Climate change poses two key challenges to modern architecture: how can buildings be made sustainable, and how can they be designed to take account of the effects of climate change? This masters degree faces these challenges through a unique combination of academic study with hands-on practical work, giving you the knowledge, skills and experience you need to develop an environmental career in the built environment sector.
The course uses the concepts of sustainability and adaptation transformation to frame an understanding of the built environment at the community and individual buildings level. Key building issues covered by the course include: energy management and low energy design, sustainable materials, environmental performance assessment and energy provision. Students may further pursue interests in urban design, communities, ecology, water, ecological sanitation, politics and economics.
Taught either by distance learning or through residential blocks in one of the most imaginative environmental buildings in the UK. The programme draws on our expert staff (https://gse.cat.org.uk/index.php/postgraduate-courses/msc-sustainability-and-adaptation/sa-staff-profiles) and a wide selection of specialist guest lecturers; people who have made exceptional contributions to thinking and action in the environmental and built environment sectors.
Successful completion of the programme MSc Sustainability and Adaptation in the Built Environment at the Centre for Alternative Technology leads to the award of Master of Science (MSc) by UEL.
- Sustainability and adaptation concepts and planning
- Ecosystem Services, Land use and Water and Waste Management
- Adaptation Transformation Politics and Economics
- Cities and Communities
- Energy Flows in Buildings – Parts A and B
- Energy Provision (Renewable Energy)
- Building Performance Assessment and Evaluation
- Sustainable Materials in the Built Environment
- Built Environment Applied Project or Built Environment Practice Based Project
Studying at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) is a truly unique experience. For the past 40 years CAT has been at the forefront of the environmental movement, pioneering low-carbon living and renewable technology. At the Graduate School of the Environment (GSE), students benefit from our extensive practical and academic knowledge, graduating with the skills needed to become leading players in the sustainability sector. Find out more about our facilities here: https://gse.cat.org.uk/index.php/postgraduate-courses/msc-sustainability-and-adaptation/sa-site-and-facilities
At CAT, hands-on learning takes place side by side with academic study. Residential on-site block learning weeks are taught at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), an inspiring learning environment. Nestled in a disused slate quarry on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park, CAT is a living laboratory for paractical, sustainable solutions. It contains some of the most innovative and renowned environmentally conscious buildings in the country, as well as one of the most diverse range of installed renewable technologies, on site water and sewage treatment, sustainably managed woodland and acres of organic gardens.
It is a flexible degree, taught in blocks taken either with an intensive residential stay of five or six nights at the centre, or by distance learning. MSc students are free to choose between these teaching modes for every module. There is a choice of modules, taken over one year or two – meaning the degree can be part time. It is a masters degree designed to give you the best possible experience whilst also meshing neatly with the pressures of modern professional and family life.
Optional residential module weeks include lectures, seminars, group work and practicals. Applied work tends to dominate later in the week once we have laid the theoretical groundwork. These module weeks provide a truly immersive environment to escape daily life and apply yourself to new learning. Many eminent experts give guest lectures or hold seminars during these modules, as it is a course which seeks to draw on the expertise and learning of the whole environmental sector.
Come to an open day, visit us another time or contact us.
https://gse.cat.org.uk/index.php/open-day
Climate change poses two key challenges to modern architecture: how can buildings be made sustainable, and how can they be designed to take account of the effects of climate change? This masters degree faces these challenges through a unique combination of academic study with hands-on practical work, giving you the knowledge, skills and experience you need to develop an environmental career in the built environment sector.
The course uses the concepts of sustainability and adaptation transformation to frame an understanding of the built environment at the community and individual buildings level. Key building issues covered by the course include: energy management and low energy design, sustainable materials, environmental performance assessment and energy provision. Students may further pursue interests in urban design, communities, ecology, water, ecological sanitation, politics and economics.
Taught either by distance learning or through residential blocks in one of the most imaginative environmental buildings in the UK. The programme draws on our expert staff (https://gse.cat.org.uk/index.php/postgraduate-courses/msc-sustainability-and-adaptation/sa-staff-profiles) and a wide selection of specialist guest lecturers; people who have made exceptional contributions to thinking and action in the environmental and built environment sectors.
