Which Architecture and Design course is right for you?
Choosing the right course can be a difficult decision. To make sure you start off on the right path, we’re taking a look at the different courses available at Birmingham School of Architecture and Design, to show you how diverse and exciting this area of study is.

Architecture
Key modules
- History of Modern Architecture
- Design Resolution
- Praxis
If you’re considering a career in architecture, studying here will equip you with everything you need to participate in shaping the future of architectural design. As well as being vocational preparation for practising architecture, this course introduces you to the wider societal influences. With the diverse architecture of Birmingham as your initial inspiration, you’ll focus on the urban environment and look at neighbourhoods, cities, and regional global networks.
Design for Future Living
Key modules
- How We Live(d)
- Technology Transfer
- Housing and Community
Developed in collaboration with TV architect George Clarke’s Ministry of Building, Innovation and Education (MOBIE), our Design for Future Living course develops innovative design thinking, questioning preconceptions about how society lives now and into the future. Exploring new design methods, advanced technologies and entrepreneurial skills, you’ll critique, challenge and disrupt traditional thinking around the idea of ‘home’ and develop radical alternatives.
Interior Architecture and Design
Key modules
- Re-ordering Space
- Twentieth Century Design Cultures
- Design Communication
Our Interior Architecture and Design degree is intended to encourage thinking and experimentation around reshaping and designing the interior of existing building elements. You’ll consider forms and shapes before completing the design circle with appropriate lighting, material and furniture application. Your critical response to social, political and environmental concerns will be translated into innovative design solutions.
Landscape Architecture / Landscape Architecture with Urban Design
Key modules
- Components
- Inspiration
- Urban Design
As a combination of art, function and natural systems, landscape architects design the world outside. From urban squares, streets and parks, to natural forests, rail and roadways, they integrate solutions to combat global issues like climate change and ecological decline. Accredited by the Landscape Institute (LI), this course gives you the opportunity to work in a design studio culture, which mimics real-world creative practice for landscape architects.
On our Urban Design pathway you’ll explore the unlimited design options that our urban landscapes present through guided exploration of personal design and research processes.
Product and Furniture Design
Key modules
- Design Principles and Processes
- Design Visualisation
- Materials and the Made Object
Our Product and Furniture Design course focuses on the design and development of creative, contemporary and innovative products and furniture, considering user centred design, social context and commercial understanding. You’ll be encouraged to explore materials, techniques and processes in relation to scales of manufacture, from one-off bespoke design to design for standardised mass production.
Foundation Year
Key modules
- Design Disciplines
- Communications Skills
- Place and Space and Objects
Our foundation year is about ideas, concepts and creativity, integrating various disciplines. This additional year has been designed to give you the skills needed to develop your personal style. You’ll work with students on different courses from the School, giving you the opportunity to experience a dynamic learning environment that embraces our ethos of exploring design through the scales.
After successful completion of your foundation year, you will have the flexibility to switch onto a number of related undergraduate degree programmes within the School of Architecture and Design.
Architecture and Design Courses
Find out more about our courses