Architecture - BA (Hons)

The curriculum is made up of three components that are referred to as Subject, Field and Constellation:

• Subject grounds students as architects in training.
• Field enables students to explore and collaborate with peers (and tutors) on the other programmes offered at Cardiff School of Art and Design.
• Constellation provides theoretical underpinning that encourages students to position their practice within transdisciplinary contexts.

Both Field and Constellation modules allow architectural students to familiarise themselves with various art-and-design disciplines, and appreciate their relationship with architecture and their influence on the quality of architectural design.

Year 1

Subject - Introduction to Architectural Thinking and Design (40 credits)

You’ll be introduced to essential architectural concepts and skills and to an appreciation of what architectural design is and what it involves.

You’ll build upon the skills and knowledge acquired in the first module and further your design ability through engagement in a project that integrates architectural design, representation and technology, and contextual studies.

Widen your horizons by joining students from other courses to collaborate on a project. You'll take inspiration from other disciplines to build on your experience and expand your creativity – and use your skills and artistic insight to apply them to your work.

This module introduces you to the wider world of ideas, theory and contextual studies to help you develop your academic research skills and critical thinking. You'll focus on particular areas of interest in study groups and you'll become familiar with the exciting trans-disciplinary research and expertise at Cardiff School of Art & Design.

This module aims to advance your design skills by presenting you with an integrated project of greater complexity than those proposed in year 1 and by introducing you to the urban dimension in architecture.

You'll expand your experiences with challenging projects designed to encourage you to explore and experiment outside your immediate discipline. This transformative opportunity leads to new thinking and innovation – and opens up all kinds of future possibilities. You'll take on exciting projects that challenge you in new ways. You can also choose to travel, take a work placement, start your own business or try something new.

You’ll conduct an integrated architectural design project that presents you with new themes and challenges around housing and local communities.

You’ll consolidate the knowledge and skills that you’ve gained at previous levels of study, and further your ability to conduct an integrated architectural design, by getting involved in a project of increased complexity.

Your final term is dedicated to the completion of your Comprehensive Project and an exhibition of your work. This is where you draw together everything you've learnt during the course and is the launch pad to your future career.

Your design practice is underpinned by your knowledge. Demonstrate your research and analysis skills in your final Constellation submission, where you'll explore ideas in both written and practical forms.

Learning, teaching and assessment strategies seek to promote effective learning styles to create an environment of student participation and engagement, to encourage independent and life-long learning capability and to realise the full potential of each student.

The Architecture programme seeks to develop a teaching and learning culture that cultivates the inquisitive and creative mind, whilst recognising the need to respond to the demands of professional architectural practice.

The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, reviews and workshops.

Lectures

Lectures deliver a coherent programme of study and general inspiration. They are supported by visual and textual material. Where appropriate, lectures are structured to involve students in discussion.

Tutorials

Tutorials are meetings of a group of students (or an individual student) with their lecturer(s) and are used to expand upon material covered in lectures through an enquiry-driven, problem-solving approach, and to overcome any deficiencies in a student’s background knowledge.

Seminars

Seminars take three forms: those guided by staff where texts or artefacts are provided for students to present an analysis to their group; those where students select texts/artefacts for discussion within the group; and those where students present their own work or research findings.

Seminars are designed to encourage articulate and analytical presentation and, through group discussions, to develop an understanding of the subject and its context.

Reviews

Reviews are cornerstones of the learning process and are held at each assessment stage (interim or final) of a design assignment or project. Students present their work to the year group and to their tutors for feedback and debate.

Workshops

Workshops help students to develop a wide range of practical and theoretical skills.

E-Learning

The Moodle virtual learning environment (VLE) is extensively used on the course to enhance the student learning experience.

Throughout the duration of your studies, you will be evaluated on three main criteria, which underpin all of the disciplines being taught at CSAD:

SKILLS: The practical, technical and conceptual skills you acquire during your course.

CONTEXT: Your understanding and knowledge of broader intellectual context within which your discipline and work is located. This includes historical, environmental and ethical issues and will often be explored in your 'Theory and Context' modules.

IDEAS: Your understanding of intellectual and creative ideas from within and beyond your discipline; plus your ability to acquire new concepts and form new ideas. Ideas will be explored in your written work, as well as being evident in your practical progress.

