Architecture BA (Hons)
Push the boundaries of how we think about people, culture and the environment to create innovative and responsible design.
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Course Duration
3 or 4 Year options
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Course Options
Intergrated Foundation Year
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Typical Offer
104-120 UCAS Tariff Points
- How to Apply Request a prospectus
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Annual Fees
- Home (full-time) £9,790
- Overseas (full-time) £18,860
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UCAS code
- K100 (3 Year), K101 (4 Year)
- Institution code: N39
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Course Start
September 2026
BA (Hons) Architecture is your first step towards a successful career as a registered architect or in a related profession. The programme is organised in four streams: design studio, technology and environment, cultural context and professional studies, to equip you with the real-world skills and critical understanding to develop new forms of architectural practice.
Accreditations
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RIBA validation
BA (Hons) Architecture has Part 1 RIBA candidate course status
Why Study with us
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You’ll share studio and workshop spaces with our Interior Design
course ensuring students benefit from a lively and vibrant studio culture that mirrors the workplace. -
Become part of the next generation of architects and creatives; help shape the physical environment by creating meaningful and inspiring structures, which enhance the experience and improve the quality of life of their users.
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Obtain a keen sense of space, explore architecture as a catalyst of spatial transformation and develop the sensibility to understand how people interact with their surroundings.
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Discover how tangible and intangible aspects of architecture are visually and verbally studied, modelled, communicated, appreciated and critically appraised.
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Develop the ability to think critically and find creative solutions in various fields including and beyond architecture. Learn through the interdisciplinary collaborations and the cultural and creative challenges provided by a specialist creative arts university.
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Create concepts of exciting spaces and buildings of different scales; contribute to the creation of structures that integrate structural, environmental and material considerations and promote well-being, social interaction and sustainability.
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Address global challenges and environmental emergency, exploring how they affect regional issues such as coastal architecture, modern vernacular design, new sustainable materials, and conservation and rehabilitation projects.
Course Details
Integrated Foundation Year (optional)
Integrated Foundation Year
Our Integrated Foundation Year is designed to equip students with the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to thrive in their chosen degree subject. The course provides a comprehensive introduction to various disciplines, blending critical thinking and creative problem-solving with practical hands-on experience. This year serves as a bridge to undergraduate studies, allowing students to explore their interests within a supportive and inspiring environment, while familiarising themselves with the campus, workshops, and tutors.
Year 1
Core Units
Creative Learning — Body, Surface, Spaces (40 credits)
This unit forms part of a shared first-year curriculum for Architecture and Interior Design students, establishing a broad and integrated foundation in spatial and design thinking. It aims to introduce you to the fundamentals of architectural and spatial practice as you begin your studies, supporting the development of core skills and ways of thinking common to both disciplines. Through a series of carefully structured projects and exercises, you will explore key concepts such as scale, material, site, and context, and how these influence and inform the design of the built environment.
You will learn to observe, understand, and make architecture using a variety of media—including drawing, writing, and model-making—while engaging with cultural, sustainable, and ethical ideas that shape contemporary design. This process will help you to develop a critical and creative approach to spatial design, as well as confidence in your ability to represent and communicate ideas effectively.
40 credits
Explore and Experiment — Body, Surface, Spaces (80 credits)
This unit continues your exploration of creative spatial design, emphasising the interrelationship between body, surface, and space. Through a series of carefully structured design projects, you will engage in spatial experimentation using both drawing and making as investigative tools. You will examine how space and place are formed and experienced, supported by the integration of technical and environmental design strategies. Emphasis will be placed on sustainable and responsible approaches to making—considering climate, comfort, light, material use, and carbon impact.
The unit also supports the development of key professional competencies, including planning and organisation, visual, written, and spoken communication, and effective teamwork. These skills will be developed within the shared context of Architecture and Interior Design, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and a broader understanding of spatial practice.
80 credits
Core Projects
Wayfinding Week
The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.
