Architecture Degrees Online

This course is offered full time over one year or part-time over two or three years. Students interested in working as a drafter, CAD operator or building designer should consider undertaking this course.

It is offered internally at the Casuarina Campus of CDU. There are no external units, full time students would be expected to attend classes four days per week. This allows for part time employment in the industry, which is highly recommended. Suitable part time options are also available. Part time students would be expected to complete the course within four years.

Career Opportunities
There is currently a nation-wide shortage of suitably qualified drafters, CAD operators and building designers. Graduates can expect to readily gain employment, either full time, part time, casual, sub-contract or self employed. It is possible to work from home or a remote office. Graduates may find employment with a drafting office, an architect, a builder or manufacturer, and their position and remuneration will depend on their interset, expertise and experience. Students who continue their studies and complete the Diploma of Building Design and Technology will work on larger projects, have more responsibility, less supervision, and will receive greater remuneration.

The Architecture Department offers a Bachelor of Architecture degree. This degree program, accredited by the National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB), is a five year “first professional degree” program, a pre-requisite for licensing as a registered architect in most states. Architecture epitomizes the “learn-by-doing” pedagogy that is fundamental to Cal Poly. The program is rigorous, lab oriented, and sequential in nature and reflects a balance and integration of design and technology – the theoretical and the pragmatic. The fourth year offers qualified students the opportunity to study off-campus. The fifth year is a selected year long project and final exhibit that salutes the architectural creativity of each individual’s extended research and design.

The administration, faculty and staff are committed to the program and its primary emphasis on teaching excellence at the undergraduate level. The unusual size of the program and the diversity of faculty interests and accomplishments offer a vast palette of directions, concerns and issues as backgrounds for studio work.

The location of the program within the College provides cross-disciplinary opportunities in the areas of Landscape Architecture, Construction Management, City & Regional Planning and Architectural Engineering.

Course Content

This modular course is structured into design projects and subject groups in an increasing level of complexity.
Level Four (first year of full-time study) is a foundation which introduces students to the subjects of architectural history, design theory, environmental design and technology, communication skills and design practice.
Level Five explores and develops wider issues and emphasises design process and design through history, theory, technology and professional practice studies.
Level Six includes design projects which emphasise independent judgement to define issues and set and resolve problems with competence and conviction. It also includes the Special Study which is a major illustrated piece of research into an architectural subject. Architectural history, theory and technology studies inform the design studio.

The majority of learning is through project work and assignments, supported by lectures, seminars, independent study, visits and specialist events. A wide variety of study visits are offered in course programmes.

Study Commitment (Part-Time)
Attendance is on one day with one evening per week. Transfer to or from the full-time mode is possible at any point in the course by negotiation.

Assessment
There are assignments and course work in subjects. Project work is assessed by portfolio review both periodically and in summary at each year end.

Course Content
Whilst the course places an increased emphasis in the RIBA/ARB criteria, it has been designed with the student experience very much in mind. There is a strong desire to make the course feel like it is personally yours. We hope to achieve this by providing you with various opportunities to steer your learning towards issues you are interested in or which you feel are particularly relevant, and in effect use the course as a stepping stone to their career ahead.

The diploma course is focused on the key areas of theory, design, technology, and the real practice of architecture, and provides a dynamic, stimulating, and contemporary approach to postgraduate architectural education. It is arranged in a series of ‘Clusters’, taught principally in design studio, which promote the notion of integrated learning and working, particularly in the areas of theory, urban design, and design and technology, so hopefully you won’t feel as if you are doing something for the sake of it! This focused programme has only seven projects, namely; Theory and Experimentation, Design and technology, Professional Studies, Dissertation, Options project, Urban Design, and Thesis Design project.

This streamlining of the curriculum affords students the freedom to speculate, more time to concentrate on chosen specific areas or to explore other opportunities such as teaching in the degree school or developing specialist areas created by the suite of Masters courses.

The course has a diverse range of participating students; graduates from the school itself, graduates from other Schools of Architecture, visiting Erasmus exchange students, and a significant number of part-time students who are working in practice. The reputation and suitability of the course draws students from as far a field as Liverpool and Kent for the one-day a week study programme. In fact, the school also places a strong emphasis on its part-time students. The Diploma course is written and operates on the premise that the part-time student experience very closely matches that of the full-time student. The work part-time students do on a day-to-day basis is recognised and appreciated, as is their effort and commitment to the course.

