BA (Hons) Architecture

We'll give you a call on A level results day to discuss your place at Plymouth, meaning there's one less thing to worry about.

Find out more about Clearing

• Join the fastest rising school of architecture in 2019 Subject Tables and the Guardian League tables.
• We are very proud of our National Student Survey (NSS) 2020 return showing 90% of students felt that staff made the subject interesting and 92% of students agreed that the course is intellectually stimulating.*
• Gain professional accreditation from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The course is also prescribed by the Architects Registration Board (ARB). If you complete the degree successfully, you'll be exempt from RIBA Part 1 automatically.
• A top 10 UK young university for subjects of art, design and architecture (Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2019) and in the First Class Category of Sustainable Universities in the UK (People and Planet Green League 2015).
  
• Our school has produced some of the top architects in the country! In 2013, Alumni Stephen Witherford from Witherford Watson and Mann won the Stirling Prize (highest prize for architecture). In 2019, Witherford Watson and Mann won the Stirling Prize People’s Vote. In 2017, Alex de Rijke from dRMM won the Stirling Prize.
  
• Get creative with our amazing facilities and resources. You’ll be based in our eye-catching Faculty of Arts building in the heart of the campus, with students and staff from other arts courses to bounce ideas off and collaborate with.
• Benefit from assessment by coursework only – there are no exams.
• Graduate ready for the workplace with our focus on professional development. You'll work on ‘live’ studio design projects, and we have strong links with Plymouth City Council and other regional community projects.
• Learn from tutors with industry experience and interdisciplinary research interests.
• Enrich your learning with field trips each year to project sites, European study trips, exchange study opportunities abroad and at home, and overseas summer schools. Previous destinations have included Barcelona, Berlin, Bilbao, Copenhagen, Paris, Porto, Rotterdam, Rome, Stockholm and Venice.
• Join the Plymouth Architecture Society (PARCS), one of the most respected and active student architectural societies in the UK, with fortnightly lectures that bring architects, engineers and designers into the school to showcase and discuss their work with you.
• Gain insights into the field with talks from leading practitioners and theorists. Our Cross Professional Dialogue programme is a forum for discussion between architects, builders and others in the building industry. We also hold the annual ‘State of the Profession’ symposium with noted professionals, such as RIBA President Stephen Hodder, to discuss key issues in architecture today.

• Year 1
• In the first year, you’ll develop awareness of basic principles of architecture, explored in parallel with developing knowledge and key skills. Building on this, you will be challenged to interrogate the meaning and role of architecture through experimentation and testing through making. Your learning will be guided by various projects engaging with co-joined issues of environment and people. The main learning activities will be pursued within a trans-disciplinary and trans-cultural environment.

  Core modules

  • COMM411 Communication 4.1

    This module will introduce students to architectural presentation and representation skills. Underlying this intention will be to mainly support design studio work, especially to explore and develop the skills to discover how to communicate your ideas in two dimensional and three dimensional visual form.

  • DESN411 Design Studio 4.1

    In this module through both individual and group work, students to be introduced architectural design project. This introduction is underpinned by an engagement with creative / critical thinking, and exploration of basic graphic and three-dimensional representation skills as a means of inquiry and presentation, pursued through various project briefs of increasing size and complexity.

  • DESN412 Integrated Design 4.2

    In this module through both individual and group work, students to develop and explore architectural design project further following the skills that they gained in DSGN401 module. This module will provide the opportunity for students to further engage with creative / critical thinking, and exploration of architectural graphic and three-dimensional representation skills as a means of inquiry and presentation, pursued through various project briefs of increasing size and complexity.

  • HTCC412 Critical Context 4.2

    This module will introduce students to the task and methods of historical enquiry and to architecture as its subject matter through a survey of architectural history up to the late nineteenth century. Followed by the introduction of theoretical discourse which describes the practice and production of architecture, the critique of architecture, and its conceptual possibilities.

  • TECN411 Technology 4.1

    This module will provide the opportunity for students to develop their understanding of basic building construction and building physics. Students will be introduced to sustainability, materials, structure, construction and building physics.

• Year 2
• The second year is coordinated to scaffold design in broader social and urban settings. An emphasis is on collaborative work in teams and professional contexts to explore architecture through contemporary social challenges, notably: changing patterns of living and working in urban communities. Working with advancing media, second-year students further the communicative skill set, and build a critical understanding of the role of design, making, and the built environment in the reproduction of daily life.

