Prepare for your course
Congratulations and a very warm welcome to the Department of Architecture and Built Environment. We are looking forward to meeting you soon. As a new member of this vibrant community, you will be taught and supported by leading academics and industry professionals who are committed to inspirational teaching. We hope you have an excellent experience during your degree. If you are unsure about anything in these early weeks do not be afraid to ask questions or seek help from staff.
IT equipment
You will need access to a computer to participate in lessons and complete online learning. Whether you already have a device, or are considering purchasing new IT equipment for your university studies, please check our Equipment Advice page. Please note that for the MacBooks and similar devices are not recommended as running some of our specialist software can be problematical with the Apple operating systems.
You do not need to purchase any software; Microsoft Office is available to download free of charge to all students for the duration of their studies and specialist software is available in our on-campus computer rooms and through a remote desktop connection.
There are computer rooms available on campus and a laptop loan service but both are offered on a first come first served basis. All students (home, EU, and international) who might struggle with financing IT equipment can apply for support via the Hardship Fund.
Architectural Environment Engineering and postgraduate masters programmes
The following information is for students on these courses:
- K240 BEng Architectural Environment Engineering
- K24B BEng Architectural Environment Engineering with Industrial Placement Year
- K241 MEng Architectural Environment Engineering
- K24A MEng Architectural Environment Engineering with Industrial Placement Year
- all postgraduate masters programmes in Architecture and Built Environment
There are no special requirements, nor is there any need to prepare anything. Just bring yourself and be ready to find out more about your university journey over the next year.
Please try not to miss our Welcome Week as it will be full of activities designed to help you settle, familiar with our environment, processes and systems, and to cover any queries you may have. You will also meet your programme director and teaching teams.
In the introductory meeting we will be letting you know about some of the activities we have planned over the first couple of weeks, so please make sure you look up the meeting location in the Welcome timetable beforehand as we wouldn't want you to miss anything!
MArch Collaborative Practice (ARB/RIBA Part 2) and Level 7 Apprenticeship
The following information is for students on these courses:
- MArch Collaborative Practice (ARB/RIBA Part 2)
- Level 7 Apprenticeship
MArch Architecture with Collaborative Practice Research and L7 Architect Apprenticeship programmes will undertake initial teaching during Welcome Week starting on Monday 25 September. A separate detailed teaching schedule will be sent to all students.
The Immeasurable, the Measurable, the Unmeasured Project
The following information is for students on these courses:
- K100 BArch Architecture
- K230 MEng Architecture and Environmental Design
- K10I and K10X MArch Architecture (ARB/RIBA Part 2)
As part of your induction, your first project will be the 'Immeasurable, the Measurable, the Unmeasured' project which takes place on Thursday 28 and Friday 29 September. We will provide you with further information about this project at the beginning of week 1.
BArch Architecture and MEng Architecture and Environmental Design
The following information is for students on these courses:
- K100 BArch Architecture
- K230 MEng Architecture and Environmental Design
For your first studio day, on Monday 2 October, you will need to bring the following:
1. A visual personal statement
You are required to create six panels, drawings/ images on thin white card, each panel measuring 140x140mm. The requirements for each panel are as follows, you can create the images using whichever media or technique(s) you wish (such as sketching, collage, painting, pen work). You are encouraged to demonstrate a range of skills and techniques, including photography, but only one panel can be a photograph image.
- PANELS 1 & 2 - convey aspects of your personal statement (which you wrote as part of the university application process) and your life as a whole. The questions underpinning these panels are "what ideas, thoughts and events have led to you being on this course?" and "why have you chosen to study architecture?"
- PANEL 3 & 4 - convey aspects of "where are you from?". You can interpret this question in whichever way you wish, you might choose to focus on where you live, where you were born, on aspects of your family, your identity, your culture, rather than the physical place.
- PANEL 5 - "what is beauty?". This is very big question. In your panels convey something about how you understand beauty.
- PANEL 6 - "how does architecture or spatial design facilitate social interaction and/or human well-being?". Architectural design focusses on creating places and spaces in which people live their lives and thrive, capture something about how you understand this.
At the bottom of each panel, include a simple title plus a short paragraph of between 50 and 100 words to explain what the image is trying to convey. Keep the text size, or written letter size small. Please label the back of each panel with your name and order of the panels (panel 1 etc).
Once you have created all six panels, create a digital copy of each panel. The aim is for you to present these panels to your tutors and fellow students in person on the first day of studio.
This exercise is not a test. Do not worry too much about decisions you make regarding the content of each panel.
2. Examples of art and/or technical drawing
You will also need to bring two pieces of work that demonstrate your current level of ability in art, graphics or technical drawing. You do not need to create any new work for this but simply bring work that you have already completed. We would like to see these pieces of work to help your tutors ascertain your current skill level.
What you will need to support your studies