BSc (Honours) Architecture and Environmental Design
Three years full-time
UCAS code • K100
Location • City Campus
Subject area • Architecture
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View examples of work by architecture and environmental design students.
Watch videos of our students talking about their experiences on the course and what they have gained from it.
Renowned architect Renzo Piano talks to critic, author and curator, Lucy Bullivant about his approach to urban design.
Find out about Creative Spark, our annual graduate showcase of final year students' work, and Brightest Spark, an exhibition featuring projects completed by our elite students.
Our architecture courses produce award winning students and graduates
Visit the Department of Architecture website to view profiles of staff who teach in this subject area.
At a glance
Prepare for a career in an architectural industry that increasingly involves environmental issues and sustainable design at the heart of its practice. You learn from staff with a wide range of architectural and environmental design backgrounds and benefit from an approach to teaching that has put this course at the very top of the National Student Survey for teaching quality and overall satisfaction.
Key points
• Prepare for a career in an industry where environmental factors and sustainability are increasingly important.
• Learn architectural design skills from an academic team renowned for their dedication to student support.
• Study on a course with an excellent reputation with the UK professional bodies for architecture.
• Develop cutting-edge skills in CAD highly valued by employers.
What is architecture and environmental design?
Architecture and environmental design involves the practice of designing and constructing buildings that make a positive contribution to society and allow the creation of sustainable environments. It combines an essential understanding of how buildings can be energy efficient and how creative design ideas can make buildings and outdoor environments that are healthy and uplifting to use.
This course
Study on a visionary course that is unique in the UK and is designed to prepare you as an architect who can respond to the future environmental challenges that architecture must address.
You join a body of students and lecturers who are passionate about how architecture can be environmentally responsible. After ten years of successful delivery and development this environmental ambition remains at the heart of what we do.
As a graduate, you leave with a desire to make a positive contribution to the lives of people and the environments in which they live.
Your lectures and seminars cover current theory and examples of best practice in sustainable architecture. You consider low energy design principles and how architecture can be good for the wellbeing of people, using good daylight, natural ventilation and innovative solar design strategies.
As a student you have stimulating interactions with talented design staff, who are all qualified architects. They include a multi-award winning professor, a course leader who worked for Sir Norman Foster and a lecturer who built his own zero energy home to live in.
The design projects you work on allow you to experiment with original ideas for environmental architecture, developing and testing them in a highly supportive studio atmosphere. Studios have 24 hour access.
You develop the construction skills that architects must possess and are taught how to apply these as a core and creative aspect of architecture. You receive excellent CAD training, which is highly valued by employers, and access to up-to-date environmental design simulation software.
The history and theory lectures you attend provide diverse architectural knowledge. You carry out an individual project on current theory and practice in environmental architecture as part of the course.
European field trips during your second and third years explore the culture, history and architecture of cities such as • Paris • Barcelona • Florence • Helsinki • Berlin • Rotterdam • Rome
Key areas of study
Lectures explore the latest thinking on • environmental issues • architectural theory • cultural studies • professional practice • building technology.
Our students have ranked the course among the very top in the UK for the past four years in the National Student Survey, indicating a consistently high degree of satisfaction.
Find out more about BSc (Honours) Architecture and Environmental Design
Related courses
You apply for this course through UCAS.
2013/14 academic year
For 2013 entry, membership of professional bodies and mandatory UK field trips are included in the course fee
The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees and funding see www.shu.ac.uk/study/ug/fees-and-funding
2013/14 academic year
Typically £10,680 a year
2014/15 academic year
Typically £11,250 a year
The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees, scholarships and bursaries see www.shu.ac.uk/international/fees
• project work • continuous assessment • written assignments • examinations
This course is validated by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and prescribed by the Architects Registration Board for exemption from RIBA Part 1 examinations.
Key Information Set 
A visualisation of the Sheffield Writers Centre by Andy Richards.
Sheffield Writers Centre
A visualisation of the Manor Lodge Visitor Centre by Ben Kee.
Manor Lodge Visitor Centre.
A visualisation of the Joseph Wright Gallery by Dean O'Brien.
Joseph Wright Gallery.
Anya Sutton (1:35)
Anya Sutton talks about the benefits of the course and what she enjoyed about it.
Robert Sharples (1:06)
Robert Sharples talks about what he did when he was on the course and studying in Sheffield.
Renzo Piano (3:04)
Here, renowned architect Renzo Piano talks to critic, author and curator, Lucy Bullivant about his approach to urban design.
The 'In Conversation with Renzo Piano' event was organised jointly by Sheffield Hallam University and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) to celebrate the legacy of creative designer Godfrey Sykes.
Sykes developed his skills as a student at the Sheffield School of Design in the 1850s.
Spark - be creative
Subjects included are • animation • architecture • computers • creative writing • digital media production • engineering • fashion design • film and visual effects • film and media production • fine art • furniture and product design • games design • graphic design • interior design • jewellery and metalwork • performing arts • photography • product design.
Creative Spark
Creative Spark is an annual showcase of student work and celebrates the innovation, creativity and imagination of our most talented graduates. Creative Spark is hosted across four university venues • Owen • Cantor • Sheaf • Arundel Gate Court and S1 in the city centre.
For further information visit the Creative Spark website.
Brightest Spark
Brightest Spark is an exhibition housed in the SIA Gallery and Cantor building. This exhibition features the elite students in each Sheffield of Institute of Arts course as chosen by industry professionals.
For further information visit the Brightest Spark website.
Project Spark
Sheffield Hallam students have the opportunity to play a key role in the promotion of the Creative Spark and Brightest Spark exhibitions by submitting entries for Project Spark. The 2012 competitions included • concept design • branding and wayfinding • creative writing • image • brightest spark logo and branding.
For further information visit the Project Spark website.
Architecture and Environmental Design graduate Chris Paterson won first prize for his entry into the Forgotten Spaces 2011: Sheffield architectural ideas competition run by Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Yorkshire.
The competition encouraged architects, designers and artists to come up with innovative ideas that find new uses for the region's forgotten spaces.
Guiding Lights by Chris Paterson
Chris Paterson's 'Guiding Lights' design brings to life Frog Walk in Sheffield, with animated avatars and an LED screen. Using smartphone technology it magically lights up a dark footpath in the city.
The idea impressed the judges for its 'brilliant' solution to making people feel safer at night.
Jacob's design plans
Architecture and Environmental Design graduate Jacob Szikora, won the EDUCATE Prize, for his idea for a coconut growing facility in Sheffield.
The EDUCATE Prize is an international award celebrating outstanding student work that investigates sustainability in architecture and urban design.
Jacob won the prize for his idea for a facility on London Road in Sheffield that could produce process, package and sell coconuts.
Jacob's scheme explores whether it would be possible to grow these imported products in an urban context away from their natural environment, thus reducing the environmental impact of transporting them around the world.
Visit the Department of Architecture website to view profiles of staff who teach in this subject area.
