Architecture - BA (Hons) at Cardiff Metropolitan University

Course Overview

Architecture shapes the world around us. It reflects our societies and communities, and influences the way we think and feel. Architecture dominates our skyline, transforms our cities, changes the way we live and work and becomes part of our narrative. Learn how to design buildings and make spaces for people in a creative and environmentally responsible way.

The Architecture course at Cardiff Met is informed by the tradition and heritage of a school of art and design, and by the contemporary creative use of cutting-edge technology, exploring the relationship of human experiences with architecture.

The programme aims to establish a creative dialogue between different areas of architectural knowledge: design, representation, technology, contextual studies and professional practice. You will develop your understanding of these thematic areas and their integration through engagement in projects of increasing difficulty.

This will allow you to formulate architectural proposals that are spatially and technically resolved, with a robust theoretical basis. You will also learn how to effectively communicate your proposals within a professional context through a range of media.

Finally, the programme places special emphasis on the architect’s responsibility in tackling contemporary problems of environmental concern, at the global and local scales (such as the climate emergency). You will be actively encouraged to develop critical perspectives on how knowledge and creativity can be used together to arrive at design solutions that have the potential to render buildings, neighbourhoods or cities more sustainable in the short and long term.

​Course Content​

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.

Employability & Careers​

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 course, 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.