Course Summary
Imagination, investigation and innovation are the driving forces behind this course. Join us to explore a wide variety of approaches and discover areas that interest you.
This is one of our flagship degrees and is recognised by the Royal Institute of British Architects and Architects Registration Board. You’ll achieve the first qualification you need on your journey to becoming an architect.
We take a hands-on approach, so you can expect us to push your creativity. Throughout the course, you’ll focus on the process of making, and then reflect on what you’ve designed to boost your technical knowledge.You’ll develop the skills all architects need, including drawing, model making and using computer-aided design.
In the lecture theatre, you’ll cover history, theory, technology and computing. To give you the support you need, our experienced tutors will run sessions with you individually or in a small group.
Throughout the course, you’ll develop your own creative style, and put together your own portfolio to showcase your talents to potential employers after you graduate. The core of architecture is the design studio, and the main emphasis of our course is developing your design ability. Since our key aim is to push your creativity and judgment to the maximum, you can expect the course to be highly demanding.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
Architecture students come to us from varied educational backgrounds, so the first year of the course is partly about assessing your abilities and giving you the tools to learn. The year is organised to help you develop the practical skills an architect needs, such as drawing, model-making and computer-aided design.
Over the three years of the course, you’ll develop your creativity and critical judgement and create a high-quality portfolio that shows your practical, academic and professional skills.
You’ll also gain knowledge of the history and theory of architecture, art and design, the technology of building, the building industry, environmental and sustainability issues and the regulatory framework in which architecture is produced.
You’ll learn to use creativity, conceptual skills and judgement to identify human needs and requirements, and to meet or express them spatially.
You’ll also gain experience in physical making and workshop skills, using a range of media (drawing, models, computers, photography, film-making) to develop your ideas and create architectural proposals.
HOW YOU'LL LEARN
The heart of the course is the design studio, where you’ll learn the strategies of architectural design through hands-on design project work. You’ll also learn from lectures, and from reading and writing designed to stimulate your creative mind.
At the core of our teaching philosophy is the relationship that develops between students and our academic team, so we teach you in mainly small groups to ensure you have plenty of contact with your tutors and lecturers.
As well as excellent studios, our modern, purpose-built Docklands campus in the heart of east London’s vibrant regeneration area features extensive wood, metal and digital fabrication workshops, photographic darkrooms, printing and computer suites.
You’ll visit study sites and buildings, cities and landscapes in the UK and abroad. Each year there’s an overseas study trip, and you can choose from a variety of different design units which often involve overseas travel.
At the end of the academic year, you’ll exhibit your work at our summer showcase. There are also opportunities to enter competitions and win scholarships, individually or as part of a team.
You’ll spend time with a personal tutor at least once a week to guide your academic development and ensure you have all the personal support you need.
Who will teach on this course
Heba Elsharkawy
Christian Groothuizen
Reem Charif
The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.
YOUR FUTURE CAREER
By completing this course successfully, you’ll be exempt from Part 1 of the Architects Registration Board (ARB) examination. Exemption from all three parts allows you to register as an architect with the ARB.
Many of our students go on to study further, eventually becoming fully qualified architects. The majority stay on at the University of East London to study on our MArch (ARB/RIBA Part 2) course or our Landscape Architecture MA.
If you’d prefer to go straight into the world of work, the skills you’ll have learned – analysis, creative thinking, using IT and communicating through drawings and words – will be useful in many other areas.
BSc (Hons) Architecture provides an excellent base for exploring a variety of employment opportunities and for further study in the field of design. Many architecture students go on to work in other creative industries such as animation, graphic design, computer game design, film, fashion, and interior design.
During your time with us you’ll develop your own creativity, and you’ll put together your own individual design portfolio to showcase your talents to potential employers after you graduate.
The portfolio is the primary tool for gaining employment and needs to show a broad range of skills and a level of maturity that proves you are ready to take on the challenge of a career in architecture
Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal
My name is Kavisha Prince Anthony, and I always had a dream of studying abroad. Thankfully, that dream came to life since I applied to the Study Advisor. I was able to receive my visa within four days. I also had some visa refusals in the past; I had about six UK visa refusals in the past, but thankfully, it was not an issue since the Study Advisor was able to make things work this time. I highly recommend Study Advisor for your dreams of going abroad, whether it be the UK or any other European country there is.