MA Architectural Design
Cardiff, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 28,200 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas | for home: £11,450
Introduction
This one-year full-time MA in Architectural Design is aimed at students looking for a rich, advanced and engaging post-graduate programme that focuses on the multiple facets and relationships between design and research. Pursuing the MA in Architectural Design will give students the necessary skills to become sophisticated design-research thinkers and practitioners.
It shares many of the design elements of our established MArch (Master of Architecture/ RIBA Part 2 programme, but provides greater flexibility in terms of study choices, allowing you to engage with the interests of our research staff.
The programme focuses on design-led research techniques and methods to inform your learning process and research explorations. You will develop your existing design skills by focussing on how design thinking might address current global challenges. This approach offers an intense and lively forum for the exploration and discussion of design issues. This is why we place particular emphasis on using design as a means to conduct research. Researching through design is a creative activity that closely integrates the process of designing with the act of researching so that they can mutually inform each other. You will explore problems by making and testing design propositions and introducing and developing established knowledge as and when required. Through project work, you will draw on knowledge from many disciplines.
Students will have the option to develop their design thinking in a range of topics related to the School’s diverse topics of research and scholarship.
You will work in small groups called ‘Design Units’ under the guidance of a Unit Leader, who will be an experienced tutor in research and architectural design. You will also work independently to develop a design-research approach to your studies. This will require you to question and evaluate evidence and think creatively, experimentally and iteratively. Emphasis will be on individual discovery and personal reflection as a learning process.
Why Study this Course
A leading School of Architecture
Study in one of the top schools of architecture in the UK.
Internationally Renowned
Learn from internationally renowned and award-winning design-led practitioners and researchers.
Practice-Based
Perfect for students who are aiming for a practice-based, active approach to learning.
Innovative Optional Modules
Choose from a range of optional cutting-edge modules to supplement your learning in areas of interest to you and develop important skills in design-based research.
Featured on the Best Architecture Masters Website
Included on the BAM website alongside other excellent MA in Architectural Design courses worldwide.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
We are committed to investing up to a total of £500,000 in this high-value competitive scholarship scheme to support UK students who are planning to start an eligible Master’s programme in 2024/25.
The Scholarships are each worth £3,000 and will be awarded in the form of a tuition fee discount.
Eligibility
UK students are eligible to apply for the Scholarship. You normally need to have achieved at least a 2.1 or equivalent in your first degree to be eligible. You need to apply to study at Cardiff University and be made an offer to study before your fee status can be confirmed.
Curriculum
This program is available on a one-year full-time basis. You will be based at the Welsh School of Architecture for the duration of the programme. The taught element of this program is structured around a 60-credit design module where you will use techniques of research through design to explore an issue of interest related to one of the Design Units. This will normally run between October and April and will conclude with a design Portfolio submission and a final presentation in front of a panel of reviewers. Your work in the design studio is complimented by a 30-credit module aiming at analysing architectural precedent, and a choice of optional study modules.
You will usually start the dissertation element of the programme in May and complete it over the summer. The dissertation is the culmination of your design research throughout the programme. The dissertation usually comprises a documented design project, accompanied by a 6,000-word critical commentary. Support for developing the necessary skills of research through design will be provided during the taught elements of the programme.
During your year on the programme, you will focus on developing a design-research agenda and defining and establishing your position in architectural design. The topics covered are usually structured around thematic studios, or Design Units led by design tutors who have expertise and interest in specific areas of research and/ or practice. The themes are often related to areas of research expertise within the School and usually in close connection with real stakeholders and real contexts.
You will undertake an analysis of architectural precedent within the studio environment and choose 30 credits worth of optional modules, chosen from a list of subjects based on the research interests of the staff in the school. This list is reviewed on an annual basis. You can choose any combination of 10 and 20-credit modules for your option.
For your dissertation, you will work independently using the skills that have been developed during the taught programme to develop a critical research argument through design. This will involve completing a design thesis project. You will be expected to supplement this with a 5,000-6,000-word critical written commentary.
