and theories of architecture – assessment based on online tests and short written assignments, culminating in a written dissertation, or equivalent, in the final year

In the final year, there is an additional focus on:
• Professional practice and ethics – project-based learning and assessment

Contact hours
You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, group work and self-directed study. Assessment is through coursework (presentations, essays and reports) Your precise timetable will depend on the optional modules you choose to take, however, in your first year you will normally attend around 20 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 21 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• Royal Institute of British Architects