BA (Hons) Architektur

"Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, examinations may be replaced by an alternative form of assessment during the academic year 2021/2022. Please refer to the Programme Specification on these pages for further details."

Why choose this course?

Gain practical skills alongside theory

This course empowers you to satisfy the requirements of a brief and re-energise our environment. You’ll learn the technical knowledge to inspire your professional portfolio. We’ll teach you how to analyse, develop, test, and communicate your ideas. You’ll be working on drawings and models for domestic, public, and commercial projects, such as houses, museums, and cityscapes. Be creative. Spend time in our fantastic studios and workshops. We have woodworking, metalworking, and casting workshops to help you develop real-world skills. Try your hand at ceramics (for building facades), printmaking, and life-drawing classes to enhance your sketching skills. Use our specialist computer software suites and even download software onto your personal laptop. With 3D printers, laser cutters, a welding booth , and studio space at your fingertips, we’ll help you bring your idea to life.

Discover the history that has influenced architecture. From garden cities, new towns built after WW2, to today’s contemporary cities. How do the needs of society motivate design? You’ll learn to be an innovative and responsible architect. To evaluate a building’s purpose, the impact of materials, and the cultural factors which underpin design. You’ll gain insights into the international and national perspectives of the built environment. We’ll encourage you to question the role of technology, gender, politics, and economics in design. You’ll debate the issues confronting architects, including sustainability, urban sprawl, and gentrification. By analysing theory and practice you’ll become confident in the founding principles of design philosophy.

Every step of the way, you’ll be inspired by our expert teaching team including researchers, authors, and acclaimed architects. We have excellent links to the industry. You can benefit from mentoring schemes and work placement opportunities with the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Hertfordshire Association of Architects. We’re awarded TEF Gold for our standard of teaching. This means that you’ll be studying at one of the best Universities in the UK for teaching and support.

Do you want Professional Accreditation?

To become a registered architect, you need to complete Part 1, 2, and 3 of your studies. This degree programme is Part 1 prescribed by the Architects Registration Board. Upon successful completion, you don’t need to take any extra exams when you graduate. You can progress straight to your Part 2. We also have RIBA candidacy status. This means that our professional standards have been recognised by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

What's the course about?

In the first year, you’ll learn skills in sketching, drawing, and Computer-Aided Design, as well as model making and 3D representation. We’ll teach you 2D and 3D analogue and digital technologies so you can visualise your design ideas. You’ll produce technical drawings to multiple scales. You’ll take part in demonstrations and workshop-based activities to understand how engineering and technology inform practice. We’ll teach you skills in problem-solving, research and analysis, as you explore the relationship between culture and design.

In the second year, you’ll grow as a critical thinker. Your knowledge of culture and theory will fuel your creativity. Explore the fascinating relationship between buildings, people, and the environment. Design a public building and public space. You’ll learn to integrate hand drawing with digital editing, Computer-Aided Design, and 3D Modelling in your proposals. We’ll help you improve your skills with 2D and 3D printing, CNC routers , and laser cutters. You’ll learn technologies to map and analyse cities and infrastructures. Discover how design can complement the world around us. Be curious. How can architecture be functional and expressive? Through reflection and debate, you’ll feel confident about your understanding of contemporary architecture and your place within it.

In the third year, you’ll write your dissertation, a 6000-word essay on a topic that interests you. We’ll help you develop a professional portfolio as you work on real-life projects and pitch your ideas in a competitive environment. This is your chance to inspire. The pinnacle of your studies is a major project. You’ll investigate the use of space and analyse how architecture impacts a city and its population. You’ll use your expert design and technology skills to innovate. This is your chance to prove you’re ready for professional practice or postgraduate study.

Your main campus is College Lane

This is where the creative arts, science, and health-related subjects are based. This means you’ll share the campus with future nurses, scientists, artists, and more. You can use the common rooms to relax with friends, work out in the 24-hour gym or have a drink in our on-campus pub or cafes. We also have restaurants for you to eat in or grab something on the go. Our Learning Resources Centres are open 24/7, which means you can study whenever suits you best. Want to pop over to the other campus? You can take the free shuttle bus or walk there in just 15 minutes.

What if I need support?

You’ll get a personal tutor to guide you through your course, all the way to graduation.

You might also want or need extra support during your time with us. Rest assured, no matter what you study, we’ve got you covered. For help with study skills, including referencing, essay writing, and presentations, you’ll have access to our academic support services. You can attend workshops, 1-to-1 sessions, and online tutorials. Both our Learning Resources Centres's run drop-in study skills sessions. And the best thing is, it’s all free.

In the School of Creative Arts, we also have a dedicated Student Liaison Officer. So you can access academic support with someone who understands the requirements of creative arts courses. Plus, there’s additional support if you have dyslexia. For international students, we also have a Creative Arts International Support Officer. The Creative Arts Toolkit is a fantastic resource, where you can find lots of information about facilities, equipment, and study skills. You can feel confident that we’ll support you for all your educational, wellbeing, and disability needs.

This course includes the options of:

• Work placement
• Study abroad

At the University of Hertfordshire, we see your potential, we hear your ambitions and we support your futures. From the moment we meet, we will set you on a path to achieving your goals. We will drive you forward, we will actively guide you every step of the way. You may not be confident or you may have questions – but we believe in you and we will help you find the answers. You may have a goal that you want to achieve – we can help focus you. You may want an experience – we can get you some. Here at Herts, there are many pathways to success, so let us empower your future, and take you all the way. This is your platform, your opportunity to succeed – so what are you waiting for?

