Architecture

Architecture sits at the intersection of art, engineering and social thought, concerned with how buildings and urban spaces are conceived, designed and built to serve human needs while also expressing cultural values and responding to environmental constraints. It is one of the most demanding and rewarding of the creative professions, requiring the integration of aesthetic vision with technical knowledge, practical problem-solving and an understanding of how people inhabit and move through space.

At Northumbria University in Newcastle you will study this three-year full-time degree, which leads to the first part of professional qualification in architecture. The programme covers architectural design studio work, which forms the core of the degree, alongside technical studies in structures, environmental systems and construction, and contextual studies in architectural history, theory and the social and cultural dimensions of the built environment. A year abroad is part of the programme, giving you the opportunity to study design in a different national and cultural context, which inevitably enriches both your visual vocabulary and your understanding of how architecture responds to different climates, traditions and social conditions.

Newcastle itself, with its distinctive architectural heritage and ongoing urban development, provides a stimulating context for design study.

Architecture demands the ability to work at multiple scales simultaneously, from the detail of a material joint to the relationship between a building and its city, and to hold together aesthetic ambition, structural logic, environmental performance and the needs of the people who will use the spaces you design. The degree develops design intelligence, technical knowledge, critical thinking and the visual communication skills that architectural practice requires.

Graduates proceed to Part 2 study and subsequent professional practice experience before qualification. Many work in architectural practices of all scales, from small studios to major international firms, while others move into urban design, landscape architecture, interior design, project management and property development.