Successful completion of the programme MSc Sustainability and Adaptation in the Built Environment at the Centre for Alternative Technology leads to the award of Master of Science (MSc) by UEL.
- Sustainability and adaptation concepts and planning
- Ecosystem Services, Land use and Water and Waste Management
- Adaptation Transformation Politics and Economics
- Cities and Communities
- Energy Flows in Buildings – Parts A and B
- Energy Provision (Renewable Energy)
- Building Performance Assessment and Evaluation
- Sustainable Materials in the Built Environment
- Built Environment Applied Project or Built Environment Practice Based Project
Studying at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) is a truly unique experience. For the past 40 years CAT has been at the forefront of the environmental movement, pioneering low-carbon living and renewable technology. At the Graduate School of the Environment (GSE), students benefit from our extensive practical and academic knowledge, graduating with the skills needed to become leading players in the sustainability sector. Find out more about our facilities here: https://gse.cat.org.uk/index.php/postgraduate-courses/msc-sustainability-and-adaptation/sa-site-and-facilities
At CAT, hands-on learning takes place side by side with academic study. Residential on-site block learning weeks are taught at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), an inspiring learning environment. Nestled in a disused slate quarry on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park, CAT is a living laboratory for paractical, sustainable solutions. It contains some of the most innovative and renowned environmentally conscious buildings in the country, as well as one of the most diverse range of installed renewable technologies, on site water and sewage treatment, sustainably managed woodland and acres of organic gardens.
It is a flexible degree, taught in blocks taken either with an intensive residential stay of five or six nights at the centre, or by distance learning. MSc students are free to choose between these teaching modes for every module. There is a choice of modules, taken over one year or two – meaning the degree can be part time. It is a masters degree designed to give you the best possible experience whilst also meshing neatly with the pressures of modern professional and family life.
Optional residential module weeks include lectures, seminars, group work and practicals. Applied work tends to dominate later in the week once we have laid the theoretical groundwork. These module weeks provide a truly immersive environment to escape daily life and apply yourself to new learning. Many eminent experts give guest lectures or hold seminars during these modules, as it is a course which seeks to draw on the expertise and learning of the whole environmental sector.
Come to an open day, visit us another time or contact us.
https://gse.cat.org.uk/index.php/open-day
This leading-edge programme, established before many in the built environment field were aware of greenhouse gases, has produced a stream of high-achieving graduates sought after by the biggest names in building design and the construction industry. We attract students from across the globe eager to find positions worldwide or to take relevant, cutting-edge thinking about sustainable building design back to their own part of the world.
The programme aims to develop students' knowledge and expertise in problem solving in the area of the built environment, and provide a framework for developing innovative thinking in the design and operation of buildings, placing associated environmental issues in a global, national and personal context.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of six core modules (90 credits), two optional modules (30 credits) and a built environment dissertation (60 credits).
A Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits, full-time nine months) is offered.
Core modules
Optional modules
The availability of all optional modules is subject to demand.
Dissertation/report
All MSc students submit a 10,000-word report on a topic related to the main themes of the programme. The topic can be chosen to enhance career development or for its inherent interest.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a combination of interactive seminars, individual and group tutorials, site visits and a residential field trip. Assessment is through unseen examination, coursework, and the built environment report. Joint coursework, including two major low-energy architectural design projects, is carried out by students in multidisciplinary teams.
Fieldwork
Students will have the opportunity to participate in field trips and site visits including a residential trip to the Centre for Alternative Technology in North Wales.
Travel, accommodation and activities for the residential field visit is free. Travel costs for site visits or fieldwork within the London area (zones 1-6) accessible by public transport is covered by students. Otherwise, travel is covered by the programme.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Built Environment: Environmental Design and Engineering MSc
Most students who complete the programme move into, or continue in, a building-related profession, such as architecture, low-energy design consultancy, or building services engineering. As the awareness of global environmental issues increases, the demand for people with expertise in the health and energy performance of buildings is expanding rapidly. A number of students have used the MSc as a foundation for MPhil/PhD research.
