Program Overview

Environmental Design (BARC0086)

Key Information

• Faculty: UCL Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment
• Teaching department: Bartlett School of Architecture
• Credit value: 15
• Restrictions: N/A

Alternative Credit Options

There are no alternative credit options available for this module.

Description

BARC0086 introduces the principles of Environmental Design, aiming to create healthy conditions for people, neighbourhoods, and nature locally and globally. The built environment sector contributes extensively to climate change, loss of biodiversity, and habitats, with related social and environmental justice issues. This module explores science-based strategies addressing these challenges, including:

• Climate change mitigation: Design that minimises energy demand and supports the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy supply.
• Climate change adaptation: Design that keeps people safe and healthy in increasing temperatures, more severe rainstorms, cyclones, and other weather events.
• Ecological regeneration: Design that supports biodiversity, our living system, and the services and resources it provides, such as clean air and water, pollination, food, and materials.

The module develops these aims through a primarily Passive Architecture approach, embracing local bio-climatic conditions to create comfortable, healthy environments, minimizing energy dependency, and achieving natural environmental conditions.

Buildings are planned, designed, and delivered by various stakeholders, affecting people's health, wellbeing, and resilience. Through lectures, exercises, workshops, and tutorials, students explore how humans have developed healthy, resilient environmental design strategies over millennia, in harmony with local contexts. By analysing vernacular to contemporary designs, students learn to assess qualities of context and respond through passive and/or active energy, water, and sewerage strategies, and positive materials choices, to create healthy, low-energy, low-carbon, high-quality internal conditions.

Module Deliveries for 2026/27 Academic Year

• Intended teaching term: Terms 1 and 2
• Undergraduate (FHEQ Level 4)

Teaching and Assessment

• Mode of study: In person
• Methods of assessment: 100% Coursework
• Mark scheme: Numeric Marks

Other Information

• Number of students on module in previous year: 137
• Module leader: Ms Blanche Cameron

Last Updated

This module description was last updated on 10th March 2026.