Make it Manifest(o)
An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.
Interchange Week
Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.
Year 2
Core Units
Societies: Thresholds and Intersections (40 credits)
In this unit, you will explore architectural design at the scale of society, investigating how built environments mediate between individuals and communities in contemporary urban life. You will consider spaces shaped by politics, culture, identity, economy, and climate, and test design strategies that address rural and urban contrasts, sustainability, and social engagement. Through design briefs you will refine architectural propositions that integrate technical concerns such as climatic resilience and material performance, while experimenting with drawing, modelling, and digital media to represent and communicate ideas. The overall aim of the unit is to research, reveal and represent the societal meeting points and gateways where identities, ideologies, networks, and spatial practices meet, collide, and negotiate.
This unit encourages you to situate your work within wider debates about architecture’s role in shaping collective life. You will be supported to link conceptual thinking with practical experimentation, strengthening your ability to test ideas critically and communicate them clearly to different audiences.
40 credits
Societies: Collectives and Aggregations (80 credits)
In this unit, you will expand your exploration of societal space by developing larger architectural propositions that focus on collective inhabitation and the relationships between people, places, climates, and histories. Working across multiple scales, you will research and test ideas that address rural and urban conditions, cultural and political contexts, and global and inclusive approaches to design. Through drawing, modelling, digital media, and collaborative research, you will investigate how architecture can generate responsive and resilient aggregates that support communities and creative collectives. These projects will be grounded in real-world contexts, supporting a mode of practice that embraces exchange and advocates for architecture that is restorative, socially and climatically responsive, and resilient rather than prescriptive.
You will be challenged to consider how different systems of regulation, culture, and identity shape spatial outcomes, and to reflect on the ethical implications of your design choices. Collaboration and co-research will form a vital part of your process, strengthening skills in teamwork and negotiation.
80 credits
Core Projects
Wayfinding Week
The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.
Make it Manifest(o)
An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.
Interchange Week
Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.
Year 3
Core Units
Architectural Ecologies I (40 credits)
In this unit, you will shift focus from social space to socio-ecological systems, exploring how architecture engages with climates, species, materials, energies, and habitats across scales from the microscopic to the planetary. You will investigate contexts of environmental strain and climate vulnerability, considering architecture’s role in ecological justice, care, repair, and resistance. Through site investigations, theoretical readings, and iterative design work, you will test non-anthropocentric frameworks that examine co-existences between humans, animals, and nonhuman agents. Your research will integrate tectonic systems, material reuse, and environmental analysis alongside narrative development and structural detailing, encouraging sustainable and resilient approaches to design.
The unit supports you in forming a clear research agenda that connects critical theory with experimental practice. You will develop the ability to position your work in relation to ecological debates, preparing you for the integrated design project in Architectural Ecologies II.
40 credits
Architectural Ecologies II (Final Integrated Project) (80 credits)
In this unit, you will build on the research and critical positioning developed in Architectural Ecologies I to translate socio-ecological investigations into an integrated architectural project. You will develop narrative, environmental and technological integration, theoretical study, and professional ethics to develop a design proposition that addresses social and environmental challenges. Working iteratively, you will refine proposals through tectonic articulation, structural integration, and environmental sensitivity, developing spatial programmes that respond to site conditions and wider global networks. Professional Studies is embedded throughout, focusing on ethics, compliance, and employability, supporting reflection on the responsibilities of architects working in a time of systemic inequality and climate vulnerability. The aim of this unit is for you to frame your integrated design project where architecture is understood as a mediator of ecological relations — bridging material and social scales across time and space.
This unit represents the culmination of your undergraduate study, requiring you to demonstrate independence, technical competence, and critical insight. It is an opportunity to define your architectural voice and present a project that articulates your position within contemporary debates about society, ecology, and professional practice.
80 credits
Core Projects
Wayfinding Week
The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.
Make it Manifest(o)
An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus. The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.
Interchange Week
Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.
