Architecture and Environmental Design with Foundation
Architecture and environmental design is a discipline that asks how the buildings and spaces we inhabit can better meet the needs of the people who use them and the requirements of a world that must reduce its environmental impact dramatically. Architecture is concerned with the spatial, aesthetic, structural, and cultural dimensions of buildings and places. Environmental design brings sustainability, energy performance, building physics, and the relationship between built form and natural systems to the centre of the design process.
Together they produce graduates who can design buildings that are not only meaningful and beautiful but genuinely responsible.
At the University of Westminster this four-year programme includes a foundation year before the main architecture and environmental design degree, giving you the academic and creative preparation to succeed in a demanding professional course. Westminster's architecture school has a strong tradition of socially and environmentally engaged design, and its London location gives you access to an extraordinary range of built environments, from Victorian terraces to modernist housing estates, from the City to contemporary residential developments, as sites of learning and analysis. A sandwich year and work placement activity are both features of the programme, giving you sustained experience in an architectural practice before you complete the degree.
Architecture graduates typically proceed through further professional stages, including Part 2 and Part 3 qualifications, to reach full RIBA chartership. This programme's environmental design emphasis positions graduates particularly well for the growing demand for sustainable design expertise in the architectural profession and in the construction industry more broadly. Roles in architectural practice, environmental consultancy, building design, urban design, and planning are all accessible.
Postgraduate study at RIBA Part 2 level, in environmental design, or in urban sustainability is the natural route for those aiming at chartered architect status.