Birmingham City University, BSc (Hons), Architectural Technology

Students are provided with the professional, practical and business skills an architectural technologist needs to analyse, synthesise and evaluate design requirements to produce design solutions which satisfy performance, production and procurement criteria; this is achieved through the design, selection and specification of material, components and assembly and the management, coordination, communication, presentation and monitoring of solutions which perform to the agreed brief and standards in terms of time, cost and quality; the technologist is then equipped to manage the implementation of these on site through to the completion of construction work matching all client, regulatory and use requirements; the course follows 3 main themes: technology: this provides an in depth appreciation of the different technologies used in the UK; this includes the key elements of buildings and their performance requirements; design and development: this focuses on integrating technology with legal, regulatory, health and safety, client and use requirements producing buildings suitable for intended use and takes account of sustainability and other contemporary issues; this also equips students to manage other parties in the development process, including the business elements of a development; design skills: providing training and practice of key practical skills; students learn to physically survey, measure and gather data about the proposed building site and the surrounding environment; students are aware of the structure and format of drawings normally found in the built environment; students are taught how to manually and electronically produce drawings using three dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) and animated design solutions; they also learn how to place design solutions in context with their surroundings using geographical information system (GIS) software; this course is offered at the main campus.