MODULES
Foundation Year
CORE MODULES
Techniques for Designing
This module introduces you to a set of tools for designing (materials, methods, attitudes and techniques) involved in design generally in both 2 & 3D. It aims to develop your confidence and ability to use a range of methods and media in exploring, developing and presenting your ideas clearly and effectively, as well as an ability to evaluate and rework your output in response to feedback in terms of its technical, craft and aesthetic qualities. Briefs are introduced so that design ideas are explored both individually and in groups. These aim to introduce a suitable work ethic and the practise of design as an iterative process, and to support experiment and trial and error, through short design orientated projects and exercises that build confidence and competence.
This module works in partnership with the Design Project module (AR3002) in that it prepares you for exploring & practising the potential of selected media, materials, methods and techniques used in the development of your own design work in Design Project module (AR3002).
The module introduces safe and appropriate workshop practice.
Design Project
The module aims to provide you with a broad, varied, stimulating range of projects that introduce you to the skills, processes and practices involved in making design projects. The module intends to facilitate you to develop a critical, disciplined and productive approach to the act of designing and to support independent thinking, making and communicating.
This open ended interpretive and longer individual projects allow for fostering a personal perspective and sense of direction, reinforcing independence and commitment to generating and developing more self-motivated, innovative, enquiry based project work within a principal area of specialisation.
Through completing design projects set in this module, you will develop and evolve your portfolio of work in a distinctive way that is evidence of increasing subject specificity and an ability to make an informed choice of progression pathway.
A&D Design Workshop
This module introduces you to a broad range of Art and Design practical disciplines through a series of short workshop activities. It aims to develop your confidence and ability to use a range of methods and materials by synthesising methods and practice across art and design.
This module supports Design Project module (AR3002) in that it prepares you for exploring selected media, materials, methods and techniques used in the development of their own design work.
The module introduces safe and appropriate workshop practice.
Design Media
This module introduces a variety of contemporary media techniques that are relevant to design and artistic practice in its widest sense.
It aims to support the evolution of the creative habits of recording, collecting, documenting, reading, reworking and evaluating. It seeks to build broad understanding of the relationship between context and creative practice, first in analogue, then in digital formats. The complexity of the media employed and exercises set will increase as the module develops and depending on the ambition and skills of each student.
The projects will be organised in both individual and groups, and that support students in learning to articulate & share ideas, work effectively in teams and at pace, and to be able and organise and deliver projects.
History and Theory
The module introduces you to a basic understanding of History & Theory Studies in the subject of architecture and design, through engaging with selected histories and theories relevant to art, culture, technology and contemporary practice.
The module prepares you for helping you to structure and plan your research work and the communication outputs, for further critical and theoretical work in higher education.
As a result, you will begin to acquire a range of basic skills in observation, research & reviewing methods, critical thinking, writing and communication.
Mental Wealth Professional Life
Developing the key intellectual and practical skills, and the psychological and physical determinants of human performance are increasingly critical for successful graduate-level employment, entrepreneurship and career progression in the 4th industrial revolution.
This module will provide you with the opportunity to identify the skills, competencies and experience required for successful development prior to embarking on your university degree. It also aims to help to inform you about your future direction of study as well as providing useful insights into your potential and abilities. You will begin to recognise the areas for your own personal professional development (including emotional, social, physical, cultural and cognitive intelligences) through taught and workshop activity.
Central to the developmental process will be for each student to cultivate the reflective skills, openness and self-awareness to enable themselves to assess what they are doing, identify areas for improvement, and confidently receive and give constructive feedback. You should also begin to acquire a range of skills in observation, research & reviewing methods, critical thinking, writing and communication.
Year 1
CORE MODULES
Design Investigation 1
The module aims to introduce you to the skills, processes and practices involved in a spatial design project. It engages you in a range of processes by means of which you can understand, think about and engage with the academic and practical design discipline of architectural design.
The module enables you to develop an understanding of space and materials. It familiarises you with methods for fabricating models, prototypes, 2D and 3D drawings, sketches, diagrams, collage, photographs and mixed media representations, and to practice their use in generating and communicating ideas.
