Architecture with Foundation BA Honours

Critical thinking is fundamental to our ability to progress in an increasingly complex and changing world. It is an essential skill across a range of academic and practice-based disciplines.

This module helps you understand the importance and function of critical thinking both at university and beyond. By working in partnership with academic staff and peers, you will explore how critical thinking aligns with disciplinary practices, shapes scholarly knowledge, and addresses inequalities. Through problem-posing education and anti-racist practices, you will engage with real-world problems, fostering the ability to create a more just and sustainable world.

This module introduces you to the key academic, professional, and personal skills essential for success at university. It encourages good practices in writing, presentation, and time management, while also fostering reflection to help you build confidence as you transition to higher education. Open to all students enrolled in courses delivered through Westminster Foundation Pathways, the module provides a creative and supportive environment where you can reflect on and develop their academic and professional journey. You'll work with specialist facilitators who play a crucial role in guiding your academic and professional development.

With a focus on managing academic choices in a higher education setting, the module emphasises the importance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using methodologies that prioritise equality, diversity, and inclusion. Through these lenses, you'll explore topics that prepare you to address real-world challenges as highlighted in the SDGs in a socially conscious, inclusive, and responsible manner.

This studio-based module is the culmination of the Foundation, drawing on the practical and creative skills learned through the year. The focus is a creative enquiry-based project exploring and developing propositional responses to a brief informed by relevant interests from the field of urban, spatial or technical design. Sketchbook study visits to buildings and exhibitions provide contextual ideas and knowledge for the project work. An end-of-year exhibition showcases the range of project work achieved.

This studio and fabrication lab-based module introduces basic practical and creative skills of making, fabrication and architectural drawing. These are taught in the context of a project exploring and developing creative responses to a material or technical challenge. Sketchbook study walks and exhibition visits introduce you to the range of technologies, materials and construction methods in the built environment.

This studio-based module introduces basic architectural drawing and model-making. These are taught in the context of a creative enquiry-based project exploring and developing critical responses to an architectural space. There are sketchbook study visits to a range of building interiors and exhibitions.

This studio-based module introduces basic creative skills of observational drawing, photography, collage and montage. These are taught in the context of a creative enquiry-based project exploring and developing critical responses to urban places and their inhabitation. Sketchbook study walks and exhibition visits will introduce you to the design and cultural life of the city.

This module provides you with a basic vocabulary for studying the history of architecture from pre-history to the present day, and across the globe. Architecture is considered as a material cultural practice responsive to specific historical and geographic circumstances. The module introduces you to basic study skills for the analysis of architecture that are core to this and subsequent Cultural Context modules.

This studio-based module builds on learning from DES1A: Introduction to Design and Skills, developing workshop fabrication skills, architectural representation skills, and architectural design practice. Students respond to a studio project scenario, develop a project brief, design an architectural proposal resolved to Concept Design Stage, and investigate materials choices through technical analysis of precedents and workshop fabrication. Students curate and prepare the summer exhibition.

This studio-based module introduces architectural skills, critical thinking and experimental design processes via a series of creative exercises and design projects. Skills are taught in the context of creative practice, and include digital skills, hand-drawing, model making, photography and basic fabrication lab induction. Walks and building visits introduce you to the analysis of existing buildings.

The module introduces you to the architectural profession, the role of the architect and the construction industry. You'll be introduced to professional bodies, codes of conduct, ethics and professionalism. You will also learn about the project team, legal aspects and project delivery lifecycle. Teaching activities include lectures, workshops, visits to buildings, and introductions to industry practitioners. You'll reflect on architecture as a career and learn about the diverse roles and opportunities available to an architect.

This module offers an introduction to architectural technology including basic structural and environmental principles, materials technology, and sustainability.

This module introduces contemporary issues in architecture and urbanism as well as developing your essay-writing and research skills through a series of workshops, seminars and lectures. The module offers a bridge between CC1: A History or Architecture and CC3: Dissertation, helping you to develop critical skills and undertake independent research in preparation for your third-year dissertation. The cross-disciplinary content draws from interior architecture, planning, environmental design, cultural studies and heritage. You'll consider practice and theory from different global, political and cultural perspectives, learning how to make expansive readings of the built environment. The module is designed to support you in identifying a topic to research for CC3: Dissertation.

