The Department of Built Environment
Welcome to the Department of Built Environment website.
Part of the Faculty of Development and Society, we provide undergraduate and postgraduate courses in construction and real estate.
Our courses have a strong vocational focus. Many of our students are studying part-time while working in a relevant industry. Our undergraduate students have the option to spend a year on work placement as part of their course.
We have over 50 staff with extensive construction, building and surveying industry experience. We also have visiting lecturers from surveying practices, large property companies and contractors.
And we have strong links with a large number of employers, including Lambert Smith Hampton, Kier, Network Rail, Laing O'Rourke and Derbyshire County Council.
Find out more about our new Construction degree with Barratt Developments
Find out how your company can work with us to help grow the sector.
- What subjects do we cover?
- Study with us
- Research
- Industry links
- International links
What subjects do we cover?
- Construction, building and surveying
- Real estate
- Part-time study
Our construction, building and surveying courses combine theoretical knowledge with hands on experience.
They are accredited by the relevant professional bodies, including the • Chartered Institute of Building • Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors • Association of Building Engineers.
We have over 30 years experience teaching real estate courses. A number of our undergraduate and postgraduate real estate courses are accredited by professional bodies including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
You can study undergraduate and postgraduate courses part-time, either solely in our department or in partnership with other institutions.
Study with us
We're committed to your career in construction, building or surveying – whether you're just starting out or you want to progress from your current role.
At the Department of Built Environment, you work on real-life case studies, giving you valuable experience in a real world setting. You can also access a network of industry contacts to help develop your knowledge.
You'll visit topical development sites and professional firms specialising in your preferred areas of practice. We've recently held field trips to Manchester, London, Liverpool and York, plus historical venues such as Cromford near Matlock and eco-centres such as Hockerton Housing Project in Nottinghamshire.
You're taught by the experts – all our teaching staff have either fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, are working towards this, or have an equivalent accreditation.
And alongside your studies, the Built Environment Student Society organises social events and subject-specific talks.
Research
Creating new knowledge is important to us. Most of our staff write and review journals, textbooks and conference papers.
In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 80% of our research was rated as of international standard, 40% of international excellence, and 5% as world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour.
We present our research to national and international academic and professional audiences through recognised networks including the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction and the Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM).
Industry links
Many of our courses are accredited by professional bodies, including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and the Association of Building Engineers (ABE). Members of our staff are also chairs or panel members of the RICS' Assessment of Professional Competence panels.
We have worked with a number of employers to develop short courses that enable their staff to update their knowledge in this rapidly developing sector.
For example, in partnership with the ABE, we have developed a top-up award to allow professionals with many years of work experience to enhance their academic skills, allowing them to further their careers by achieving full professional body membership.
We have an excellent relationship with Kier. As well as Kier staff on our course team, the company provides
- guest lecturers for our students
- live projects for our students to work on
- support for our Built Environment Centre for Excellence
In partnership with Barratt Developments, we have developed a tailor-made programme to give employees the skills and expertise they need to strengthen the firm in the future.
Employer engagement
We value greatly the immense support we receive from employers. Whilst studying with us you will have opportunities to engage with employers from across our sector. Many employers support us year after year through the provision of sandwich placements, work-shadow opportunities, guest lectures, field-trip venues and visiting speakers at departmental conferences.
International links
We have a long-standing relationship with the Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) in Malaysia, which has sent students to Sheffield Hallam for the past 13 years. Over 2,000 graduates have benefited from this collaboration.
Through our partnership with the International College of Business and Technology in Sri Lanka we provide courses in Sri Lanka, Dubai, Oman and Qatar.
In your second year of undergraduate study you can choose to study in Europe on the ERASMUS exchange programme. In addition, our MSc students take international field trips to Turkey and China.