Download course specifications
Learning and teaching
This course is taught through a mixture of learning and teaching methods including:
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Group briefings
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Academic tutorials
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Group tutorials
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Workshops
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Critiques (crits)
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Seminars
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Lectures
Assessment
Assessment for this course is entirely coursework-based, meaning there are no exams. Your progress will be evaluated through the projects and assignments you complete for each unit. Throughout the year, you’ll receive ongoing feedback to help you refine your work and develop your skills. To support your learning and ensure you achieve the course outcomes, we use a variety of assessment methods, including:
- Finished pieces of work
- Presentations
- Written work
- Your research
- A reflective journal
Some of the people you’ll be working with
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Professor Teresa Stoppani
Director of Architecture and Interior Design
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Claudia Morgado
Course Leader, Architecture
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Jonathan Ellis-Miller
Associate Professor
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Dr George Themistokleous
Senior Lecturer
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Dr Iuliana Gavril
Senior Lecturer
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Jason Wiggin
Senior Lecturer
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Sarah de Villiers
Lecturer
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William Hailiang Chen
Lecturer
Our Facilities
Look around our city-centre campus, and you will find studios, media labs, and creative spaces in 13 buildings that sit among the cafés, bars, independent galleries and shops of Norwich’s cultural quarter.
Typical career paths
By the end of your degree, you’ll have gained a set of transposable skills to meet or exceed the assessed benchmark requirements for ARB Part 2 qualification (Masters).
Our close links to the profession will give you the chance to meet and learn from our regional partners, including Feilden+Mawson, Purcell, LSI Architects, Hamson Barron Smith and Hudson Architects. Architecture graduates have been selected for RIBA East Awards, the TRADA University Challenge and the Design and Craftsmanship Awards.
- Architect
- Architectural assistant
- Designer
- Project manager
- Site manager
- Surveyor
- Architectural technician
- Consultant
- CAD renderer
- Product designer
- Town planner
- Architectural historian
- Conservationist
- Environmental consultant
- Architectural curator
- Model maker
- Landscape designer
- Architecture journalist
Joining the Uk Register of Architects
Under the Architects Act 1997, only those on the Architects Register are permitted to use the title of ‘Architect’ in business or practice in the UK. The current route to registration involves completion of three accredited qualifications – Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 – and a minimum of 24 months professional experience. After completion of these components, you can register as an Architect with the Architects Registration Board (ARB) and join the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) as a Chartered Architect.
In 2023, the ARB published and consulted on proposals for a new framework for the initial education and training of Architects, under the title Tomorrow’s Architects. Under the new framework, you will need to hold an ARB-accredited master’s-level qualification and an accredited practice qualification (or an accredited combined qualification) that show you have met the necessary Competency Outcomes (the threshold competencies that all architects on the Register are expected to have) and have the practice experience required to join the Register of Architects and become an Architect.
“92% of our graduates are in employment or further education within six months of graduating”
Graduate Outcomes 2021
Entry requirements
Home
Norwich University of the Arts welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds.
If the qualification that you are studying is not shown, do not worry as we are able to accept other pre-entry qualifications as well as combinations of different qualifications.
Please do contact our Student Recruitment Team if you have any queries.
A/AS Levels (GCE)
GCE A/AS Levels 3 A-level qualifications at grades BBC (112 UCAS Tariff points) or above. Where candidates are not taking 3 A-levels, Norwich University of the Arts will consider combinations of A-level/AS-level and other Level 3 qualifications.
BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit, Merit in an art, design or media related subject
BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction*, Distinction* in an art, design or media related subject
T Levels
A T Level in any subject with overall grade A* to C (Pass)
UAL Extended Diploma
Merit
UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass
International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 26 points
Integrated foundation year (optional)
Norwich University of the Arts welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds.
If the qualification that you are studying is not shown, do not worry as we are able to accept other pre-entry qualifications as well as combinations of different qualifications.
