University of Westminster

M.Sc ARCHITECTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

The global environmental and energy challenge facing current and future generations of architects and building professionals calls for a deeper understanding of the principles of environmental design, and their effective application into architectural practice worldwide. Over the last decades Environmental Design as a subject area has developed, responding to new research and experimentation, both in academia and in practice. However, buildings claiming to be environmentally conscious do not perform to the expected standards, still heavily contributing to global CO2 emissions and often providing unsatisfactory comfort conditions to occupants. The same can be said for the existing built environment which is largely outdated and underperforming, requiring urgent implementation of effective retrofit strategies not only to improve energy performance, but also comfort, health and wellbeing. This is due to a lack of comprehensive performance prediction and feedback protocols, which are still not common practice in architectural design.

Students on this course will take a fresh critical look at this subject. Here you will gain the knowledge and tools to make informed design decisions based on post-occupancy feedback and performance analysis, towards a new paradigm of environmental architecture, which is environmentally and energy conscious, yet sensitive to the contextual and socio-cultural landscape we live in. You will learn environmental design methods which relate to the various stages of architectural design for a healthier and less energy and carbon intensive built environment. You will be able to evaluate existing buildings and design new ones following a combined bioclimatic and building occupant-focused approach. In the core design modules you will follow an evidence-based design approach where the acquisition of specialised software and analytical tools will be directly applied to an evaluation or design project.

This interdisciplinary and international course will provide you with skills that can be applied to diverse building typologies and global climatic, environmental and contextual issues. On completion of this course, you will have a thorough understanding of the principles and methodology of environmental design and will develop critical thinking skills to challenge established practices. You will hold the knowledge and the practical tools to better understand existing buildings for retrofit and to design new ones – positively driving change in this field and moving towards a truly environmentally conscious architecture.

The course covers both the wider contextual and sustainable approach to environmental design, and the more technical aspects of environmentally and energy conscious building design and performance. As well as taught modules, you will take design-based modules where you will apply quantitative and qualitative analysis to the study of existing built environments and to new design projects. This includes methods for the quantification of aspects related to health and wellbeing such as the relationship between air quality and the built environment.

Also, the course embeds the BREEAM Approved Graduate course, which provides facilitated access to a BREEAM AP qualification. In recent years the course has also developed a very successful Collaborative Thesis Programme with Industry, which has allowed our students to be mentored and partnered with some of the leading organisations in the sector of environmental design consultancy and sustainable architecture. As a Higher Education institution, we are members of the UK Green Building Council and a Learning Affiliate of the Energy Institute.