BA (Hons) Architecture

This degree can set you on the right path to become a professionally qualified architect.

The skills you’ll learn on this course will be beneficial to you in your working life, regardless of your chosen career direction.

Through this course, you’ll become a confident critical thinker with an ethical stance – this will set you up to engage with – and respond to – the challenges faced by our society.

Find out more about where an architecture degree can take you

Careers service

Careers advice is embedded into your academic programme through workshops, events, placements and networks, working with the academic staff teaching on your course.

We also offer materials, networks and resources online through our 24/7 portal, and a wide-range of activities, opportunities and support centrally in the Careers Service space within the Student Hub.

Learn about our careers service

We are here to help you to explore, connect and succeed.

• Gain professional accreditation from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) if you complete this degree successfully. This means that you won’t need to complete RIBA Part 1 separately.
  
  
• Study in an inspiring creative environment. You’ll be based in our eye-catching Roland Levinsky Building with access to amazing facilities and resources.
  
  
• Join a diverse community that aims to champion and support a culture of participation and inclusivity.
  
  
• Graduate ready for the workplace with our focus on professional development. You'll work on live design projects, and we have strong links with Plymouth City Council and other regional community projects.
  
  
• Learn from expert academic 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.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Be part of the academic discussion. Our highly respected Plymouth Architecture Society (PARCS) organises fortnightly lectures that feature leading architects, engineers and designers who showcase and discuss their work.

Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) accreditation

In April 2022, our BA (Hons) Architecture and master of architecture programmes were revalidated for the next five years with commendations for:

• Impact of our live project-based work on both learning and the wider community
  
• A vibrant and supportive studio culture grounded in mutual respect and trust between students and staff
  
• A critically engaged, well-rounded, empathetic student body, supported by an exemplary approach to collaborative working enabling students to become mature future professionals.

• 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

  • Communication 4.1 (COMM411)

    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.

  • Design Studio 4.1 (DESN411)

    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.

  • Integrated Design 4.2 (DESN412)

    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.

  • History Theory and Critical Context 4.2 (HTCC412)

    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.

  • Technology 4.1 (TECN411)

    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

  • Design Studio and Communication 5.1 (DSCM521)

    In this module through both individual and group work, exploratory, analytical studies undertaking an architectural design project in the context of a social residential framework and to explore and understand modes of representation that can inform how an architectural project is represented, using both analogue and digital techniques for exploring and developing creative and critical thinking (i.e. design and representational) skills. This module enables students to develop their representation toolkit and mixed media design skills, by delivering lectures, workshops and online tutorial sessions focused on professional collaborative contexts and the use of advancing media and Building Information Management protocols.

  • Detailed Design Studio and Communication 5.2 (DSCM522)

    In this module through both individual and group work, exploratory, analytical studies undertaking an architectural design project in the context of a complex design brief engaged in a live context, and to explore and understand modes of architectural practice, using both analogue and digital techniques for exploring and developing creative and critical thinking (i.e. design and representational) skills. This module enables students to develop their design and communications toolkit through engagement with advancing media, by delivering lectures, workshops and online tutorial sessions focused on advancements in media relevant to architectural practice and collaboration, such as digital fabrication, immersive and gaming technologies, and building information management.

  • History Theory and Critical Context 5.1 (HTCC521)

    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.

  • Sustainable Technologies 5.2 (TECN522)

    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, to meet the demands of the climate challenge.

• 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

  • Common Dissertation: Critical Practices (ADA600)

    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.

  • Strategic Design Studio and Communication 6.1 (DSCM621)

    In this module through both individual and group work, undertake in depth exploratory, analytical studies that both inform and challenge the design process in the context of a specific modes of research situated around Urbanism, Material Adaptability, Ecology or Typologies to inform an architectural design project, and demonstrating an understanding of the industry and profession, business management and ethics, exploring and developing creative and critical thinking (i.e. design and representational) skills.

  • Detailed Design Studio and Communication 6.2 (DSCM622)

    In this module through both individual and group work, exploratory, analytical studies undertaking an architectural design project in the context of a complex design brief engaged in a live context, and to explore and understand modes of architectural practice, and how buildings are procured, the principles of business management and how businesses operate, and professional and personal ethics, using both analogue and digital techniques for exploring and developing creative and critical thinking (i.e. design and representational) skills. This module examines the context of architectural practice, and how buildings are procured and delivered within this context. It furthers development of the design and communications toolkit through applied mixed and advancing media in professional contexts.

  • Sustainable Technologies 6.2 (TECN622)

    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, to meet the demands of the climate challenge, an understanding of life safety in relation to construction technologies, and challenge compliance models to consider best practice.

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_0114

UCAS tariff

104 - 136

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

A level
A minimum of two 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 (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.

T level
Merit in digital production, design and development.

Applicant portfolio advice - find out how to make an impression with your portfolio.