First destinations of recent graduates include: Neapoli, XC02, Max Fordham, Arup, WSP, Atkns, Buro Happold, PassivSystems, EnergyExcel, local authorities, Foster and Partners, Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners.
Recent career destinations for this degree
Employability
This programme is very "close to market" with many students finding jobs even before their studies have finished: the skills students gain are those that employers need. For example, we teach several tools used by commercial companies including the thermal analysis software IESVE. Students can walk straight into jobs where these are used and be useful immediately. Students sometimes take placement positions while working on their dissertations; in recent years this has included overseas options, for example, with Neapoli in Malaysia. Graduates often contact us through our strong alumni network to recruit for new positions, listening to their feedback ensures we keep the programme relevant to industry needs.
Careers data is taken from the ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’ survey undertaken by HESA looking at the destinations of UK and EU students in the 2013–2015 graduating cohorts six months after graduation.
The UCL Bartlett is the UK's largest multidisciplinary Faculty of the Built Environment, bringing together scientific and professional specialisms required to research, understand, design, construct and operate the buildings and urban environments of the future.
Located in London, the UCL Bartlett is at the heart of a large cluster of creative architects and engineering firms, next to the UK's seat of government and finance and has all the resources of a world city to hand. It offers unrivalled networking opportunities, with alumni in the majority of the major firms in London, who often give lectures to students and appear at networking events.
The multidisciplinary faculty contains the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, which has been ranked first for Architecture in the UK for many years, and is characterised by a high level of invention and creativity. The school is internationally known as a centre for innovative design.
Accreditation
This course has been accredited as suitable further learning to meet the academic requirement for Chartered Engineers (CEng) by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and Energy Institute.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
The following REF score was awarded to the department: Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources
81% rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
With a particular focus on research and research methods, our Built Environment: Energy Demand Studies MRes is ideal for you if you wish to be at the cutting-edge of new developments in this important area.
Our Built Environment: Energy Demand Studies MRes programme covers many topics that are essential to understanding building energy demand, including building simulation techniques, measuring real building performance, the economics of energy demand and statistical techniques for macro-level analyses. The knowledge you will gain on this programme is applied through the MRes dissertation, a major piece of academic work which takes place throughout the year and provides the opportunity to work closely with an experienced staff member on an in-depth research topic.
The Built Environment: Energy Demand Studies MRes programme aims are to:
The School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering has a world leading reputation for its research and strong collaborations with industry and commerce. The School is one of four Royal Academy of Engineering Centres of Excellence in Sustainable Building Design, and one of the six most highly funded EPSRC-funded groups working on Built Environment topics.
In the UK Government’s 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014), the School was the highest ranked and most research intensive building energy research school in the UK. 87% of the School’s research was scored as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.
During your studies, you will gain access to 3000m2 of unrivalled laboratory and field-scale facilities that enable world-class research to be conducted. Our suite of full-scale test houses are unique in providing a ‘matched pair’ capability that allows high-quality comparative testing of home energy efficiency interventions. In the laboratory, a controllable environmental room combined with laser-based velocimetry equipment and heated breathing manikin allows investigations of the airflows around humans in rooms and the implications for inhaled air quality and thermal comfort for a range of ventilation options. A ‘salt bath’ water tank enables airflows through buildings to be visualised and a large scale indoor solar simulator can be used for testing the solar collection performance of new concepts for renewable energy collection by buildings. There are many questions about moisture flows in buildings, and our newly-completed hygrothermal chambers allow investigation of heat and moisture transfer through building structures. These large-scale facilities are complimented by a suite of workshops and supported by a team of technicians trained in wood-work, plastics, metal-work, mechanical systems and electronics.
The Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE) Master of Studies is a two year, part-time [University of Cambridge] degree which attracts candidates looking to expand their understanding of global challenges and opportunities facing the industry. The programme equips professionals for strategic decision-making, inventive problem-solving and evidence-based design and provides the skills and confidence to support and lead interdisciplinary design teams.
From structural engineers to transport planners, design managers to architects, the IDBE has enhanced the careers of built environment professionals all over the world.
