Landscape Architecture

Landscape architecture is the design discipline concerned with the planning, design, and management of outdoor spaces, from urban parks and public squares to post-industrial sites, river corridors, and the designed landscapes that frame our built environment. It draws on ecology, horticulture, urban planning, civil engineering, and the fine arts, and it asks how human beings can shape the land in ways that are beautiful, functional, ecologically sound, and socially equitable. As cities grow, as the relationship between urban and natural environments becomes more complex, and as the effects of climate change demand greener and more resilient approaches to urban design, the skills of landscape architects are increasingly central to how places are made.

At the University of Gloucestershire, this three-year full-time degree takes a strongly practice-based approach, working on real sites and client-driven briefs in landscape studios throughout the programme. You will investigate real design challenges, developing your creative and technical abilities in landscape design while building the professional practice skills needed to work in the field. Projects have engaged with sites including urban parks, city squares, and brownfield regeneration schemes in the region, giving you a portfolio of substantive work by graduation.

The programme develops visual communication skills, including drawing, CAD, and digital visualisation, alongside ecological knowledge, technical understanding of site engineering and construction, and an appreciation of the historical and cultural dimensions of landscape.

Graduates of landscape architecture work in landscape architecture practices, local authorities, planning departments, environmental consultancies, infrastructure companies, national parks, and heritage organisations. The professional pathway in landscape architecture leads to chartered membership of the Landscape Institute, which typically requires a further postgraduate qualification after the undergraduate degree. Many graduates continue directly to a postgraduate landscape architecture programme to complete the academic requirements for chartership, while others enter the profession and study part-time.

Roles in urban planning, environmental design, ecological consulting, and community participation in place-making are also open to graduates of this programme.