利莫利克大学

About You

If you are a person that combines creative imagination and analytical rigour; if you are a good observer; and if you are inspired by the prospect of changing the world we live in, then UL’s problem-oriented approach to architecture may just be right for you. Architecture requires a lot of dedication, and is a very hands-on course that relies on constructional understanding, based on lots of model making and material experiments.

Why Study Architecture at UL?

The School of Architecture at the University of Limerick offers a 5-year undergraduate degree in architecture. The objective of the School is to educate architects with a strong set of integrated skills, balanced with a clear understanding of the environment - built, existing and imagined - and vital to professional practice. The Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) has awarded full accreditation to the architecture programme at UL. Studying architecture in an accredited programme is the first step towards becoming a registered professional architect.

The School of Architecture embraces all parts of an architect’s education; it is a place where the study of architecture is undertaken with passion and inventiveness, an open and transparent society of mobile thinkers. The School of Architecture teaches an architecture that is integrated with Environmental and Structural engineering, as disciplines that set us free from the limitations of our own knowledge and help us to achieve a balance with the environment by focusing human abilities.

Course Structure

Training as an architect is engaging in a process of ‘learning by doing’ with the course curriculum structured around the design studio. The design studio is a creative laboratory where learning is developed through experimentation and reflection. Woven into the design studio will be courses of study in structures (structural engineering), environmental science (environmental engineering), history (of architecture, society, technology), and philosophy, sociology, law and management (professional practice).

The course is designed to equip you with a broad range of skills fundamental to becoming an architect. These skills include hand drawing, sketching, model-making, photography, computer- aided drawing, audiovisual and verbal presentation, as well as core skills including conceptualising and designing, problem solving and working with other people.

Career Prospects

Careers open to you with a degree in Architecture include;

• Architect (private practice and local authority)
• Landscape Architect
• Architecture Critic/Writer
• Tutor/Lecturer in Architecture
• Academic Researcher
• Model Maker
• Historical Buildings Consultant/ Conservation Officer

As a graduate of this course, you will be in a position to start working in an architect’s office. This is the path followed by most graduates. However, architecture studies are broad, encompassing technical skills, design, art, history and presentation skills and some graduates do move into other areas including policy making or public administration, business or urban design, photography or other arts, furniture or model making, research and writing, or pursue further studies.

The Building Control Act 2007 introduced registration for architects in the Republic of Ireland, The Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) maintains the professional register – “The best way to qualify as an architect eligible for RIAI Membership and admission to the Register for Architects is to get a degree from a recognised school of architecture, followed by two years of approved practical experience generally takes seven to nine years.”