The module supports experiment, trial and error through short projects and exercises that build confidence and competence. It introduces you to the role of representation in design and links with art practice as well as an understanding of the materials, processes and techniques that apply specifically to spatial design.
Mental Wealth: Professional Life 1
Developing the key psychological and physical determinants of human performance are increasingly critical for successful graduate-level employment, entrepreneurship and career progression in the 4th industrial revolution.
This module will provide you with the opportunity to develop skills, competencies and experience required for successful development to, and in, a range of potential future career areas.
Herein you will begin to recognise the areas for your own personal professional development (including emotional, social, physical, cultural and cognitive intelligences) through taught and workshop activity.
Central to the developmental process is for each student to cultivate the reflective skills, openness and self-awareness to enable themselves to assess what they are doing, identify areas for improvement, and confidently receive and give constructive feedback. You will additionally develop knowledge of strategies to advance their own physical intelligence through 'life style' and 'self care' approaches to inform their health and wellbeing.
Having acquired understanding of the key developmental areas, you will have opportunity to pitch a small scale design project to a panel of practitioners, and be mentored and supervised by students from higher years. In this position you will learn and begin to apply the cognitive, cultural and social intelligences developed elsewhere in your studies (and from external activities) as required in the workplace, namely cognitive flexibility, emotional resilience, motivation, ethical decision-making, managing your audience, coordinating with others, negotiation, creativity, active listening, attention, problem solving, research, synthesis and analysis.
History and Theory 1
The module aims to orient and critically engage you in the subject of architecture and interior design in your relationship with art and design culture through engaging with selected histories and theories relevant to art, culture, technology and contemporary practice.
Whilst beginning to develop a sound knowledge in their field, you are encouraged to see, read and articulate connections between developments in architecture and contemporary practice.
The module introduces you to the range of academic researching, analysing and essay writing tools you need to produce graduate-level discussions and writing, while encouraging you to articulate and take responsibility for the development of your own learning and to be able to reflect critically on your own work and that of others.
Technical Studies and Representation 1
The module aims to prepare you for the task of visualising and communicating your work at all stages of its development, and setting your work in relation to the final design project Design Investigation, Design Resolution and Design Integration and the technical demands of the design proposal.
In this regard, drawing ability is a necessary skill for observation, recording, analysis, visualisation, evaluation and communication of different technical aspects of the design project.
This module aims to develop your repertoire of practical, technical and computer-aided skills that can keep pace with your growing knowledge of the design process.
Design Resolution 1
The module enables you to produce imaginative, appropriate and competent design proposals in response to a variety of sites, briefs, cultural, social and technological issues. Furthermore it aims to develop a general understanding of the materials, processes and techniques that are applied in the architectural design discipline.
The module aims to develop your confidence and ability to apply a range of communication methods and media to present your design proposals clearly and effectively as well as an ability to evaluate and rework ideas in response to review and feedback.
The module supports your ability to see and reflect on how your design proposals are beginning to develop into fully-fledged architecture design projects, and the kind of work and thinking involved in taking your ideas further. Therefore the module familiarises you with design development processes including the analysis and interpretation of a range of project sites and the development of project specific research. The module demonstrates strategies for producing spatial, material and programmatic ideas that satisfy aesthetic as well as technical requirements and how to present them using a range of appropriate media and methods of communication.
Design Integration 1
This module provides an understanding of the climate and environment as an integral part of the design process. It seeks to help you develop an understanding of the role that environmental design plays in facilitating occupants' satisfaction and comfort in the indoor environment.
The module aims to create an awareness of the issues influencing the environmental and technical considerations of building design.
Year 2
CORE MODULES
Design Investigation 2
The module provides a forum for you to develop a creative, inventive and productive design process in relation to a design project or projects. In particular to raise student awareness and understanding of the occupants and users and their physical, social and psychological needs through the design of both objects and environments at appropriate scales, as well as exploring key characteristics of design projects.
There is a particular focus on investigations of site and context that may involve the gathering of empirical data, making analytical studies and conducting observations of people, place, context and materials that are appropriate to the project.
