BA (Hons) Architecture

• Architectural design, process and communication
• New construction techniques, structures and material choices
• Architectural and social history, theory and context
• Digital craft, fabrication and design methodologies
• Business, enterprise and regulatory frameworks
• Problem solving and critical thinking through iteration, testing and experimentation
• Climate knowledge and fundamentals for human-centred spaces 

The Integrated Foundation Year is a chance to ask big questions, explore remarkable architectural projects, and develop the skills you need to thrive on one of our spatial design courses. You’ll be part of a dynamic cluster, learning and collaborating with peers across our built environment courses in a creative studio environment. 

Modules include: 

• Design, Media and Representation I
• Introduction to Professional Context: Spatial Practices
• Exploring: Culture and Context
• Design, Media and Representation II
• Introduction to Professional Context: Cross-Disciplinary Practices
• Influencing: Culture and Context 

Please note: Students starting this course with the Integrated Foundation Year in September 2026/27 will study the 2027/28 approved modules in Years 1, 2 and 3.

Year 1

Your first year introduces the fundamentals of architectural representation through drawing and making. It’s hands-on, studio-centred, and focused on learning to collect, create and collaborate. Design is underpinned by histories, theories, technology and professional skills. 

Modules include: 

• Specialist Study 1: Structure
• Specialist Study 1: Introduction to Construction
• Specialist Study 3: Introduction to Environment and Services
• Architectural Theory and History
• Introduction to Professional and Business Practice

Year 2

Second year shifts focus to urban contexts and the spaces between buildings. You’ll explore how cities are shaped by history and theory, investigate branded environments and community participation, and integrate sustainable strategies into your design work. 

Modules include: 

• Urbanism: History and Theory of the City
• Urban Intervention
• Branded Environments: the new commercial paradigm
• Sustainable Design: Refurbishment & Re-use 

Year 3 

Your final year is where your personal and professional voice comes into its own. You’ll take on an industry-led brief, run as an architectural competition, and pursue independent research through crafted artefacts and critical studies. Professional and entrepreneurial skills are woven throughout, preparing you to practice with ethical awareness and social purpose. The year culminates in a professional portfolio, ready for your transition into the built environment. 

Modules include: 

• Negotiated Brief
• Major Project
• Preparing for Professional Practice
• Dissertation

Year 1

Your first year grounds you in the fundamentals of architectural representation - through drawing, making, and working with your hands. Studio life is at the centre of everything, as you learn to collect ideas, create with intention, and collaborate with others. Underpinning it all: history, theory, technology, and the professional skills that shape a life in architecture.

Modules may include:

• Rave Beginnings
• Design Studio I: Thinking and Making Structures
• Professional Practice: Role, Identity and Responsibility
• Research Studio I: Place, Memory and Making
• Design Studio II: Form and Structure

Year 2

The second year extends the programme into urban contexts, with a focus on the spaces between buildings. Students explore how historical and theoretical forces shape cities, engage with branded environments and community participation, and develop sustainable approaches within their design practice.

Modules may include:

• Research Studio II: Mapping the City
• Design Studio III: Urban Intervention
• Critical Reconstruction
• Design Studio IV: Urban Proposition
• Professional Practice: Live Practice

Year 3 

Your final year is where your personal and professional voice fully emerges. You'll undertake an industry-led competition brief, pursue independent research, and build professional and entrepreneurial skills - culminating in a portfolio that prepares you for practice.

Modules may include:

• Integrated Collaborative Practice
• Research Studio III: Research by Practice
• Final Major Project I: Project Proposition
• Professional Practice: Situating your Practice
• Final Major Project II: Project Delivery

All modules are subject to revalidation.

A variety of learning and teaching methods are employed in this course. 

These include but are not limited to;

Briefings, lectures, project work, seminars, workshops, collaborative work, online activity, individual tutorials, group presentations, critiques, external visits, technical support and self-directed independent study.

The course is assessed entirely by coursework.

Study hours

• 864 hours of face-to-face taught
• 2736 hours independent study learning

Course equipment and materials: £685–£1,100 | Books and study resources: £150–£300 | Visits and studio trips: £100–£210

Note on laptop costs: Students are strongly recommended to have a personal laptop suitable for design software. If a new purchase is needed, budget approximately £600–£1,200 as a one-off cost, ideally timed for the start of Year 1. Studio computers are available on campus for students who do not yet have their own device.

Our campus 

You'll study in a building designed to encourage collaboration between the different disciplines and practices within Ravensbourne, and to stimulate the work of innovative professionals and creative collaboration.

It features a variety of workspaces, including social and quiet areas, high-tech creative suites, technology hubs, design studios and more. 

Want to see where you'd be studying up close? When you book a guided building tour, you can see our fantastic facilities for yourself and find out more from one of our helpful student ambassadors.

Our local area

Ravensbourne is ideally connected - North Greenwich station is just a 2-minute walk away from our campus and offers amazing views from the Greenwich Peninsula.

These transport links offer an easy route to some of London's major business hubs, perfect for reaching possible placements or networking events with employers in the worlds of business or technology.  

At Ravensbourne we accept a wide range of qualifications for entry onto our courses, whilst also considering the context in which they were achieved. For this course, we would usually require a GCSE Grade 4 or above in English in addition to any of the below;

• Three A Levels at grade BBC or above
• BTEC Extended Diploma at grade DMM
• UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma
• T Level (pass or above)
• Access to Higher Education Diploma
• International Baccalaureate at grade 24 or above
• Other/Mixed qualifications equivalent to 112 UCAS Tariff points 

At Ravensbourne we take a flexible approach to admissions, as we want you to know exactly what you need to achieve in your exams to guarantee a place on the course. We still think exams are important and look forward to hearing about your successes, but we place just as much importance on the work you will share with us as part of our portfolio process.

Interview and portfolio requirements

We are looking for creative candidates, interested and wishing to pursue a career in architecture, urban landscape, interior architecture and different interactions around space and the built form. Our set of courses work together and will allow you to discover what pathway suits you best.

This is the beginning of your journey. Our priority is understanding if these are the right courses for you to develop your own professional voice. Show us why you want to join our creative and exciting community.

The portfolio should provide evidence of your creative interests, whether it be in the form of drawings, sketches, graphic design, photography, video, film, animation, fashion, products, paintings, sculpture, models or assemblage, which shows your creative impulses and responses. It is a demonstration of the diversity of the applicant's creative interests.

This page offers great tips for completing your portfolio/showreel.

Please note: direct entry into year three is not available for this course.

At Ravensbourne we accept a wide range of qualifications for entry onto our courses, whilst also considering the context in which they were achieved. For this course, we would usually require a GCSE Grade 4 or above in English in addition to any of the below;

• Two A Levels at grade CC or above
• BTEC Extended Diploma at grade MPP
• UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma
• T Level (pass or above)
• Access to Higher Education Diploma
• International Baccalaureate at grade 24 or above
• Other/Mixed qualifications equivalent to 64 UCAS Tariff points

At Ravensbourne we take a flexible approach to admissions, as we want you to know exactly what you need to achieve in your exams to guarantee a place on the course. 

Interview and portfolio requirements

There are no interview or portfolio requirements for this course.