  Core modules

  • DSCM511 Design Studio and Communication 5.1

    In this module through both individual and group work, exploratory, analytical studies and an architectural design project in the context of a specific theoretical framework are the focus for exploring and developing creative and critical thinking (i.e. design) skills. This module enables students to develop their digital representation and digital design skills, by delivering lectures, workshops and online tutorial sessions focused on up-to-date digital technologies such as digital fabrication, computer-aided drawing and building information modelling.

  • DSCM512 Integrated Design 5.2

    In this module through both individual and group work, exploratory, analytical studies and an architectural design project in the context of a specific theoretical framework are the focus for exploring and developing creative and critical thinking (i.e. design) skills. This module enables students to develop their digital representation and digital design skills, by delivering lectures, workshops and online tutorial sessions focused on up-to-date digital technologies such as digital fabrication, computer-aided drawing and building information modelling.

  • HTCC511 Critical Context 5.1

    This module will develop students understanding of historical enquiry and to architecture as its subject matter through a survey of the architectural history of the twentieth century. The module will also develop students’ understanding of theories related to the practice and production of architecture, the critique of architecture, and its conceptual possibilities.

  • TECN512 Common Challenge: Technology 5.2

    This module allows students to develop their understanding of building construction technologies, with a specific application to architectural design. This includes environmental factors such as daylight, as well as sustainable technologies and materials, structural systems, multi-part construction and internal environments.

• Final year
• Third year is outward facing. It enables students to work on a range of scales, from master planning to architectural details. Live projects activate participatory consultation and interdisciplinary collaboration to respond to current global challenges. Vertical learning across the second and third year in the final semester fosters peer-to-peer learning. Students apply their own theoretical preoccupations into the design studio environment and graduate with a discursive portfolio.
  

  Core modules

  • ADA600 Common Dissertation: Critical Practices

    The module engages students in situating practice through research, contextualisation and critical reflection, in relation to their final stage study and post University aspirations. Programmes can offer: a traditional dissertation; preparation for an extended dissertation; situating existing practice; or the construction of a new body of work as practice-based research.

  • DSCM611 Design Studio + Communication 6.1

    In this module through both individual and group work, exploratory, analytical studies and an architectural design project in the context of a specific theoretical framework are the focus for exploring and developing creative and critical thinking (i.e. design) skills. This module examines the context of architectural practice, and how buildings are procured and delivered within this context. It explores the principles of business management and how businesses operate. It also considers the construct of professional and personal ethics.

  • DSCM612 Design Studio and Communication 6.2

    In this module through both individual and group work, exploratory, analytical studies and an architectural design project in the context of a specific theoretical framework are the focus for exploring and developing creative and critical thinking (i.e. design) skills. This module examines the context of architectural practice, and how buildings are procured and delivered within this context. It explores the principles of business management and how businesses operate. It also considers the construct of professional and personal ethics.

  • TECN612 Technology 6.2

    This module will enable students to develop their understanding of the integration of construction and environment via a complex building design proposal. Students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of materials, structure, and construction and building physics focusing on relevant issues in creating a sustainable integrated design solution.

Every undergraduate taught course has a detailed programme specification document describing the course aims, the course structure, the teaching and learning methods, the learning outcomes and the rules of assessment.

The following programme specification represents the latest course structure and may be subject to change:

BA Hons Architecture programme specification 2019 20 0114

UCAS tariff

104 - 136

Digital portfolio
You will be required to submit a digital portfolio demonstrating a range of creative skill sets. Get some advice on how to create and submit your portfolio.

A level
A minimum of 2 A levels, General Studies accepted.

International Baccalaureate
26-34 points.

18 Unit BTEC National Diploma/QCF Extended Diploma
DMM-DDM (Distinction Distinction Merit).

BTEC National Diploma modules
If you hold a BTEC qualification it is vital that you provide our Admissions team with details of the exact modules you have studied as part of the BTEC. Without this information we may be unable to process your application quickly and you could experience significant delays in the progress of your application to study with us. Please explicitly state the full list of modules within your qualification at the time of application.

All Access courses:  Pass a named Access to HE Diploma (e.g. Preferably Art and Design or Combined), (including GCSE English and Maths grade C/4 or above or equivalent) with at least 21 credits at distinction , 12 credits at merit and 12 credits at passes to 30 credits at distinction

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