This course enables you to become a professional within the specialist field of historic building conservation. London is rich in its collection of historic buildings, and the course team places great emphasis on using these to illustrate and inform elements of the course. In particular, past and ongoing works at the Historic Royal Palaces, together with several national and local heritage organisations and practitioners, are used as the basis for project work.
Key features
The course is designed to balance strategic analysis with a good working knowledge of core techniques. You will acquire the skills and knowledge to extend your current practice and/or gain knowledge and expertise in new areas. You will work with a range of professionals and specialists to broaden your understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of the field. A week-long field trip to a European city will provide the opportunity to further develop your technical knowledge and embed it within a practice scenario.
Essays, reports, seminars, workshops, group field trip, project work, presentations, and dissertation.
Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list. Those listed here may also be a mixture of core and optional modules.
Modules
This course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
The programme will enable you to gain the academic and professional competencies you need to succeed in this field. It offers a blend of academic rigour and applied practical application. Each module draws upon the specialist knowledge and skills of a number of outstanding experts in conservation and related fields.
The programme will enable you to gain the academic and professional competencies you need to succeed in this field. Your learning is based around interactive workshop sessions, practical demonstrations, site visits and personal study. Each module is introduced by a four-day block of lectures and site visits based at the University's Whiteknights campus, which has 19th and 20th century listed buildings.
The aim of the flexible MSc Conservation of the Historic Environment programme is to develop your understanding of this important field. It will enable you to approach the issues that you will face in a competent and professional manner.
This course is fully accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, is accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute as a specialist programme and is also fully recognised by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation.
All modules on this programme can also be taken as stand-alone CPD courses attendees do not submit any coursework and therefore gain no credits towards the qualification.
The Conservation of the Historic Environment Programme
The Conservation of the Historic Environment programme has a high reputation with former students going on to work in organisations such as Historic England, National Trust, English Heritage, Historic Royal Palaces, Prince's Regeneration Trust, local authorities as well as surveying, planning, architectural and engineering practices.
School of Real Estate and Planning
Our School is the largest in the UK for teaching and research in real estate and planning. Established in 1968 at the University of Reading, we are the only major UK real estate and planning centre to be located within a business school. Being part of the Henley Business School reflects our close and longstanding collaborative relationship with industry.
We enjoy a worldwide reputation for excellence in both teaching and research and we are consistently highly ranked in all major league tables. We undertake internationally recognised, leading edge research into real estate, planning and land and we offer a comprehensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses, all of which are accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Our planning courses are also accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute.
Our programmes are held in high regard by leading employers, many of whom come to us each year to recruit our graduates. We are proud of our outstanding employment record, with more than 95% of our students entering graduate level jobs within 6 months of leaving us.
Henley Business School
Module descriptions are correct for modules taught in the academic year 2017/18. Optional module listings are indicative, and may be subject to change.
Core Modules
Optional Modules
Graduates from this programme will have the specialist knowledge and competence to find employment with a large number of conservation bodies such as Historic England, National Trust and Historic Royal Palaces, local and central government, planning, surveying and architectural, consultancies and corporate entities where their portfolios include historic buildings.
This course is fully accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, is accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute as a specialist programme and is also fully recognised by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation.
Our highly regarded Architectural Conservation programme is more than 40 years old; it is the longest-established graduate historic preservation programme in the UK.
Whether you’re approaching the field from an architectural, historical, geological or other viewpoint, this programme will guide you through the foundations and challenges of this important means of nurturing cultural and national identity.
You will benefit from learning on our historic campus (located in Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site), and from the wealth of academic and intellectual activities associated with an internationally-renowned university.
You’ll be part of the Scottish Centre for Conservation Studies (SCCS), a specialist teaching and research unit that provides the depth of expertise and resources that ensures this programme is recognised by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation.
Volunteering opportunities are also available through our partnerships with relevant organisations, allowing you to flex your skills in a practical setting.
The programme is assessed through individual written papers, group projects, presentations, and report writing. An intensive overseas field trip (optional; normally to Germany) will give you the chance to explore conservation issues in another setting. Following the taught courses, you will research and write a dissertation of around 14,000–15,000 words on an aspect of architectural conservation.
To complete your studies, you must demonstrate your familiarity with the historical and theoretical foundations and challenges of historic preservation; the techniques of recording and research; and the technologies of building repair. Elective courses can also develop more specific skills in areas such as the influences of planning law, contemporary architecture and building economics on the historic built environment; and the special conservation challenges of Modern Movement architecture and urban planning.
