BEng (Hons) Architectural Design Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year

This course is designed for students who are passionate about architecture and ambitious to understand how things work. It offers a distinctive route into architectural education, combining creative design with a rigorous technical foundation. The Integrated Foundation Year will build your confidence, skills and knowledge in order to prepare yourself for Year 1 where you will learn to design bold, high‑performance structures that respond to the challenges of contemporary urban life.

Unlike traditional engineering degrees, this BEng is design‑led. And unlike purely architectural courses, it is technically oriented. At Ravensbourne, you’ll explore both spatial and structural design, preparing you to shape the future of the built environment.

What will you gain?

• A solid foundation in architectural design, with studio and practice-based learning at its core.
• Applied understanding of structures, materials, and environmental systems.
• The ability to engage with complex briefs: transport hubs, sport venues, infrastructure buildings.
• Skills in digital modelling, performance analysis, and technical communication.
• Preparation for progression to multiple careers in the built environment (including readiness to qualify as an architect through further study).
• Unique exposure to a collaborative and interdisciplinary teamwork through shared modules with architecture and built environment courses.

• This course offers students a holistic learning experience beyond architecture or engineering in isolation, bridging creativity and technical proficiency in a single, immersive pathway.
• Integrates design, structures, and building performance, creating a curriculum where technical and creative modules converge in studio-led and practice-based projects backed by industry and community live briefs to adapt to the needs of evolving cities such as London.
• Combining physical and digital frameworks of delivery, where model-making and digital/virtual tools such as Revit (BIM) or IES (thermal modelling) enhance students’ readiness for industry.
• Learning in a unique collaborative cluster where they attend lectures and seminars and problem-solve around the design of public spaces in cities, new buildings, the reuse and retrofit of existing ones, and the infrastructures that make the city possible.

Professional accreditation: Validated by the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM), CIBSE, and the Royal Institute of British Architects, graduates will leave with qualifications recognised by both engineering and architectural professional bodies and will be able to continue in our Master of Architecture provision to gain the qualification of Architects.

Design-led / practice-based, not engineering-first: Studios focus on infrastructure briefs, but engineering principles are taught in tandem.

Progression to Part 2 Architecture: Students keep the architectural path open while gaining engineering credibility, potentially easing the route to professional registration.

Interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary learning: Shared modules with Architecture, Interiors, and Urban Landscape, and opportunities to engage with other subject areas that traditional engineering courses have not included.

Focused on built environment impact: Projects engage with London’s infrastructure landscape, tackling transport, public spaces, sports, and cultural venues within studio, civic, and live-testing pedagogy.

Throughout the course you will explore the following:

• Architectural Design Foundations 

• Structures, Materials, and Environmental Systems 

• Complex Briefs and Large-Scale Projects 

• Digital Modelling and Performance Analysis 

• Technical Communication and Professional Readiness 

This course puts Ravensbourne's ethos of industry collaboration at its core and has these learning and teaching methods built into all years of study.  

• Industry-Connected, Project-Centred Learning: Learning will be deeply embedded in real-world projects and industry collaboration, with strong input from industry advisory groups and other Ravensbourne initiatives.

• The course will adapt and adopt where possible Ravensbourne's Common Academic Framework, supporting interdisciplinary learning, coherence across modules, and a transformative, creative, and inclusive student experience. Signature pedagogies include:
  • Creative learning
  • Project-centred learning
  • Embodied learning
  • Authentic (real-world) learning
  • Collaborative learning
  • Dialogical learning
  • Regenerative learning
  • Inclusive learning
  • Digital learning
  • Purpose-driven learning
     
• Digital and Technological Innovation: Emphasis on emerging technologies, with access to spaces like collaboration labs and the Centre of Excellence in Emerging Technologies. Integration of tools like AI, VR, and AR, with a focus on digital competency and flexible, tech-led delivery methods.
• Inclusive and Embodied Practice: Teaching will reflect inclusive pedagogy and represent the diversity of learners, aiming for students to feel a sense of belonging and mattering. Support for mental health, neurodiversity, and cultural competence will be embedded in teaching and curriculum design.
• Collaborative and Co-Designed Learning: The student voice will actively shape learning through COGEN groups, mentoring, tutorials, and forums.

Students will be encouraged to design collaborative projects with cross-disciplinary and transdisciplinary potential.

Sustainability and Purpose-Driven Education: The course will support students in becoming global citizens prepared to address climate and social justice challenges. Opportunities to engage in initiatives aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other climate action initiatives.