The School also strives to involve other notable practitioners such as eminent Architects as Visiting Professors, world-renowned consultants, and external examiners with impressive reputations whether in practice or academia. Currently our list of external examiners includes Ken Shuttleworth of MAKE (ex Foster & Partners), and Birmingham City Council’s Design Adviser, Philip Singleton.

The school also offers a very exciting suite of MA courses which are responses to the current profession of Architecture, but also to maximise on the skills of our staff team. These include ‘top up’ MA’s, some of which are unique, which are linked to the Diploma course in Design and Theory, Urban Design, Intervention Architecture, and Architectural Journalism. Each of these involve a particular route through the Diploma. Full-time students taking this MA route only need complete three extra months of self-led study, and part-time students one extra year of predominantly correspondence studying. Fees for both options are based on four modules which currently costs just £640 in total.

Aside from formally undertaking one of these pathways, students completing only the Diploma course can enter into one of these specialised areas of study during the Options Project, which can be linked to several of the design clusters. It may also be used to investigate other areas of personal interest or relevance to the student’s career path. Alternatively, students may choose to work as a teaching assistant in the School’s undergraduate programme, in whichever year is most suited to them. Other ‘one-off’ opportunities are possible via negotiation with the course team.

The Diploma operates with a strong and diverse staff team that encompasses both full-time staff and numerous visiting tutors, principally from local practice. This relationship with the local practice is undergoing a renaissance, particularly through the school’s pool of visiting critics, which encourages enthusiastic architects to become involved with the school on a volunteer basis at various times throughout the year.

The Diploma course traditionally runs a study trip to the United States each spring. This trip is normally generously sponsored by Ibstock Bricks, with each student receiving a bursary towards the cost of the trip. This trip is often extended to another US city such as Chicago. The School also encourages educational exchange programmes, primarily through the Erasmus programme, which also sees European students coming into the school for a year’s study.

Assessment
Design studio modules are assessed through project work building up to a design portfolio. To encourage the invaluable studio culture typical of architects’ and designers’ practice, it is considered essential that you demonstrate an understanding of the design process and present work in progress to your tutors and peers on a regular basis. Final assessments will normally coincide with an exhibition and group presentation. It is crucial for your progress and the course’s accreditation by professional bodies that you can demonstrate appropriate levels of understanding and ability to complete each year of the course through the body of work acquired and the overall design portfolio.

Following successful completion of years one and two, the final degree award comprises 20% of the overall year two mark and 80% of the overall year three mark. No marks from year one are carried over into the degree assessment.

Open days
All potential applicants are encouraged to visit the School before applying and talk to course tutors and support staff. This will allow you to answer some standard interview questions with some confidence and knowledge. The School has open events each year which give you the opportunity to view examples of student work and see the course environment and facilities. Members of staff will be available to answer specific questions, and you will also be able to see students in action.

Place of study
The exciting new School, bringing together strengths from built environment, design and technology, is based at the City site. This is the largest of the three sites and it boasts the £13 million Boots Library, the Bonington Gallery, sports facilities and a large Students’ Union building. These are all within walking distance of university residences, good quality private sector accommodation, as well as the city’s many shops, sporting venues, restaurants, clubs and bars.

The School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment offers a wide range of facilities including laboratories, workshops, studios and CAD suites. Linking the creativity of design and engineering, the School also works closely with the internationally renowned School of Art and Design. Teaching centres around the application of creativity, imagination and innovation with product design, civil engineering, surveying and property.

Your future career
Comprehensive research into the career choices of architecture first degree graduates shows a range of options. Apart from architecture practice, graduates can also be found in other design disciplines, with around 75% of graduates being employed in the construction and business services and in public administration. Architectural education is wide-ranging, and is recognised by employers as most valuable in preparing graduates for the production of creative solutions to complex scenarios in a range of related disciplines. This enables them to find work within the sector, but also gives them the flexibility to subsequently change careers if they wish, which graduates take increasing advantage of.

This course puts particular emphasis on graduates’ understanding of the mechanisms of the creative and construction industries, enabling them to operate with confidence, and in a spirit of entrepreneurship, to create new design and work opportunities and capitalise on their own creative skills.