This two year programme fulfils the requirements for the second part of professional education in architecture (RIBA and RIAI Part II exempt). It equips students to deal with complex design problems in challenging contexts. Through studio projects, academic writing and practical experiment it develops professional capacities while placing equal emphasis on research and critical enquiry. It situates architecture within a broader field of disciplines and influences. The programme is led by academics and practitioners at the forefront of the discipline. It encourages students to participate in and lead the development of a vital and critical culture of architecture.
The School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy offers a wide and multi-disciplinary range of taught graduate programmes suited to recent graduates and professionals alike.
Architecture
Urban environments and their buildings are at once both acutely responsible for the climate crisis, and present some of the most achievable solutions. Climate action is urgently required to mitigate their environmental impact and unearth creative solutions.
The MSc programme equips graduates and returning professionals with specialist skills to respond to the challenge of planning, designing, and actioning a sustainable built environment. The School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy (APEP) brings together four key disciplines to provide a unique graduate learning experience.
Core modules are specifically designed to enhance knowledge of Sustainable Development Goals, climate science and policy as well as skills for sustainable building and urban design. Options will allows students choose from a wide range of architecture, planning and policy based modules, as well as energy and sustainability modules from around the University. Linking to prestigious industry-collaborative research projects will allow students action their research and knowledge to advance careers in sustainable practice, consultancy, policy and academia.
Architecture is a regulated profession. The Professional Diploma (Architecture) is the final stage of the training of architectural graduates, and is required for entry to the statutory (opens in a new window)Register for Architects in Ireland, and in order to use the title ‘architect’. It is also required for (opens in a new window)recognition of Irish architects’ qualifications in EU member states and in (opens in a new window)the United Kingdom.
The Diploma is a part-time 30 ECTs programme with five modules. The three lecture-based modules (Architectural Practice, Construction Legislation, Procurement & Contracts) will be offered in Spring, followed by the Case Study and Practical Experience (oral exam) modules, which must be taken within two years (four trimesters).
UCD is fully committed to continued delivery of the programme, and is opening applications for January 2025. Forty places will be available and will be allocated by random selection, details are available in the links below.
- 2024- 25 Professional Diploma (Architecture) INFORMATION
- 2024- 25 Professional Diploma (Architecture) APPLICATIONS
Register your interest on this (opens in a new window)EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FORM.
Enquiries: Please refer all queries to (opens in a new window)professionalpractice@ucd.ie.
Landscape Architecture
Global climate change is altering everything—everywhere in the world. We are faced with necessary tasks relating to the design and build of our surrounding environments. The landscape and its functions, its ecosystem services and its appearance, will inevitably change. As the energy transition accelerates, the landscape is developing into a global powerhouse. Simultaneously, the landscape, with its soils, peatlands, wetlands, forests and oceans, must be assisted in its capacity as a major global carbon sink.
The landscape will become a global infrastructure element with decentralized renewable energy production; the corresponding power lines, substations, battery parks, biomass production, pipelines, transport routes, etc. All of this must be carefully thought out and designed. This is the only way to ensure attractive, sustainable future growth.
Planning
The capacity to develop planning and urban design solutions, to analyse them critically and to provide guidance in regard to their implementation is one for which there is a growing demand. Furthermore, urban design lies at the interface of architecture and urban planning, with both disciplines contributing complementary but contrasting approaches to urban design theory and practice. In this context, the MSc Planning, Development & Urban Design has been specifically tailored to enable fully-qualified architects to further develop, build upon and enhance relevant pre-existing professional knowledge, understanding, and skills, to specialise in both spatial planning and urban design.
The programme also draws upon the particular research strengths of the School, providing students with the opportunity to engage with innovative approaches to sustainable and resilient urbanism, exploring emerging challenges surrounding the role of urban design in mitigating or adapting to climate change, in promoting ‘healthy’ cities or neighbourhoods, and the incorporation of ‘nature’ into design (e.g. nature-based solutions) to address habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss.
Urban design lies at the interface of architecture and urban planning, with both disciplines contributing complementary but contrasting approaches to urban design theory and practice. This Masters programme is focused on the role of urban design in the context of urban planning, and is delivered with an emphasis on the distinct methodologies, professional perspectives and pedagogies of that discipline.
It provides specialist knowledge and skills in: urban design theory; urban conservation; risk, resilience and sustainability; as well as social science research methods applied to the built environment. The programme will enable graduates to work as part of a multidisciplinary team to create better places through urban design. Students will also have the opportunity to draw upon the School’s specialist research and teaching in environmental policy, to place urban design centre-stage in tackling wider environmental risks.
While the programme will be of interest primarily to students from a planning background, it will also appeal to graduates from a variety of other disciplinary backgrounds wishing to specialise in urban design and planning, including those with qualifications in geography, anthropology, sociology, environmental studies, engineering, property economics, surveying, politics, social science, and law.
The Master of Regional and Urban Planning (MRUP) is a one-year professional planning degree, which will provide you with the first steps to becoming a professional chartered planner. The MRUP offers you the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and values fundamental to a career in planning and skills and knowledge which are transferrable to other careers. Applications are welcome from graduates from any discipline, though undergraduate disciplines with a thematic link to Planning are preferred. The programme is also suitable for those with a professional background in a field related to Planning who might wish to develop and broaden their skillset.
If you have already completed a three year undergraduate degree in spatial planning you should refer to our one year planning programmes the MRUP (Accelerated) programme, the MSc in Urban Design and Planning and the MSc in Environmental Policy.
Environmental Policy
Societies and governments across the globe are faced with increasingly complex environmental challenges, from climate change to local environmental quality in our cities and regions. Within this context, there is a growing demand for graduates with a capacity to develop environmental policy choices, to analyse them critically and to provide guidance in policy implementation.
The aim of the MSc in Environmental Policy is to provide students with the professional knowledge, skills and tools to equip them for a career in the environmental field while contributing to a more sustainable and resilient future. The MSc provides both introductory and specialised modules in Environmental Policy, and as such we welcome applicants from a diverse range of academic backgrounds including social sciences and arts, environmental sciences, law and business studies, and engineering.