Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Architecture

at Norwich University of the Arts United Kingdom

Taking Year 0 at the beginning of your degree course will get your studies at Norwich University of the Arts off to a flying start. The extra year of study will help you explore creative ideas and begin to develop the practical skills, research techniques and ways of thinking that are essential to undergraduate success.

You will explore how words and images can come to life on the page and screen to tell stories and to deliver information. Our highly regarded course will nurture your love of type, typography, typefaces, image creation and art direction.

You will use industry-standard software to explore a broad range of editorial design approaches from storytelling with text and images to mastering typography, book binding and specialist print finishing, to complex data visualisation and infographics.

Our BA (Hons) Fashion Communication and Promotion degree will offer you insight into the technical expertise and creative strategies that successful fashion businesses use to grab attention.

As you build your knowledge of fashion marketing, you will develop skills that will make you attractive to employers, including:

• Market segmentation
• Branding and brand development
• Promotional strategies
• Competitor analysis and more!

And you will follow in the path of graduates who are set up for successful fashion media and marketing careers after work experience, live projects and internships with brands like Adidas, Vivienne Westwood and Vogue.

Take the next step towards becoming a qualified architect on our MArch Architecture course*.

Developing a unique design voice is at the heart of the course while equipping successful graduates with the necessary professional competencies.

Research-by-design

The course is made up of eight units taught over two years full-time and three years part-time study. Each unit falls into the area of Design Studio, Research or Professional Studies.

Studio options range from practitioner-led masterclasses, or active research in coastal architectural design, contemporary considerations in conservation/rehabilitation, modern vernacular architecture in provincial towns and rural areas.

You will be supported to tackle real-world issues, while speculating and proposing new futures through bold experimentation and boundless enquiry in project-based learning.

Our tutors come from industry and research and our community is a place where academics, practitioners and students are co-designing new ways of thinking.

Teaching is delivered in a dedicated postgraduate studio space, equipped with computer workstations, model-making facilities, large format printers and 3D printers.

You share the infrastructure of a specialist creative arts university with equipment, expertise and support of disciplines such as Games, Fine Art, Fashion, and Interior Design.

You have access to workshops with capability for plastics, metal, wood, and concrete work.

Connecting your passions and unique perspective to the world of professional photography is at the heart of our BA (Hons) Photography course, recognised by the Association of Photographers. You will develop your own approach at NUA – not a standard house style

You will learn how to apply your creative vision to a range of industry briefs, from fashion to advertising and editorial photography.

Whatever your aspirations, your work will be unmistakable as you emerge as a professional practitioner with a distinctive portfolio.

Thinking beyond the frame

We will encourage you to think about client needs and expectations.

We want to see you produce stand-out work that could wow creative teams in whatever industry drives your interest.

But it will always be your vision.

You’ll also be part of a community of photographers – collaborating with other students and taking part in peer review and cross-year critiques to give and receive feedback

Designed for the future

Studying at NUA will give you access to a wide range of industry-level photographic and lighting equipment.

You will have access to tools to produce imaginative and original images to the highest standards.

There will be opportunities to work at the cutting edge of digital photography; exploring the possibilities of moving image and computer-generated images (CGI).

Combining creativity, craft skills and technological innovation, our MA Textile Design Masters degree course will develop and refine your expert knowledge of textile design.

You’ll work at the forefront of the discipline, embracing the latest digital and technological advancements while developing a clear understanding of the market and the commercial potential of your work.

Hone your textile design skills

You’ll be encouraged to push your imagination and stretch the boundaries of the discipline through creative use of materials, processes and concepts.

Course tutors and workshop technicians teaching on this postgraduate course are also practitioners, with extensive and diverse experience in areas including digital textile production, CAD for repeat design, laser cutting, illustration, dye and weave. The breadth and depth of their knowledge will benefit you as you experiment and develop your practice through exhibitions and national competitions.

Your creativity and professional craft, creative expression and problem-solving skills will grow at NUA as you explore interior design as a way of addressing human needs and social challenges.

Our BA (Hons) Interior Design degree will encourage you to consider how people react to spaces as you gain experience of designing for a range of interiors: from homes and housing projects to hotels and shops, restaurants and offices.

Professional and design skills

Working in our Interior Design studio and workshops, you will explore how scale, light, colour, materials, texture and their acoustics affect human reactions as you consider the social implications of design.

And with the support of our expert academics and technicians, you’ll master a variety of techniques and visualisation methods, including:

• Sketching by hand
• Industry-standard 3D digital platforms
• Collage
• Photography
• Model-making

Experiment and explore the broad context and future of textile design at NUA as you develop your professional skills and personal style through commercial and creative briefs.

Our BA (Hons) Textile Design degree course will encourage you to try a range of techniques, from traditional processes to 21^st century technology; including:

• Screen-printing
• Weaving
• Knit, stitch and material explorations
• Digital design and making with industry-standard equipment.

Building your creative and professional skills in a variety of techniques and approaches to illustration is at the heart of our well-regarded course at NUA.

Our BA (Hons) Illustration degree course has a reputation for challenging conventional thinking. We will help you to develop your personal style as your expertise grows in drawing, print, collage and multi-media.

You will explore visual storytelling and both digital and analogue image-making: from the page to the screen, to installations and interactive experiences.

Step towards an illustration career

Live projects, competitions and collaborations will offer work opportunities to prepare you for a successful career in illustration.

You will develop your own way of thinking about illustration, storytelling and the connection of images to text or the spoken word.

We will help with advice about working in the creative industries, including freelance careers, employment and entrepreneurship, and practical tips on handling commissions and negotiating with clients.

Our BA (Hons) Fine Art degree course encourages ‘thinking through making’ and you will explore the breadth of fine art with workshops in painting, print, sculpture, mixed media and video. You will use project spaces and external venues for performance, display and curation.

You will shape your own distinctive career path as an artist on our BA (Hons) course and join generations of graduates who have achieved national and international success.

Our graduates are renowned for their unique voice and vision, leading them to Turner Prize nomination and inclusion in the UK’s annual New Contemporaries exhibition.  

You will explore the mechanics of playful interaction on our BSc (Hons) Games Development degree as you develop skills in prototyping and user testing.

You are a games designer, developer, or coder who wants to learn the end-to-end process of making games and prepare for a successful career in a dynamic and rapidly-evolving industry.

You will work with different technologies and platforms, including console, web, mobile, PC, augmented and virtual reality.

How you think, make decisions, and develop ideas will evolve as you learn to code games that give users an exceptional experience. And you will be part of the NUA Games community, interacting and collaborating with your peers on our sister course, BA Games Art and Design.

Workshops, technical demonstrations and live briefs will help prepare you for a career in the games industry.

NUA Games is a member of the Sony PlayStation First Academic Partnership Programme, and was ranked as the UK’s best educational institution in 2017. The Rookies, a global panel of games industry experts, ranked NUA in the world’s top 50 in 2020.

Games development – your way

You will be exposed to a variety of industry-standard platforms and technologies – including virtual, augmented, mixed and extended reality – but will always focus on your own personal and professional interest.

Applying computer science, and knowledge of emerging technologies to the creation of prototypes, you’ll create different types of game for different audiences, based on evidence gathered through research, observation and practical experimentation.

You’ll evolve how you think, make decisions, and develop ideas, to ultimately code games that give users an exceptional experience.