By setting one design project, the module aims to engage with the practices, protocols and conventions that apply to the design and delivery of projects within the design and construction industry. The module fosters the development of a personal position and working methods as part of the attributes required by a professional architect.
Mental Wealth: Professional Life 2
Developing the key psychological and physical determinants of human performance are increasingly critical for successful graduate-level employment, entrepreneurship and career progression in the 4th industrial revolution.
This module will provide you with the opportunity to apply several of the skills, competencies and experience required for successful development to, and in, a range of potential future career areas.
Herein you will advance the areas identified at level 4 for your own personal professional development (including emotional, social, physical, cultural and cognitive intelligences) through taught and workshop activity.
This module will help you develop: an understanding of job market forces and influences; required skills to enable you to make successful applications for a job in the architecture sector; effective representation in interviews; opportunities to gain work experience in an architectural practice (as a placement) to learn more about how to apply your knowledge and learning in practice.
Through engagement with the Career Passport, you will reflect on the success of the strategies that you have employed to further develop your reflective skills, self-awareness, 'life style' and 'self care' approaches and where necessary improve their approaches.
Students who would not gain work experience at an architectural practice will have opportunity to select an in house microbusiness to join in the role of 'Producer'. In this position they will take on a specific production role, working collaboratively with peers and academic staff on a live project. In doing so they will apply the cognitive, cultural and social intelligences learnt elsewhere in their studies (and external development) required in the workplace.
History and Theory 2
The module aims to orient and critically engage you in the subject of architecture and interiors and also in its relationship with urbanism and urban space through engaging with selected histories and theories and through engagement with relevant art, culture, technology and contemporary practice.
The history and theory element further prepares you as independent and critical thinkers, capable of producing a sustained piece of study in the form of a written essay. The module sets out the resources and methods, and rehearses the thinking, historical, analytical and discursive skills that will be required in relation to architecture and interior design.
Throughout the module you are supported to think creatively and to take more responsibility for the development of your own learning and academic and professional direction whilst examining broader ethical questions resident in the practice of design.
Technical Studies and Representation 2
The module aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills to engage with the technical demands of the main design project in Design Investigation 2, Design Resolution 2 and Design Integration 2, and to represent this appropriately.
This module builds upon and extends the knowledge, skills and understanding gained in Technical Studies and Representation 1 in that it continues to develop the student's repertoire of conceptual, practical, technical and computer-aided skills in order to be able to inform, support and describe their architectural design development.
The module aims to:
- Provide an overview of the principles of architectural structures, material construction and sustainable design.
- Provide you with a range of representational and descriptive skills in order to record, analyse, visualise, develop, evaluate and communicate architectural design and observations.
- Allow you to learn and apply representational skills to a design project across a range of drawing scales and details.
Design Resolution 2
The aim of this module is to rehearse the production of more complex design projects in preparation for the final project undertaken in the final year. It also opens up the range of opportunities available to a student of architectural design looking to work in a discipline which is extremely varied, but where individual practices often specialise. The module therefore allows for a degree of choice in relation to the design unit and therefore the project type and site.
Running in parallel with Design Integration 2, you are equipped with a brief and during the course of the module deliver a resolved design project that will become both spatially and materially coherent across a number of scales.
The module fosters the development of a personal position and working methods as part of the attributes required by a designer. You will also develop the capability of testing and evaluating the potential impact of your design proposals on the users and the broader environment.
You will be expected to offer articulate explanations of your proposals, be able to discuss your design considerations, present your case for specific social and environmental strategies and demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between materials, technology and the execution of their design.
The design process continues to be expansive and exploratory, and emphasises the creative and imaginative thinking involved. Working within vertical design units, you will also be encouraged to cultivate a shared understanding of your project contexts and their briefs enabling you to work collaboratively, share tasks and review each other's work.
Design Integration 2
This module focuses on the application of knowledge of environmental principles into your design projects, using relevant methods of environmental strategies as part of the design process.
The module aims to encourage integration of environmental design from the outset of a project, giving you the ability to reflect on appropriate environmental design strategies and explore these in a creative and rigorous manner.