Please do contact our Student Recruitment Team if you have any queries.
A/AS Levels (GCE)
GCE A/AS Levels 2 A-level qualifications at grades CC (64 UCAS Tariff points) or above.
BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Merit, Merit, Pass in an art, design or media related subject
BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction*, Merit in an art, design or media related subject
T Levels
Pass (D or E on the core)
UAL Extended Diploma
Pass
UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 26 points
Additional requirements for BA (Hons) Architecture
GCSE passes at Grade 4 or above in English, Maths, and a Science subject.
Norwich University of the Arts welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds.
Your application will be primarily assessed through your portfolio (if required), responses to questions asked and personal statement, so even if you have no formal qualifications or do not meet our typical offers it can still be worth applying.
If you are studying at the time of your application and your application is successful it is likely that you will receive a conditional offer.
If the qualification that you are studying is not shown, do not worry as we are able to accept other pre-entry qualifications as well as combinations of different qualifications. Please do contact our Student Recruitment Team if you have any queries.
Fees and funding
Home
Tuition fees for the 2026/27 academic year
- BA course (three year): £9,790 per year
- Integrated Foundation Year (optional): £9,790 per year
- Level 5 Diploma Year (optional): £9,790 year
The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you’re classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Fees for subsequent years
Tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with inflation, subject to government regulations. The inflation rate used is expected to be the Retail Price Index excluding mortgage payments (RPIX). We would confirm this in advance to you of each academic year.
Find our more about fees and funding
Funding your study
Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for a bursary, scholarship or loan to help fund your study and enhance your learning experience.
International
Tuition fees for the 2026/27 academic year
- BA course (three year): £18,860
- Integrated Foundation Year (optional): £18,860
- level 5 Diploma year (optional): £18,860
The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you’re classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.
Fees for subsequent years
For Overseas students starting in 2026 inflation will be applied to your fees in later years. We will confirm this in advance to you of each academic year, and we will limit the increase to no more than the Office for Students’ recommended inflationary measure.
Find our more about fees and funding
Funding your study
Please take a look at our International students page for information about fees, scholarships for international students, visas and much more.
Additional costs
Your course fees cover the cost of studies, and include loads of benefits, such as the use of our library, support from our expert employability team, access to workshops and free use of the IT equipment across our campuses. There are also other costs which you may need to consider.
How to apply
Home
All applications for undergraduate courses will need to be made via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
You’ll need our university UCAS code (N39) as well as your course code which you’ll find on your course page.
When you register with UCAS you will need include your previous and current qualifications information, personal statement, and reference.
Once we receive your application form through UCAS, we will email confirmation that we have received it and will give you access and instructions for logging into the applicant portal. Our decision will be communicated via UCAS.
Applying for an undergraduate degreeInternational
Full-time Undergraduate International applicants can either apply via UCAS or directly by completing the online application form below or emailing the downloadable form to ioadmissions@norwichuni.ac.uk
Online Application Form (opens in a new window)For further support for international applicants applying for an undergraduate degree view our international pages.
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Theo Galvin
Architecture BA (Hons)
1 / 2Kelsey Fordham
Architecture BA (Hons)
1 / 3Megan Petts
Architecture BA (Hons)
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“The tutors are always there to push you further and take your project to the next level. I have noticed that tutors take the time to understand each student’s projects, allowing them to personalise their guidance and support the student’s development.”