Each of these criteria is given equal weighting during the assessment process. That is to say that they are seen as equally important and critical to your development; an emphasis which is designed, for example, to enable a more well-rounded skill set from a student who may be skilled technically, but weak in generating ideas, or a student with much creative flair who may struggle to hone a broad concept into a strong, individual design.

We provide a number of ways for you to track your progress en route to submitting your work for marking. Understanding that the emphases will revolve around the core areas of skills, context and ideas, you will also become familiar with the structured assessment form used by your tutors and learn to relate to your work back to the intended learning outcomes of each brief.

The main types of formative assessment are; academic (feedback from your tutors); peer (from your course-mates or project partners); and self-assessment (which is your own critique, in light of other forms of feedback). You won't just be receiving feedback at the end of a brief, however – your tutors will often assess your progress as your work develops, providing formative feedback at crucial moments where it is hoped to encourage you to take risks, maintain your motivation or shape-up your ideas ahead of deadline.

Graduates from the programme are well-placed to pursue further study and training towards qualifying as architects, or to be employed as architectural assistants or in the wider creative industries.

During the Architecture degree course at Cardiff Met, there will be the opportunities to undertake live briefs and obtain work experience. This will include building contacts and undertaking placements as well as exposure to architectural and building professionals through industry talks and mentoring. You will be offered support in forming your own business should you choose to do so.

Some graduates become teachers by taking a PGCE. Some graduates elect to take their studies further by studying at CSAD for a Master's level qualification and there are opportunities to take this further still, into research with a PhD or a Professional Doctorate in Art or Design.

Typical Offers

• Tariff points: 120-128
  
• Contextual offer: See our contextual offers page.
  
• GCSE: Preferably five GCSEs at Grade C / 4 or above to include English Language / Welsh First Language, Mathematics / Mathematics – Numeracy.
  
• English Language Requirement: Academic IELTS 6.0 overall with at least 5.5 in all elements, or equivalent.
  
• A level: Minimum three A levels. No specific subjects required. Welsh Baccalaureate – Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate considered as a third subject.
  
• BTEC National / Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma: DDM
  
• T Level: No specific subjects required.
  
• Access to Higher Education Diploma: No specific subjects required.
  
• International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma: 26 points. No specific subjects required.
  
• Irish Leaving Certificate: No specific subjects required. Higher level subjects only considered with a minimum grade H4.
  
• Scottish Advanced Highers: No specific subjects required.
  
• Other requirements: Successful interview and portfolio review. Applicants will be required to submit a digital portfolio.
  

Combinations of the above qualifications are accepted if they meet our minimum requirements. If your qualifications aren’t listed, please contact Admissions or refer to the UCAS Course Search.

Further information on Overseas qualifications can be found here.

If you are a mature applicant, have relevant experience or RPL that you would like us to consider, please contact Admissions.

How to Apply

Further information on how to apply can be found here.

For up to date information on tuition fees and the financial support that may be available whilst at university, please refer to www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/fees. 

Undergraduate costs of study in CSAD 

Materials 

CSAD provides a variety of basic materials. These enable students to develop their competence in a range of skills and demonstrate their technical ability. Materials needed in unusual quantities, or those that are specialised, expensive or unusual are at the student’s expense. Advice will be given about how ‘unusual’ is defined, which materials are deemed to be ‘expensive’, and examples given of what is viewed to be ‘unusual’. CSAD students often elect to spend on materials they prefer to work with, including sketchbooks and pens, as well as specialist equipment of their own choosing. 

In the main, no charges are made for the use of equipment, with the exception of some specialist high end equipment such as the Mimaki and 3D printers. Access to Cardiff FabLab is subject to student membership; it offers reduced fees for student use. 

For further information about additional course costs, including fees, equipment requirements and other charges for each undergraduate programme, please visit www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/additionalcosts.

Field trips and visits 

Field trips that are part of core learning will be paid for by the School. Additional visits are occasionally arranged which are optional and where the students may be asked to share the costs. The costs of study abroad, including exchanges, placements and projects are the responsibility of the individual student.

For general enquiries please contact the Admissions Team on 029 2041 6044 or email askadmissions@cardiffmet.ac.uk.

For programme-specific enquiries, please contact BA (Hons) Architecture Admissions Tutor. Fausto Sanna (PhD, MArch, PGCert (HE), FHEA, ARB, RIBA):

Email: fsanna@cardiffmet.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)29 2041 6616