Design and Make

Entry requirements

DESIGN & MAKE MARCH – Five-year professional architectural degree (BArch/Diploma equivalent) from a United Kingdom university or a BArch degree plus diploma of equivalent standard from a recognised university or higher education institution from outside the UK.

DESIGN & MAKE MSC – Bachelor’s degree (minimum second class honours) in architecture, engineering or a related discipline from a United Kingdom university or a degree of equivalent standard from a recognised university or higher education institution from outside the UK.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Design and Make is based at the AA’s satellite campus at Hooke Park, a rich context which serves as an immersive laboratory for architectural research. Students study within a working forest, inhabiting a unique environment in which landscape, studio, workshop, forestry and 1:1 fabrication are interwoven. The landscape, as both material library and site, is critical to the design process and our experimental constructs are nested carefully into the tissue of the working forest. Design and Make investigates the sustainable and innovative use of timber and other locally sourced materials to drive new forms of architectural research through 1:1 built prototypes. We materialise built work through curiosity, craft and creativity. Direct physical engagement with material, site and making processes is central to the programme and we thrive on the unexpected revelations this can bring.

The Hooke Park campus contains a diverse array of resources for design and fabrication. We use a hands-on approach and students are expected to spend most of their time in the workshop developing an in-depth material understanding. Technology – such as 3D scanning, modelling and CNC production – is deployed to augment traditional craft and material knowledge, with the aim of striking an agile balance between the computational and the physical.

Hooke Park is a campus in development: a continual prototype for building, unbuilding and rebuilding. Inspired by the possibilities and challenges of crafting a work of architecture that contributes to the making of this place, students build on the work of those who have come before them, adding their research to the site. This forest laboratory is a space of intense investigation, a wild-wood of creativity and a home for architectural adventurers.

Fees and funding

The MArch in Design and Make is a 16-month programme of full-time study. The tuition fee for the programme is £42,816, which is paid in the first year of study.

The MSc programme in Design and Make is a 12-month programme of full-time study, and the tuition fee is £30,840.

Taught Postgraduate students may apply for a Bursary to support the duration of their studies in their programme. Further infomration on financial assistance can be found here.