You will also develop more general practical and intellectual skills, in areas such as project organisation, historical research, or graphic and oral communication.
This programme aims to provide students with the broad base of knowledge and skills necessary to embark on a career in one of the many professional sub-disciplines of historic preservation, ranging from heritage management to conservation architecture.
Crucially, your qualification will be extremely well regarded thanks to its recognition by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, the UK’s official organisation of architectural preservation professionals.
Architectural conservation - the action of conserving built heritage while maintaining its values - is practiced differently across the world; sometimes not at all due to cultural and economic constraints.
It is an emerging area of work which requires specialist training and knowledge to deal with its multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary nature. It also requires the development of a critical approach for the analysis and design of the intervention, informed by the shared international principles and the specific nature and context of the historic building to be conserved.
We need to attract new talent to the field of architectural conservation. To work with historic buildings is an enriching experience, which combines the creative aspects of designing a new building with the in-depth research required to understand in full the building and its context. Working with historic buildings is also a great training to improve the design of new buildings, as you learn a great deal about the importance of design ideas, innovation, durability and care. It is also a very sociable work, interacting with a variety of people from all backgrounds, joining forces in helping current generations to enjoy historic buildings, to create community identities around them, and to transmit the buildings and their values to the future.
Glasgow and its surrounding area provide an excellent location for the course, with architectural heritage from all periods, from Roman to Medieval, Georgian, Victorian and contemporary, without forgetting the better known C. R. Mackintosh and Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s buildings. Strathclyde has a lively international community of staff and students and we enjoy a privileged position in the centre of Glasgow.
The course is a platform for:
All full-time students take instructional classes and a design project in the first two semesters. MSc students then complete a dissertation project.
Compulsory taught classes are delivered intensively, making them more accessible to part-time students and Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Areas explored in classes include:
The course is informed by the outcomes of the research being carried out at the Architectural Design and Conservation Research Unit (ADCRU). It is a platform for collaboration with both practice and research partners; architectural critique, discussion and debate are fundamental parts of the course.
Open Access modules are offered on individual modules from the MSc programme. They can be taken as stand-alone CPD options or gradually built towards a qualification.
Open Access students may transfer onto a part-time MSc or PgDip programme to complete their studies (subject to a maximum period of time).
You’ll benefit from a large number of government, local authority and industry partners, who’ll lecture on up-to-date current practices, with a diverse point of views.
Studios
There are two fully-networked design studios; one dedicated to student self-study, the other to interactive design teaching.
Library
In addition to the main University library, we have our own, on-site, reference library. Our collection is developed in direct response to the teaching delivered in the department.
Workshop
A full range of hand and portable power tools are available (complete with instruction).
PC Lab
Our lab computers have AutoCad and InDesign.
We also offer plotter printing, scanning and laser cutting services.
The course is fully recognised by the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC). The IHBC is the principal professional body for building conservation practitioners and historic environment specialists working in United Kingdom.
The course also conforms to the internationally recognised Guidelines for Education and Training in the Conservation of Monuments, Ensembles and Sites adopted by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). These criteria are used by professional institutes for the assessment of evidence and professional accreditation in conservation.
The course is balanced between theory and practice. It’s delivered through:
The course is a platform for collaboration with both practice and research partners; architectural critique, discussion and debate are fundamental parts of the course.
Formative assessment will take place throughout the course.
You’ll be assessed through lectures, seminars, interim Studio Reviews and workshops, supported by student presentations, symposia and peer feedback.
Methods of teaching vary; some subjects are formally taught using lectures and seminars, others use a mix of methods which may incorporate small projects.
The main architectural conservation project is a studio based project which involves one-to-one tuition and appraisals in review seminars. Team teaching techniques are used in several projects and increasing use is made of student peer group reviews. Summative assessment will be through:
Areas of employment for graduates are numerous. They can work as independent professionals in conservation or for architectural firms all over the worlds. The completion of the Masters will give a variety of opportunities:
We work with a large number of government, local authority and industry partners, offering potential placement opportunities for students to work after their postgraduate degree study.
Heritage is recognised as a sector of international strategic importance. Local authorities and communities are also very interested in preserving their heritage. The conservation of historic buildings becomes more and more a day to day activity for architects and engineers.