Core Modules for Year One
- Architectural Design and Research
- Analysis of Precedent
- Design Thesis (Dissertation)
Optional Modules for Year One
- Enclosures in Environmental Building Design
- Low Carbon Buildings
- Climate Comfort and Energy
- The Conservator's Role
- Tools of Interpretation
- Design Tools: Methods of Repair
- Architectural Technology 3A
- Computational Form Finding
How Will I Be Assessed?
Design projects and related exercises are assessed continuously, often through pin-up reviews and where feedback is given. At the end of the year, a portfolio of all design-related work is presented for formal examination by panels of reviewers. Detailed information about the modules is provided under the “Structure” section.
Optional modules are usually assessed through written examinations and coursework submitted during the semester. Please read the module descriptions for your chosen optional modules to find out more about the ways they are assessed.
The criteria by which assessments are made are contained in the School’s Teaching Handbook, in project and coursework documentation, and explained in the introduction to the various modules and design projects.
Program Outcome
What Skills Will I Practise and Develop?
The Learning Outcomes for this programme describe what you will be able to do as a result of your study at Cardiff University. They will help you to understand what is expected of you and academic staff will focus on precisely what they want you to achieve within each Module.
Knowledge & Understanding
On completing the programme, you should be able to:
- Critically understand how knowledge is advanced through design-led research to produce clear, logically argued and original written and design work relating to architectural culture, theory and design
Intellectual Skills
On completing the programme, you should be able to:
- Pursue a personal design-research agenda within the context of the School's research portfolio
Professional Practical Skills
On completing the programme, you should be able to:
- Generate complex design proposals showing understanding of current architectural issues, originality in the application of subject knowledge and, where appropriate, ability to test new hypotheses and speculations
- Evaluate materials, processes and techniques that apply to complex architectural designs and building construction, and integrate these into practicable design proposals.
Transferable/Key Skills
On completing the programme you should be able to:
- Demonstrate problem-solving skills, professional judgment, and ability to take the initiative and make appropriate decisions in complex and unpredictable circumstances
- Identify individual learning needs and understand the personal responsibility required to prepare for work within the architectural profession
- Evaluate and apply a comprehensive range of visual, oral and written media to test, analyse, critically appraise and explain design proposals.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Whilst many of our graduates will choose to undertake a career within architecture or other built environment professions, the MA AD programme also provides a large number of transferable skills which will be of benefit across a wide range of professions. The focus on critical design research thinking and project-based learning is welcomed by employers in that it provides graduates with skills in creative thinking, conceptual organisation, critical reflection and leadership in decision-making within complex environments.
Program delivery
How will I be Taught?
Most of your time in the School will be spent in the design studio. Our key pedagogic approach in the design studio is a combination of a varied range of teaching techniques, such as design-research workshops, Unit design seminars and one-to-one tutorials. These are supported by Course and Unit-based lectures and group assignments.
We offer a range of working spaces, workshops and computer-aided design facilities to support this. The studio is the location for design teaching, model-making tutorials, workshops and debates. It is also used for exhibitions, reviews and “crits” – reviews at which students display their work for critical discussion and assessment by staff, fellow students and visiting critics. Working both formally and informally with your fellow students in the studio provides opportunities for valuable peer review and discussion around your work.
You will be taught both by permanent academic staff and tutors from leading UK practices, providing an exciting mix of design research approaches and experiences. As the leading school of architecture in Wales, we have good links with the Welsh Government, construction industry bodies and professional practice locally, but also we have strong European and international links.
The School encourages effective student-led and independent learning, whether through site analysis, library research or “reflective practice”.
Your studies will also include workshops, lectures and seminars as part of optional modules, and as support for the design module. Teaching also includes the provision of online learning materials, such as briefs, bibliographies, readings and precedents, as appropriate to the module. We aim to make appropriate use of audio-visual support to aid learning and development of subject-specific skills. You will be given access to relevant teaching materials through the University’s virtual learning environment, Learning Central.
The dissertation element of the programme is conducted through the process of design, continuing from your taught design project completed in the first part of the course. We advise that you continue to meet with your design unit tutor every week until June. This is usually followed by a period of reflection and writing (self-directed studies) where you will work independently under the guidance of your Unit tutor and the supervision of the Programme Leader and other members of the academic staff.