Year 3
CORE MODULES
Design Investigation 3
The module consolidates skills and knowledge gained at Levels 4 and 5. Together with Design Resolution 3 and Design Integration 3 which requires highly detailed reflection on the integration of cultural, professional, technical and environmental issues within the design project, this set of 3 modules is intended to prepare you for independent practice, entry into the professional workplace, or for higher studies.
Whilst improving your practical skills and refining your ability to use them productively, the focus of this module is on developing a depth of knowledge and understanding about research and project development, appropriate to graduate level. It also aims to help you to offer evidence of self-management in respect of planning, monitoring, recording and evaluation within the portfolio work that is produced.
Mental Wealth: Professional Life 3
The module will enable you to apply and develop a variety of skills based competencies explored at level 5, including: self-awareness and regulation; mindfulness; emotional resilience; motivation; ethical decision-making; active listening; self-discipline and management; attention; reaction and response time; cognitive and muscle memory; managing stress; physical resilience; subject knowledge; cognitive flexibility; managing an audience; co-ordinating with others, negotiation; creativity; leadership and entrepreneurship; service orientation; critical thinking; complex problem solving; research synthesis and analysis.
You will learn, develop and apply the following skills based competencies: a focus on service orientation, self-discipline & management, reaction & response time, cognitive & muscle memory, managing stress, critical thinking, complex problem-solving, research, and synthesis & analysis.
The culture and context of practice, role of the architect / architectural technologist / interior designer and relationships within the construction industry. Topics also cover specialist software for presentation of design proposals.
History and Theory 3
The module aims to critically engage you in the subject of architecture and interiors with the related art and design technologies and human sciences through engaging with selected histories and theories, and by considering these in relation to architecture contemporary practice.
This module provides a platform for ambitious individual work and it calls for graduate levels of achievement in the submission of an essay or dissertation about a subject relating to architecture, interiors, cities or politics. You will receive guidance on critical thinking, the analysis of texts, information retrieval, time management, bibliography, referencing, acknowledgement and the requirements for essay presentation.
Throughout the module you are required to think creatively and to take responsibility for the development of your own learning and academic and professional direction whilst examining broader questions resident in the practice of design.
Integrated Technology
This module establishes your ability to integrate the key areas of your technical design knowledge within the context of the final design project Design Investigation 3, Design Resolution 3 and Design Integration 3.
The module provides an overview of the necessary design skills required to meet building users' requirements within the constraints imposed by cost factors and building regulations.
Design Resolution 3
The module consolidates skills and knowledge gained at Levels 4 and 5. Together with Design Investigation 3 and Design Integration 3 which requires highly detailed reflection on the integration of cultural, professional, technical and environmental issues within the design project, this set of three modules is intended to prepare you for independent practice, entry into the professional workplace, or for higher studies.
Whilst improving your practical skills and refining their ability to use them productively, the focus in this module is on you demonstrating your ability as professionals: your capacity to define and analyse spatial and design problems, generate proposals, integrate knowledge derived from different fields and sources, produce socially relevant inhabitable spaces, design technically competent buildings of aesthetic quality, and to take into account issues relating to human comfort and sustainability.
In this module you are expected to draw on your previous experience as well as the agenda offered by your choice of design unit in order to formulate and communicate a resolved final design project that frames the specific aspects of architectural design that you are interested in.
The module reiterates and supports the requirement to produce high quality design proposals that satisfy aesthetic and technical requirements, and for these to be presented using a range of suitably professional and appropriate media. It also aims to help you offer evidence of self-‐management in respect of planning, monitoring, recording and evaluation within the portfolio that is produced.
Design Integration 3
This module builds on the knowledge gained from the two pre-requisites above. It further explores the role that key environmental variables inform a low energy building design. It helps you to reflect on appropriate environmental design strategies that respond to occupants' needs, design brief, and climate.
This module allows you to explore, identify and evaluate the interrelationships between the various environmental mechanisms and address them in a rigorous manner by developing design strategies that deliver comfortable environments for building users.