You will respond to a studio project scenario, develop a project brief informed by your critical and experimental responses to subject and site, and design an architectural proposition. Teaching and learning is undertaken within studio groups. Developed in conjunction with TS2 where the key issues of environmentally sustainable design are introduced and explored through applying and testing a range of environmental design strategies and tools.

You will respond to a studio project scenario, develop a project brief informed by your critical responses to subject and site, and design an architectural proposal resolved to Developed Design Stage. Teaching and learning is undertaken within studio groups. Developed in conjunction with TS2 where the key issues of environmentally sustainable design are introduced and explored through applying and testing a range of environmental design strategies and tools as well as investigating the building envelope through a Detailed Design Study. You will curate and prepare the summer exhibition.

To study, measure and map (using a range of analytical tools) the key environmental and climatic factors on your site, such as sunlight, daylight, temperature, humidity, precipitation, sound and air quality. Develop an understanding of the relationship between the design and construction of the building envelope and these environmental/climatic factors. Integrate a basic knowledge of building materials, construction processes, and structural strategies, and demonstrate an awareness of ecologically sustainable design principles. Introduce you to the concept of ‘Human Comfort’ in relation to design, architecture, health, and wellbeing. The module aligns with the UN SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs), particularly SDGs 11, 12, and 13, by encouraging you to explore how architecture can support sustainable cities, responsible resource use, and climate resilience.

This modules introduces you to a range of different construction processes and building technologies through specific case studies and the direct observation of current practice. You will develop a creative approach to the technologies of architecture; critically appraise examples of current design, fabrication and construction practice; are introduced to the construction site, the different roles and responsibilities of the Design Team and the regulatory framework.

This module gives you the opportunity to identify and explore the concepts and strategic design ideas that will underpin your Major Design Project and accompanying Design Statement in Design 3B. Teaching and learning take place within studio groups, with the academic focus contextualised around a year-wide common scenario, question, or social/cultural issue. Through a process of collaborative and self-directed research, analysis, experimentation and speculation in 2 and 3 dimensions at a variety of scales using analogue and digital methods, you'll explore and represent the critical factors that inform transformative strategic architectural design. These will include social, cultural and environmental contexts, client and building user needs and ambitions, site and neighbourhood and global and local concerns. Your investigations will manifest in a spatial intervention/masterplan, the scale, content and level of detail of which will be determined by your individual design studios in relation to the development of Design 3B. All work will be assessed as a final portfolio.

The module is designed to support you in methodically researching and writing-up a topic of interest to yourself that has been formulated in ongoing dialogue with the module tutor(s) and that demonstrates a current understanding of some specialist area in depth. It aims to produce thoughtful, imaginative and argumentative texts relating to architectural culture, theory and design and that consciously use pictorial material as well as written words to present ideas and to structure an argument.

This module provides you with the opportunity to develop the speculative experimentation, strategies, and concept design work from Design 3A into a relatively complex, integrated, and fully synthesised detailed design proposition. Teaching and learning take place within studio groups, with the academic focus contextualised around the exploratory work you completed in Design 3A. This module is closely integrated with Technical Study TS3.

You'll be encouraged to work in two and three dimensions, using a variety of media and scales. Your project work will be assessed through a final portfolio, an illustrated written Design Statement, and oral and visual presentations at interim and final crits, as well as at the end of the module. You'll also be supported in curating and preparing the summer exhibition.

This module prepares you for professional practice by guiding you to produce a CV and covering letter, undertake relevant work experience or exercises, and participate in a Co-Production workshop. You'll reflect on and report your experiences throughout the module. You'll also be introduced to office procedures, management of projects, and the role of the architect.

This module aims to enable you to fully explore, illustrate and analyse the key structural, material, environmental and sustainable aspects of your major design project. A first semester lecture series will inform the basis of self-directed research into an area of environmental and technical design, forming the Technical Exploration Sourcebook. The Sourcebook will include a reflective log on 2-3 of the lectures, and is designed to be ‘fed-forward’ to usefully inform the Technical Design Study.