Course summary

As a new course we are able to ground your study in ‘future-making’ conditions of climate change, adapting city centres to less retail density, promoting home living and working, addressing the well-being that can follow from designing from the outset for a better quality of ‘lived environment’. From our School provision we can enrich your architectural study with links to fine art, design, materials science (including ceramics) and engineering. The BArch honours degree at Staffordshire University draws upon the distinctive nature of its setting, both culturally and physically, to shape a rich and distinctive curriculum. The goal is to apply architecture and design for a high-quality and dynamic ‘lived environment’. Using live projects to engage with communities of practice in the university, the architectural profession and in wider society, it will act as a catalyst for ideas and solutions to regenerate a diverse and dynamic city. The creative use of materials and the tectonics of building are at the heart of the programme. Moreover, with its unique post-industrial heritage and a culture of craft and making, the city of Stoke-on-Trent can act as an ideal testbed and discussion arena for the architecture programme. In a global society challenged by climate change and a pandemic, the new course responds to the shifting identities of place, work and production and will challenge existing assumptions about the purpose of architecture in society. By studying with us you can:

• Acquire the creative, technical and intellectual breadth of skills for architecture and contextual understanding

• Understand design principles and scale in relation to construction for living, working and creativity

• Appreciate how to develop and co-produce neighbourhood transformation plans

• How to design for high-quality public buildings such as for education, health, and performance spaces

• Bring a dynamism back to high streets and city centres with a wider mix of retail, the creative sector, and residential

• Apply ideas and inspiration gained from architectural study visits in the UK and beyond.