Tracey Lin
BA (Hons) Architecture
Read Tracey’s blog
Latest news
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Alumni •In conversation with: Carrie Clarke, MA Fine Art Graduate
MA Fine Art graduate Carrie Clarke reflects on her experience at Norwich University of the Arts, from exploring new materials to building confidence in her practice as a sculptor. -
BA Animation •Success for Norwich Graduates at Royal Television Society East Student Awards
Norwich students were nominated across seven categories, with Henry Schwind, a graduate from BA (Hons) Film and Moving Image Production, winning the Craft – Camerawork category. -
East Gallery •Culture in Norwich: East Gallery
Claire Allerton, East Gallery Curator, discusses everything our city-centre art space has to offer – and why a visit to Olivia Sterling’s Pity the Meat! exhibition is a must this spring. -
Alumni •Norwich ranked in QS World University Rankings for Art and Design
Norwich University of the Arts has been ranked in the 201–300 band globally for Art and Design in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject, marking its first-ever inclusion in the internationally recognised ranking. -
MA Communication Design •In conversation with: Bevan Dolon, MA Communication Design
Bevan shares his design influences, creative practice and experience studying a postgraduate degree at Norwich University of the Arts. -
East Gallery •Sterling vs Bacon: Artists in dialogue in Olivia Sterling’s Pity the Meat! Exhibition
Pity the Meat! sees artist Olivia Sterling’s work in dialogue with the 1959 Francis Bacon painting, Two Figures in a Room. Eddy Frankel, art critic and former art and culture editor for Time Out, explores what brings them together – and sets them apart. -
BA Animation •Access and representation in a changing landscape: How women can shape the future of computer arts and technology
Access and representation remain central issues for the computer arts and technology industries. Helen Piercy, Animation Lecturer at Norwich, explores the opportunities emerging for graduates in a rapidly changing landscape. -
Institution •Director of Research Development collaborates with TED-Ed on new animation
Professor Alison Goodrum worked with the TED-Ed team to develop the short film which explores the history of hats. -
Institution •Norwich University of the Arts showcases institutional and research achievements to Research England
The University was delighted to welcome representatives from Research England, to share key institutional and research developments. -
Institution •Norwich appoints new Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Norwich University of the Arts is pleased to announce the appointment of Rebecca Wright as its new Deputy Vice-Chancellor. -
BA Textile Design •In conversation with: Lucy Perry, MA Textile Design
Lucy shares her experience of creating a 360° digital installation, in a collaborative exploration of nature and technology. -
Institution •Norwich University of the Arts earns prestigious 5-star QS Star Excellence rating fo Teaching
Norwich University of the Arts has been awarded an overall four-star rating in the prestigious QS Stars University Ratings, marking a significant milestone in the University’s first-ever submission to the internationally recognised assessment framework. -
Employability •Norwich University of the Arts celebrates 10 years of the Big Book Crit
Hundreds of Norwich students have shared their work with leading creative professionals over the last decade. -
East Gallery •Announcing the East Gallery Fellows 2025-2026
Norwich University of the Arts is pleased to announce the selected awardees of this year's East Gallery Fellowship. -
BA Business Management •Dean of Creative Education Awarded Prestigious Principal Fellowship from Advance HE
The University is delighted to announce that Hilary Carlisle, Dean of Creative Education and Professor of Design, has been awarded Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) by Advance HE -
BA Degree •Norwich University of the Arts to Host ELIA Academy 2027
Norwich University of the Arts is delighted to announce that it has been selected as the host institution for the ELIA Academy 2027.
