Architecture with Foundation Year BA (Hons)

Laying the groundwork for success in Architecture Not everyone takes the same route into university, and that’s ok. If you’re passionate about working in architecture but don’t quite meet the entry requirements for Architecture BA (Hons), then this course is for you. The Foundation Year is your opportunity to step into Higher Education while building the confidence, skills, and knowledge you need to succeed.

In just one year, we’ll help you gain a solid foundation and get ready to take on our Architecture degree. We’ve designed the Foundation Year to give you a well-rounded start, with exciting new topics in technology, communicating ideas, and collaborative real-world projects - all building the strong foundations you’ll need to thrive in today’s fast-moving architecture industry. Your next step: the degree This degree programme encourages you to think beyond technical skills and develop the mindset of an architect - looking beyond buildings as objects to understand how people experience spaces in everyday life.

With a curriculum built around community-first design, you’ll explore themes such as materials and craft, reuse and repair, public space and belonging, thresholds and neighbourhoods, climate and comfort, movement and making. Through live local projects, discussion and hands-on studio work, you’ll learn how architecture can respond meaningfully to real social contexts. This is a hands-on, creative and rewarding degree.

You’ll learn by doing - developing ideas through drawing, sketching, modelling and making; and use digital and physical tools to test and refine your designs. Alongside studio work, you’ll explore how architecture has developed over time, learn how buildings are constructed, and design with sustainability in mind. At LSBU, London is your classroom.

Studying in Central London puts you at the heart of one of the world’s most inspiring built environments. From our dedicated studio spaces on the 6th, 7th and 8th floors, you’ll look out across London’s skyline, where iconic landmarks offer daily inspiration. You’ll explore the city through site and building visits, walking studies and fieldwork.

Your immediate neighbourhood of Elephant and Castle plays a central role in studio teaching. As a major area of regeneration, it offers a living laboratory where students engage directly with questions of community, public space, reuse, repair and belonging. Studio projects are shaped by real places and real partners, bringing social purpose into the design process.

You’ll be taught by research active, industry-experienced academics with extensive professional knowledge and networks. Our staff have received global acclaim for groundbreaking research, and contributed to major projects such as the extension of the Leicester City football stadium. We’ve also exhibited at Venice Biennale, and a dvanced the conversation on women in architecture around the world.

To prepare you for professional practice, you’ll work in industry-ready facilities. You’ll have access to dedicated studio spaces that foster a culture of sketching, model making, discussion and critique, alongside facilities that encourage experimentation and precision. Facilities include timber and metal workshops, rapid prototyping, laser cutting, 3D printing, robotic fabrication, digital visualisation and scanning, an animation studio and a virtual reality headset.

Past students have won awards for their ideas and contributions towards on-going social initiatives. Browse the 2025 Architecture End of Year Show catalogue to see how they have taken their ideas into the world.