The course is aimed at practising professionals with at least three years' work experience in the built environment. It is open to architects, engineers, and all those involved in commissioning, design, construction and management. It is offered by the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership in association with the Departments of Architecture and Engineering.
To equip professionals for strategic decision making, inventive problem solving and team leadership
To develop skills in effective collaboration and communication, particularly between clients, consultants, contractors, specialists and occupiers
To provide a strategic overview of the production of the built environment including current challenges faced by the construction industry such as technological innovation, global climate change, resilience and sustainability.
The course is part-time and lasts for two years. During that time, students spend six separate residential weeks studying in Cambridge at 3-4 month intervals, as well as taking part in an online module.
Each of the residential weeks is based around a theme, such as:
Interdisciplinarity
The client, the user, and the design team
Sustainable construction and climate change
Personal development, teamwork, and leadership
Conservation, retrofit, and adaptation
Innovation, new technologies, and materials
Urbanism, change, and future communities
Teaching on the course is delivered though a mix of lectures, workshops and seminars during the residential weeks. Each residential week comprises an intensive programme of formal lectures (from leading practitioners and university academics), workshops and seminars.
A design project relating to the theme of the week is undertaken in small interdisciplinary teams, which present their design proposals to reviewers at the end of each of the weeks. Through the design project students apply and implement what they have been taught, as well as benefitting from the knowledge and expertise of their team members; in this, the design projects support experiential learning.
In preparing the four written assignments (4,000 word case study; one 3,000 word essay, one 7,000 word group project; and a 15,000 word thesis in the second year) students are supported by academic supervisors whom they meet on an individual basis.
Lectures: 42 hours per year
Seminars and classes: 15 hours per year
Practicals: 45 hours per year
Supervision: 8 hours per year
Thesis
Dissertation: 15,000 words maximum (including footnotes and appendices but excluding bibliography).
Essays, projects and written papers
A reflective case study: 4,000 words maximum.
One essay: 3,000 words maximum.
One group project: 7,000 words maximum.
In the six course weeks, students are asked to work in small multi-disciplinary groups to think, discuss, draw, write and persuade in order to come to a unified solution to the set problem over the course of a few half days. At the end of each week all teams present their solutions to their fellow students and a review panel of studio leaders and stakeholders.
IELTS Academic: Overall score of 7.5 (a minimum of 7.0 in each individual component)
TOEFL Internet: Overall score of 110 (a minimum of 25 in each individual component)
CAE: Grade A or B (with at least 193 in each individual element) plus a Language Centre assessment
CPE: Grade A, B, or C (with at least 200 in each individual element)
Read about scholarship and bursary opportunities here:
http://www.idbe.arct.cam.ac.uk/applicants/scholarship-competition-and-bursary
For full information about the course, including the closing date and application procedure, visit the CISL website:
http://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/graduate-study/idbe
A research degree is essentially a period of intensive, supervised, research work in your chosen area. It builds on your previous academic or professional experience.
We value and support our students who are a vital contribution to the intellectual life of the University.
The programme is based on your individual requirements. You can also design it around your employer’s requirements or research and development programmes.
Your research can cover any aspect of the built environment in a UK or international context. Dedicated supervisors, associated with UK and international research, provide support.
Research areas include • architecture and building science • building surveying • construction and project management • surveying, property appraisal and real estate • environmental sustainability.
Research and learning modules also support your study.
We have an established research track record, attracting over £400,000 funding each year from research councils and industry. Our £3.5 million investment means we can offer some of the best specialist computing and laboratory facilities in the UK.
Our facilities aid the effective teaching of our built environment courses. They create a successful environment for research activities and allow us to provide invaluable services to business.
There are specialist laboratories for research and study, supported by technicians and academic staff. We also have seven computer suites running specialist software.
Our architecture studios are fitted with drawing boards and networked PCs with AutoCAD software. We also have an artificial sky for daylight testing with miniature model photography.
This degree is hosted within the Faculty of Development and Society Graduate School. The Graduate School website provides a communication hub for students and staff engaged in research, information about our research work, and useful contact information.