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norwichuni_architecture Last night, Clara Olóriz Sanjuán delivered a presentation on “Planetary Landscapes: Transitional imaginaries around social reproduction.” She examined how climate and food crises impact marginalized communities, challenging conventional Urban Age narratives. The talk sparked great conversations, picking up on the importance of community processes in building sustainable futures. Thanks to everyone who joined us! @norwichuniarts @claraoroliz @aamexicovisitingschool #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture Dr Iuliana Gavril, Year 2 Lead in Architecture at Norwich University of the Arts, recently presented a series of lectures and workshops across Taiwan as part of an international academic programme. From 7–17 April 2026, she was a Visiting Scholar with the Taiwan Higher Education Sprout Project at National University of Chiayi, where she delivered a public lecture and led a Year 4 workshop titled The Gift That Keeps on Giving: Refiguring Art and Nature Through More-than-Human Agency. The programme also included MA tutorials and participation in final-year student juries, alongside printmaking sessions with Ming-Dye Yang and Ching-Yu Chang. On 20–21 April, she presented Invertlight in Heritage Settings: Interventions at the Threshold of Art and Architecture at Tainan University of Technology, working with students from Interior Design and the College of Fashion and Design. On 22 April, Iuliana delivered Learning from Hagia Sophia: Architectural Endurance as Innovation and Contestation at Feng Chia University, exploring how historical architectures continue to operate as sites of transformation, resilience, and critical reinterpretation. Alongside these lectures, she engaged students through a series of printmaking workshops across the institutions. @norwichuniarts @fengchia_university #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture A+ID STUDIO TALKS 2026 Clara Olóriz Sanjuán – Tuesday 28 April 2026, 17:00-18:00 Planetary Landscapes: Transitional imaginaries around social reproduction Boardman House Studio (UGF) Redwell Street, Norwich NR2 4SL Followed by informal conversation and refreshments — Planetary Landscapes: Transitional imaginaries around social reproduction Climate, care and food crises, driven by the global enclosures and violent appropriation of resources, encompass centuries-long planetary depeasantisation and the ever-widening rural-urban gap. This systemic collapse continues to be disproportionately endured by women, BIPOC and the poor. Urban Age discourses have invisibilised the depopulating landscapes that sustain urban agglomerations behind tropes of efficiency. Through the lens of collective forms of social reproduction, this presentation questions Urban Age paradigms, invisible dependencies, and the role of depeasantisation in the making of capitalist subjects and land relationships. It begins with a critical, multiscalar cartography that delineates the contours of unequal socioecological flows in contemporary food systems. As a counter-narrative, it then presents a series of spaces where community solidarity attempts to build postcapitalist relationships and transitional imaginaries around food and land. Clara Olóriz Sanjuán, PhD, is an architect, researcher, and tutor. She currently teaches Design and History and Theory in the Architectural Association’s (AA) Landscape Urbanism program. She also co-directs the practice Groundlab and the AA Mexico Visiting School Metropolitan Landscapes in collaboration with TEC de Monterrey. Through her doctoral research and her work at Groundlab, she has contributed to several conferences, journals, and books related to innovations in landscape architecture and territory at the intersection of history, theory, and practice. @norwichuniarts @claraoroliz #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture Today we hosted interim reviews with our MArch students at the Wonder Hub at Bank Plain. Thank you to our critics panel for sharing their generous feedback. Our panel included Jenny Bayes (Another Kind Architects), Sir Peter Cook, Anthony Hudson (Hudson Architects) and Eamon Nolan and Matthew Butters (Pascall + Watson). Our Masters Year 2 students are exploring ‘Strange Islands’, each developing a thesis project that takes the island as a testing ground for architecture, examining conditions of separation, connection, and exchange across sites, working across scales to explore how material assemblies, environmental systems, and construction strategies respond to these shifting, relational contexts. Our MArch Year 1 students explore ‘Living Blickling’, designing a cooperative housing and production community, testing modes for collective living, productive landscapes, and bio-based construction, with particular attention to material processes, environmental conditions, and long-term adaptability. It also takes on land politics of the estate typology, and considerations of commoning across materials, ecology and people. @norwichuniarts @anotherkindarchitects @pascallwatson @sirpetercook #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture