MA Architecture portfolio guide

This guide will help you if you're applying for MA Architecture, MA Architecture: Landscape and Urban Design, MA Architecture: Spatial Design Practices, or MA Architecture: Building and Heritage Conservation. 

Architecture pathways

These courses support you in developing a specialism within a particular area of study.

Choose your preferred pathway to see your specific portfolio requirements:

Landscape and Urban Design | Building and Heritage Conservation | Spatial Design Practices

What to include in your Architecture: Landscape and Urban Design portfolio

If you have a relevant undergraduate degree

We would like to see a range of media and outcomes; however, you should include work that shows your engagement with cities, landscape, and places. You should aim to include no more than 20 images.  Please include a short description of each piece of work. If they were produced in response to a brief, please show what the brief asked you to do.

You should show examples of design work from all years of undergraduate study, focusing on your final year. However, don’t limit the portfolio to ‘presentation drawings’ – evidence of design process, as well as product, will be valued. We want to see images from your sketchbooks and developmental work.

Try also to provide examples of work that supported your design activity, like theory, technical, and professional practice outputs. Your portfolio should show the breadth and depth of your engagement with design, the range of your representational skills, as well as intellectual and professional progression.

We anticipate applicants will have a variety of experience and expertise, but some examples of completed work could include:

• sketches
• design layouts
• typography
• photography
• illustration, including collage and/or paintings
• web design
• video
• animation and/or motion graphics
• interactive and/or 3D work

If you have professional experience

Examples of work drawn from professional experience are also helpful, again representing both process and product. Please highlight any relevant interactions with specialist consultants and advisers. You may also include examples of ‘non-academic’ activity – such as painting or photography – that represent a breadth of artistic or intellectual engagement.

Please evidence:

• projects completed in professional practice
• an ability to select, present and communicate a range of work to a high professional standard
• ability to write, evidenced in written work, in the portfolio or in a dissertation or an equivalent

If you’re coming from a non-academic background

You’ll need to present an example of your written work. Please submit a written statement (up to 1,000 words) outlining your interest in Landscape and Urban Design as a wider subject and the Master’s programme specifically. You can include sketches or drawings to support your statement if you wish.

Please provide:

• your CV evidencing your career development
• your ability to write, evidenced in written work, in the portfolio or in a dissertation or an equivalent
• evidence of your understanding of urban and landscape design, which could be through photography or a collection of projects

This course attracts applicants from different relevant academic backgrounds, so submitting a design work portfolio is optional.

To receive Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) accreditation, you'll need to take two specialist units for Building and Heritage Conservation.

What to include in your Architecture: Building and Heritage Conservation portfolio

If you have a relevant degree

Candidates with a relevant undergraduate degree have the option to submit examples of their undergraduate study or professional work, whether it is design work or any other relevant pieces of work (written or practical). If you choose to include a portfolio in your application, please submit a maximum of 20 images, and please include a short description with each piece of work.

Your portfolio should provide evidence of the range of your skills, the breadth and depth of your engagement with your subject area, as well as your intellectual and professional progression.

If you have worked on projects related to historic buildings, please ensure that these are represented. You should not limit the portfolio to ‘presentation drawings’ — evidence of design process, written pieces and/or final outputs will be valued. You should also attempt to provide examples of work that supported your activities, such as theory, technical, and professional practice outputs.

If you have professional experience

Please include evidence of work if you have:

• experience of professional practice in a related field (for example, a specialist architectural practice, surveying practice)
• professional or practical experience of working on historic buildings or sites 

This may include evidence of fieldwork, photographs, sketches, or examples of professional reports that you have written. Please highlight any interactions you have had with specialist consultants and advisers or with public or private heritage bodies.

If you're coming from a non-academic background

• CV evidencing your career development
• Ability to write, evidenced in written work, in the portfolio or in a dissertation or an equivalent
• Evidence of your understanding of building heritage and conservation, which could be through photography or a collection of projects

What to include in your Architecture: Spatial Design Practices portfolio

Your portfolio should be clearly organised, and show the breadth and depth of your engagement with spatial design broadly, the range of your representational skills, and intellectual and professional progression. Try to include no more than 20 images per page in total (for written work submissions, this can be more) and supply a brief description with each piece of work.

If you have a spatial design-related undergraduate degree

If you have a spatial design or related undergraduate degree, include examples of your work focusing on your final year, with some work from an earlier stage in your course. Don’t limit the portfolio to ‘presentation drawings’: evidence of design processes, as well as product, will be valued. We want to see images from sketchbooks (or similar) and other developmental work.

You should also have examples of work that supported your design development, such as theory, technical, and professional practice outputs.

Your portfolio should evidence:

• exploration, research and spatial observations
• original idea generation
• concept development
• evidence of drawing skills, both using computer software and by hand
• an ability to select, present and communicate a range of work to a high professional standard

If you have a performance/arts-based undergraduate degree

If you have a degree in either a performance/arts-based, or a humanities-based discipline, include any work which is relevant, which may be images but can also be pieces of writing.

Your portfolio should evidence:

• exploration and research
• original idea generation and concept development
• evidence of performance/art-making skills
• an ability to select, present and communicate a range of work to a high professional standard

If you have professional experience

If you have experience of professional practice, please include a record of work you’ve produced in such a context, e.g. photographs, sketches or written work

• evidence of projects completed in professional practice
• an ability to select, present and communicate a range of work to a high professional standard
• ability to write, evidenced in written work, in the portfolio or in a dissertation or an equivalent

If you're coming from a non-academic background

• CV evidencing your career development
• ability to write, evidenced in written work, in the portfolio or in a dissertation or an equivalent
• evidence of your understanding of 'space', which could be through photography or a collection of projects