Architecture MArch

The MArch Architecture programme expands the ‘hands-on’ ethos of our highly esteemed BArch Architecture course to achieve integration between industry and research. Students engage with the very latest thinking and technologies in architecture and urban design to become ambitious and innovative towards our global future.

The programme is structured around a student-centred learning approach and ‘research by design’ pedagogy that provides a flexible framework from which you can deliver design experimentation, entrepreneurial thinking and early adoption by taking advantage of the broad ecosystem of actors and resources that our integrated design lab approach affords.

The programme is delivered over two years. The first year of the programme will be a flexible learning year designed to support a personalised learning journey, offering the opportunity to choose from a Practice Pathway or a Research Pathway. The Practice Pathway would be suitable for those currently working in industry in the UK, as well as those who are interested in work-based learning and can secure a UK-based work placement before the start of the programme. The Research Pathway would be suitable for those that are not currently working in industry and have a strong interest in research-led design. The Research Pathway offers the opportunity for a limited work-based learning experience (via the hybrid route). The first year is primarily delivered via block-release weeks at our London campus in the form of design studio sessions and crits, lectures, workshops, seminars, and site visits. Between block weeks, students can attend the programme remotely based on the location of their work placement (Practice Pathway) or be based at the Loughborough campus (Research Pathway).

For both Pathways, the second year will be delivered at Loughborough to take advantage of our studio space and existing support facilities with a large, newly refurbished, dedicated studio space environment, VR and digital fabrication labs and over 3,000m2 of workshops to maximise the capacity that allows you to construct and test designs of full-scale prototypes. The focus will be on a research-led design module that will integrate the dissertation and global future(s) modules as part of a holistic, studio-based approach to architectural design and entrepreneurship.

Design labs focus on specialised areas of design research to establish a unique identity for each lab, allowing you to test speculative lines of enquiry as part of an iterative and reflective design process, resulting in visionary and robust design propositions. Each student has an allocated workspace, which allows cross-fertilisation of ideas for the formation of a lively, tight-knit creative culture.