On 19 February, as part of Interchange 2, the workshop led by @norwichuniarts MArch graduate Theo Galvin, titled ‘Innovation through Necessity and the Critical Lens of Narrative’, explored creative practice as a form of situated research, shaped by everyday conditions rather than ideal or fully resourced environments. Participants engaged in a collaborative making challenge, working with limited time and materials. They drew upon what was immediately available, steering away from specialist tools or predefined outcomes. This environment fostered improvisation, shared decision-making, and inventive problem-solving, showing how ideas often emerge through action rather than meticulous planning. The workshop focused on repair, reuse, and sustainability, encouraging attendees to reconsider objects beyond for their intended purposes; for their potential to be reworked, combined, or reimagined. @uncultivated.architecture (Theo Galvin) @norwichuniarts #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture Lorens Holm presenting ‘Psyche Extended: drawing towards the periphery’, this evening at A+ID Studio Talks, at Boardman House. Lorens Holm is an independent researcher with emeritus links to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at the University of Dundee, where he was director of the Geddes Institute for Urban Research, a research umbrella for research in Architecture and Planning, and lead rooms+cities, a design research and teaching unit that conducted architecture design research on cities, landscapes, and artefacts. #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture We had a delightful @norwichuniarts Applicant Day at Boardman House today, connecting with prospective Architecture and Interior Design students. Thank you to our ambassadors Louie, Lauren and Divina, and some of our current students for supporting the day ✨ #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture As part of Interchange #2, Archipelagic Queerness was held earlier in February this year. It was a symposium comprising screenings, talks and an embodied workshop. Archipelagic Queerness is a new, queer way of rethinking the world from its edges. The symposium asks how fragmented and non-conforming identities can emerge through connection and solidarity from being scattered, marginal, or different, using the archipelago as a powerful metaphor or reality for queer life and queer spaces. The morning session opened with Cartographies of Connection, presenting an Archipelagic Queerness “minifesto” and curated film screenings of queer marginal landscapes. It included short films like Archipelagic Queerness, From Spring to Mouth, and CityScape Dreams, featuring themes of erasure and resistance. In the Afternoon Session, Submersive Practices was a participatory workshop led by Gaetano Drago and Amelia Jane Hankin. Participants experimented with queer spatiality through performance, design, and storytelling, culminating in a collective creation of a flamboyant queer archipelago, where empathy is foregrounded and boundaries are erased. Gaetano Drago is an academic, filmmaker, and Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Art and Norwich University of the Arts, whose transdisciplinary practice bridges architecture, cinematography, performance, and queer theory to explore spatial identity and marginal territories. Amelia Jane Hankin is a stage designer and Associate Artist at Shakespeare’s Globe, known for her innovative approaches to performance design and queer pedagogy. Marko Jobst is a Senior Lecturer at Leeds School of Architecture, focusing on the intersections of architecture, philosophy, and queer theory through creative writing. Ken Paranada serves as the inaugural Curator of Art and Climate Change at the Sainsbury Centre, integrating contemporary art with climate science. Jason Wiggin is a Senior Lecturer in Interior Design at Norwich University of the Arts, specialising in the dynamic interplay of interior design, installation, and scenography. #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture On 17 March, Dr luliana Gavril presented ‘Architectural Endurance as Contestation’ as part of the A+ID Studio Talks held at Boardman House. Hagia Sophia’s multiple lives, from Byzantine imperial church to Ottoman Mosque, modern monument museum, and now grand mosque museum, reveal architectural endurance not as stability but as continual contestation. Beyond its familiar religious and symbolic roles, Hagia Sophia has rarely been examined through the full spectrum of contestation actions: called to witness, opposed, fought over, and re-created through conflict and architectural and technological contests. The talk revisits key moments in Hagia Sophia’s history as narratives of contestation. It argues that Hagia Sophia endures precisely because it absorbs and redirects cultural collisions, functioning as a hybrid “third space” whose reclamations continually renew its architectural afterlife. luliana Gavril is a Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Norwich University of the Arts. Her teaching, in design studios, cultural context (history and