The research programme is based on your individual requirements. You can also design it around your employer’s requirements or research and development programmes.
Research specialists can enter industry and the professions as acknowledged experts in their chosen specialism.
Designed for a new generation of heritage leaders, this programme provides the interdisciplinary skills needed to deliver the heritage programmes and projects of the future. The programme combines aspects of cultural heritage - historic buildings, museums, collections, sites and landscapes - with the best preventive conservation and heritage management policies, projects, methodologies and practices.
Students are encouraged to take a long view of preservation and heritage management and challenged to define problems, set objectives and explore a range of sustainability issues and strategies. Concepts of value, sustainability, life expectancy, stewardship, ownership, vulnerability and risk are interwoven with the scientific study of historic materials, assemblies, technologies and systems.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of four core modules (120 credits), a research report (60 credits) and an optional project placement (not credit bearing).
A Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits, full-time nine months) is offered.
Core modules
Optional modules
Dissertation/report
All MSc students submit a 10,000-word dissertation on a topic related to the main themes of the programme. The topic can be chosen to enhance career development or for its inherent interest.
Teaching and learning
The programme is taught using a variety of media and strategies including problem-based and case-based learning, discussion groups, project work, exercises, coursework and reports. Assessment is through written assignments, oral examination and the 10,000-word dissertation.
Fieldwork
A two-week study visit to Malta forms an integral part of the degree. This is hosted by Heritage Malta, the national agency responsible for the management of national museums, heritage sites and their collections in Malta and Gozo.
A video of the 2016 Malta field trip can be seen here Malta field trip .
Travel and accommodation expenses for the visit to Malta are covered by the programme.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Built Environment: Sustainable Heritage MSc
Most graduates are expected to assume responsibility for directing major projects within museums, libraries, archives, or organisations responsible for historic buildings and archaeological sites; or as a part of interdisciplinary architectural, engineering or project management practices. Additional career enhancement may be achieved by using the MSc as a foundation for PhD research.
Recent career destinations for this degree
Employability
The programme, which is accredited by RICS, is an internationally recognised qualification from a world-leading university that equips students with the skills and expertise needed to contribute to heritage projects at an advanced level. There is an opportunity to undertake a placement at a leading heritage organisation or practice during the programme and students gain access to an extensive alumni network of professionals who have studied on the programme and are currently leaders in the field.<br><br>
Please see the departmental Sustainable Heritage MSc careers page for more information.
Careers data is taken from the ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’ survey undertaken by HESA looking at the destinations of UK and EU students in the 2013–2015 graduating cohorts six months after graduation.
The UCL Bartlett is the UK's largest multidisciplinary Faculty of the Built Environment, bringing together scientific and professional specialisms required to research, understand, design, construct and operate the buildings and urban environments of the future.
Students on this programme benefit from: international, interdisciplinary teachers who are leading professionals in their field; real-life heritage case studies as the basis for discussing complex and demanding issues; access to public stewards and private owners of heritage - in order to learn from practice and leading heritage stakeholders; a fully funded study visit to Malta; project placement opportunities with leading international heritage organisations.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
The following REF score was awarded to the department: Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources
81% rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
Professional Doctorates available in the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment at NTU include:
Equivalent to a PhD, Professional Doctorates are increasingly recognised as the route of choice for industry professionals. The Professional Doctorate programme offers a part-time framework, and content is delivered through a series of key workshops associated with each module. You'll use your industry experience and current workplace knowledge to produce a substantive piece of research, while becoming part of a thriving community of postgraduate research and taught students here at NTU.
As well as having an individual director of study to support you, you'll also have access to our Creative and Virtual Technologies Research Lab.
Our Professional Doctorates are particularly suited to those in employment, working in a related industry. The part-time structure enable flexibility of study to fit around employment. The expected length of your studies will extend according to how much time you commit to the Doctorate.
The Professional Doctorate is particularly suited to mid-career professionals, as this route requires typically five to seven years' work experience in a related field. We also offer a PhD/MPhil research route which is suitable for high-achieving graduates.
Take a look at our postgraduate fees and funding page for more information on scholarships, loans, and other funding opportunities.
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