Prepare to succeed

Show employers what you’re made of. We’re big on placements – and for good reason. Research tells us that over 70% of employers prefer students with work experience. That’s because placements aren’t just an excellent way to put what you’ve learnt into practice, they also show employers what you’re like as a person – with all those attributes like ambition, teamwork and a can-do attitude. To make sure our students get that work experience advantage, we’ve developed strong links with businesses and organisations here and internationally. These have allowed us to build valuable placement opportunities, from short-term experience to full-year paid placements, into many of our courses. What’s more, you won’t have to pay fees during the year you’re on placement.

Passport to success

Many students at Hertfordshire have the chance to study or work overseas – for a semester, a summer or even a whole year. Studying or working abroad is a great way to immerse yourself in a new culture, broaden your horizons and create many unforgettable memories. We have partnerships with many universities across the world, including in the USA, Canada, Latin America, Africa, China, Korea, Japan, Australia, and across Europe. The cost of living in many countries is lower than in the UK and you’ll still be eligible for any grants or loans you’d get if you were studying here. Most students also pay no tuition fees during the year away and may be eligible for one of our scholarships to help with living and travelling costs.

Learn from the best

We like to think our teaching is a little different. Not only are our academics experts in their respective fields, but everything they teach is shaped by businesses and industry, giving you the subject-specific and transferable skills for an exciting career. Alongside your core subject, you’ll also be able to pick up other qualifications to help you stand out to employers. From mentoring to Microsoft qualifications, City & Guilds awards to getting your pilot’s licence, there’s a tonne of ways to build an impressive CV.

Key Facts

• TEF Gold : Our teaching is among the best in the UK.
• 170 : Study abroad at one of over 170 universities in 40 countries around the world.
• National Rankings : 4th Economics 7th Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management 10th Engineering: Electronic and Electrical.
• Number 1 for Games : TIGA Games Industry Award 2019.
• 96.5% of students in employment or further study within 6 months.
• Award-winning : Employment mock assessment centre simulation (Institute of Student Employers).
• Career enhancing experience : Our students have undertaken placements at companies including KPMG, Tesla Motors (UK), Microsoft and GSK.

Learning and teaching

Whatever your background, wherever you are from, we believe that higher education can be a transformational experience.

We develop graduates who are capable, creative and enterprising. Through engaging with employers and professional bodies who contribute to the development of our curriculum and our status as one of only 20 University Enterprise Zones, we transform the lives of our students.

We offer the flexibility, opportunity and community students need to succeed. We achieve this by:

combining traditional teaching methods with digital resources including our online student network, StudyNet teaching courses that are designed with the input of business and professional bodies giving students the chance to learn about employability through listening to the experience of our alumni organising networking events where staff, students and graduates can meet offering a vibrant multicultural campus by increasing the proportion of international students on campus giving students the option of studying at one of our partner universities overseas supporting students in their learning and living offering students valuable work experience in research, business or industry before their final academic year.

Vision

Our vision is to transform lives. This means whatever your background, wherever you are from, we will drive your potential, powering you to succeed.

We are committed to having a positive transformational impact on every member of our university community, and to share our successes with the community around us.

Our strategy

We support a diverse range of students, staff, businesses, researchers and members of the community. What they all share is the desire to make the most of the opportunities in front of them. Our strategy will enable us to power their potential and achieve their goals.

Students, businesses and the local community are all motivated by the same thing. Finding ways to make the most of the opportunities in front of them, by tapping into their individual or collective potential. Powering Potential is embedded in our philosophy. This means – to transform lives, we not only find potential, but we also harness it and drive it.

Key strategic themes

Students, businesses and the local community are all motivated by the same thing. Finding ways to make the most of the opportunities in front of them, by tapping into their individual or collective potential. Powering Potential is embedded in our philosophy. This means – to transform lives, we not only find potential, but we also harness it and drive it.

Offering opportunity

We offer every student the opportunity to succeed, with varied and well-signposted routes into university and clear pathways through study. We support students to achieve to the best of their ability and will support them in preparing for global opportunities after graduation. We will use our links in business, our research expertise, and our global outlook, to transform lives.

Building community

We are a diverse and welcoming community with a global reach and a common purpose, to transform lives, which we will work together to achieve. Through communities of learning, exploration and knowledge, we celebrate diversity and share our passions. We want all our students and staff to find their communities here. We are engaged as a Civic University in our region, supporting schools, colleges and students. We will share our knowledge, culture, research and resources with businesses, the professions and the wider community.

Embracing flexibility

We will respond flexibly to the challenges and opportunities ahead. Flexible modes of study will support our students to succeed and allow them to engage with a greater range of opportunities in education, extra-curricular activities and work experience. We want our students to follow their interests and passions to transform their lives and to be empowered by a choice of pathways that take them to the next stage and open doors to the future.

Our values

We provide opportunities to attract, retain and develop individuals. We are building a diverse and inclusive community and we respond with flexibility to the challenges of the changing world. Our values underpin everything we do. We are friendly, ambitious, collegiate, enterprising and student-focussed.