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Apply by 21 Jan 2025 to start 24 Feb 2025
As we respond to new challenges such as environmental sustainability, the evolution of technology, and the changing needs of human habitation, we are constantly making and remaking the physical world. Study the Bachelor of Architectural Studies to be part of designing and shaping the built environment—inside or out.
The world of architecture
The Bachelor of Architectural Studies (BAS) is a three-year undergraduate degree that gives you the knowledge and practical skills you need to start your journey towards a career in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, or interior architecture.
Study alongside Building Science students in the first year, giving you a basic understanding of the principles and theory behind the built environment.
Gain a solid grounding in a range of subjects from design, technology, and architectural history to environmental science, theory, and urban design.
The insights you gain will help you make an informed choice when it’s time to pick your major at the end of the year. You can choose from Architecture, Architecture History and Theory, Interior Architecture, and Landscape Architecture.
Māori Design and Environments
From 2022, BAS degrees with majors in Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Landscape Architecture can be taken with a specialisation in Māori Design and Environments.
In your second or third year, you’ll be able to study dedicated courses such as SARC 216 Mātauranga Māori and the Built and Natural Environment. These courses will complement existing course content, allowing you to focus on specific approaches underpinned by mātauranga Māori. Students taking this specialisation will work with key concepts in mātauranga Māori based in both practice and theory that will prepare them for working in their respective creative industries. You will have the opportunity to develop key conceptual design skills that incorporate an understanding of kaupapa Māori through the use of novel multimedia exploration and craft.
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Download our handbook
Fill in a form to find out more about your study options at the School of Architecture in our qualification handbook.
Important information
- First-year courses are shared with Bachelor of Building Science students.
- You don't need to submit a portfolio to get into the first year.
- Your selection for entry to the second year is based on how well you do in all first-year courses.
- The academic Calendar is the authoritative source of programme and course information.
First year
Your first year will give you a solid understanding of the built environment—both in New Zealand and globally.
You’ll study eight core introductory courses. Some will introduce you to the concepts, history, and theory of design, as well as the ways that design is communicated. Other courses focus on the technology used in creating the built environment in a sustainable way.
By the end of your first year, you’ll have a strong grasp of the main ideas, vocabulary, and technology of architecture. You’ll also have a good idea of where you want to go from there.
Second year
This is the year you begin to focus on your chosen major—Architecture, Interior Architecture, Landscape Architecture, or Architecture History and Theory.
You’ll look closely at specific areas like building technologies, culture and heritage, design communication, and site systems and ecology.
Third year
In your third year of the Bachelor of Architectural Studies, you’ll delve even further into your chosen subject and apply what you’ve learned to large-scale projects and research assignments.
Get a Master’s degree
You’ll need a Master’s degree to be formally recognised by the professional bodies of architecture and landscape architecture.
Conjoint and double degrees
You can choose to combine your BAS with another degree in a conjoint or double degree, which will take you less time than completing two degrees separately. For instance, you might combine your BAS with the Bachelor of Building Science.
The BAS degree is highly structured, though, so you will have to do some careful planning to do a conjoint or double degree. You should talk to a Student Success Adviser about making a plan that will work for you.
Scholarships
Scholarships are awarded to hundreds of first-year students each year. They help with living costs and accommodation costs at the University's halls of residence.
Our Tangiwai, Totoweka, and Kahotea scholarships are available to school leavers, and there are several other first-year scholarships on offer in our scholarships database.
You can also apply for a TeachNZ Scholarship. These scholarships are awarded based on specific areas where teachers are needed.
We strongly recommend applying for our scholarships, as they often don’t receive enough applications.
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