theory), and drawing workshops, is buttressed by scholarly interests in architectural writing, anthropologies of making, physical model-making, imagination, imaginary construction of houses, performative heritage and sacred spaces. #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture Earlier this month, as part of our Studio Talks held at Boardman House, Doreen Bernath presented ‘On Oceanic Methods’. The talk was held in three parts and set sail to explore the possibilities of spatial practices in and through undulating fluidity, challenging the premises and tendencies to prioritise the territorial and the discursive formation of settlement, property and security. ‘Oceanic methods’ are not procedures that reinforce what can be systematised, calculated or planned, but a matter of attention, inclination, curiosity, responsivity and proximity. Dr Doreen Bernath is an architect, theorist, writer and curator trained at the University of Cambridge and the Architectural Association. In parallel to teaching widely at different institutions and publishing internationally, she is currently the Executive Editor of The Journal of Architecture, AA PhD Programme Director of Studies, Co-Head of the AA Visiting School ‘Urbanity from the Ocean’, Trustee of the Society of Architectural Historian Great Britain, and a co-founder of research collectives ThisThing CalledTheory, Translocality, and Interjectures. #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture Featured first term work from Year 1 BA Hons Architecture and Interior Design student, Felix Brown. Project: Apertures (Oct – Nov 25) #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture Some moments from our recent BA Hons Architecture Year 3 Interim Reviews, with external critics Dr Ivana Wingham and Dr Cansu Curgen. 1 – Work of Asya Milenko 2 – Work of Tom Whitmore 3,4 – Work of Jade Luxwolda 5 – Work of Martine Qvernstrøm 6,7- Work of Megi Muslia 8 – Work of Louie Paterson-Dean 11- Work of Jakob Rode-Christoffersen 12- Work of Sam Smith 13- Work of Emma Johansen 14- Work of Ben Ludlam Tutors: Dr George Themistokleous (Year Lead), William Burgess, Romanos Tsomos, February Phillips. Photos 1-13 by Martine Qvernstrøm. (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture Fantastic day out with in London with our wonderful Year 1 BA Hons Architecture and Interior Design students. Thank you to our teaching team Elin Lund, John Small, Gabriela Jimenez, Jason Wiggin, Dr Iuliana Gavril and Sarah de Villiers, and support from the Architecture and Interior Design Programme, and our admin team 💥 @norwichuniarts #norwichuniarchitecture #norwichuniinteriordesign (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture Students working hard into the evening at Boardman House. Quiet, productive and slightly mad energy⚡️ #norwicharchitecture (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture Coming to Boardman House this Thursday! STUDIO TALK Jason Wiggin — Thursday 29 January 2026, 17:00-18:00 Boardman House Studio (UGF) Redwell Street, Norwich, NR2 4SL Followed by informal conversation On 29 January, Jason Wiggin will present Holding On and Letting Go. The lecture explores the relationship between matter, the body, and legacy through the lens of thanatography, considering how stories of death created by the living help preserve the identity of the deceased beyond the physical end of the body. As the Fifth Industrial Revolution unfolds, the line between the digital and physical worlds is becoming increasingly blurred. New ways of engaging with memory, presence, and death are emerging, extending into virtual and immersive spaces such as the Metaverse. The talk questions whether extended reality technologies create a sense of closeness to the past, or instead turn remnants of the dead into something that comforts the living in the form of artificial relationships. As it is our known future, this invites considerations of our own mortality and the life–death cycle, shaping how we ascribe meaning to the body and its material remnants. Jason Wiggin is Acting Course Leader of the BA(Hons) Interior Design course and a Senior Lecturer at Norwich University of the Arts. His practice spans interior design, installation, temporal space and scenography. He is a past President of the African Institute of the Interior Design Professions and is currently the East of England Champion for the Architecture LGBT+ Academic Champions Network. Architecture and Interior Design Programme Norwich University of the Arts @norwichuniarts @norwichuni_interiordesign @norwichuni_architecture Booking link in bio. #norwichuniversityofthearts #architecture #interiordesign (opens in a new window)
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norwichuni_architecture Boardman House has been feeling festive this week! Wishing all our students happy holidays with loved ones, and we look forward to seeing you again soon in the new year! 🎄❄️☃️🎁🦌 Head over to @nua.archi.soc to follow for student-led meet ups and end of year celebrations coming very soon’#! #norwichuniversityofthearts (opens in a new window)
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