Program Overview

MArch Architecture (ARB/RIBA Part 2)

The Master of Architecture (MArch) programme at the University of Plymouth invites students to explore architecture as a critical, collaborative, and socially engaged practice that is rooted in care for people, place, and their geographies.

About

Architecture today must respond to the most pressing global and local challenges – climate breakdown, ecological collapse, social injustice, and the rapid transformation of cities and communities. The MArch programme fosters creative experimentation, conceptual rigour, and technical excellence. Students work closely with local communities, live clients, and interdisciplinary partners to develop their spatial and architectural practice.

Design with Purpose

From day one, students work on live and semi-live projects that connect them with real clients, local authorities, and community organisations. Whether reimagining public spaces, designing for climate resilience, or collaborating with grassroots initiatives, students graduate with a portfolio that demonstrates their ability to create architecture with purpose and impact.

Studio Culture

Students enjoy their own dedicated desk in the light-filled, open-plan studios – a personal space for thinking, making, and collaborating. Located in the Roland Levinsky Building, students are part of a vibrant community of artists, designers, and architects. With access to cutting-edge digital and analogue fabrication facilities, students bring their ideas to life in an environment that supports creativity at every level.

Accredited and Industry-Recognised

The programme is fully validated by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and prescribed by the Architects Registration Board (ARB), ensuring the qualification meets the highest professional standards. With 100% coursework assessment, the programme supports a creative and critical approach to learning.

Details

Year 1

The first year is built around a studio-led approach that combines design experimentation, critical enquiry, technical innovation, and professional engagement. A key feature of the year is a live or semi-live urban design project developed in collaboration with local partners.

Core Modules

• Professional Studies: Develops the student's knowledge and understanding of current architectural practice and professional responsibilities.
• Emerging Research: Undertake a programme of Masters-level research, informed by students' own investigations and staff knowledge.
• Sustainable Technologies: Examines environmental and tectonic considerations that inform the design of buildings and their inhabitation.
• Context for Praxis (Knowledge Exchange): Examines the cultural, ecological, economic, political, and social issues that frame the context of praxis.

Final Year

The final year centres on a major design project that is both conceptually ambitious and grounded in real-world conditions. Working with live clients and situated sites, students develop a proposal that explores architectural ideas through a lens of social, environmental, and regulatory complexity.

Core Modules

• Strategic Design: Enables students to establish their own architectural discussion within a contextual and theoretical framework.
• Design Praxis: Develops an integrated detailed architectural design, including its spatial-form, technical strategies, and a building programme responsive to cultural, ecological, economic, political, and social issues.

Careers, Industry, and Research

Graduates of the MArch at Plymouth benefit from a critically discursive and design-led education that fosters creative thinking, spatial intelligence, and problem-solving across multiple contexts. Equipped with a strong design praxis and a deep understanding of architecture's cultural, ecological, and social responsibilities, students have gone on to work with leading national and international architecture practices or have established their own successful studios.

Academic and Professional Progression

The ARB- and RIBA-accredited programmes are designed to help students reach the status of professional Chartered Architect. At Plymouth, students benefit from a strong connection between undergraduate, masters, and research programmes that support career aims.

Research Opportunities

Research in architecture revolves around thematic clusters, including:

• Architecture and Media (Film)
• Architecture and Pedagogy
• Displacement and Migration
• Digital Fabrication and Design
• Place-Making
• Smart Cities
• Spatial Politics, Power, and Violence
• Spatial Practice and Architecture
• Sustainable Architecture / Environmental Building
• Sustainable Communities
• Urban Ecologies

Facilities

Students work in dedicated studios with access to a suite of cutting-edge facilities that bring their ideas to life, including high-spec CAD labs, hands-on materials workshops, and immersive technologies in VR/AR media labs.

Fees and Funding

Tuition Fees

• UK Students: £9,535 per year (full-time)
• International Students: £18,150 per year (full-time)

Entry Requirements

• Expected 2:1 degree classification
• 12 months experience working in an architect's office or similar professionally relevant activity (highly desired)
• A completed application form
• An official copy of transcript for completed degree studies
• A statement of interest
• A portfolio of work
• Two suitable references

Extended Entry Requirements

• A suitable English language qualification (minimum IELTS score 6.5)
• Evidence of qualifications (degree certificates or transcripts) with translations if not in English
• A personal statement
• Curriculum vitae or résumé
• Proof of sponsorship (if applicable)