About us

Welcome to the Welsh School of Architecture, a world-leading and agenda-setting school of architecture in Cardiff.

We are one of the top schools of architecture in the UK. We are consistently listed among the top 5 schools of architecture in national subject league tables.

Established in 1920, the Welsh School of Architecture is based in the Sir Percy Thomas-designed Bute Building. This is a Grade II listed historic building set within Cardiff’s Civic Centre. Architecture has been taught here continuously for more than a hundred years.

Between 2018-22, responding to the School’s popularity and growth, changing demands of architectural education in a digital age and the diversification of our research expertise, the Bute Building underwent a major redesign and refurbishment. As well as providing enhanced design studios for undergraduate and postgraduate students, the project created many different types of teaching and learning spaces, dedicated zones for craft and digital fabrication, a hybrid studio, a ‘Living Lab’ (a space where academics, communities and industries can work on collaborative projects), an auditorium for hosting symposia and conferences and an Exhibition Hall. Shortlisted for a prestigious AJ (Architects’ Journal) Award in 2022, the reimagined Bute Building allows us to build on our strong tradition of architectural education while adapting to changing technologies and ways of working, and to celebrate and enhance our international reputation for research excellence.

Mission

The School facilitates excellent teaching and research through a vibrant, collaborative environment. Embracing the diversity and transdisciplinary nature of architecture, we pursue excellence in research and innovation in teaching and learning across design, the arts, crafts, humanities and sciences.  We foster curious, creative, critical, and ethical learners who can recognise and confront challenges with wide-ranging, flexible skills and knowledge. We sustain a strong sense of inclusive community that thrives on its diversity and reaches out beyond academia to engage with our localities and the wider world.

Vision

Making a substantial contribution to the transition to and making of a sustainable built environment that can enhance the wellbeing of present and future generations and care for the planet is the primary goal of our internationally leading research and teaching.

Drawing on over a century of experience in architectural education and a strong record of excellence across design, research, teaching and civic mission, our goal is also to remain at the forefront of our field, as a top-ranked school of architecture in the UK and internationally through our second centenary and beyond.

Ethos

• Local and global – attending to global challenges in local urban and regional contexts; also seeking to build meaningful, enduring relationships through teaching and research across the world
• Civic and grounded – concerned with and responsive to real-world social and environmental issues
• Collaborative and collegiate – promoting the strength and integration of diverse skills; achieving goals together
• Inclusive and caring –valuing diversity, promoting wellbeing, and ensuring that different cultures and knowledge systems are recognised through our curricula and research
• Discursive and hands-on – Fostering intellectual debate and inquiry whilst endorsing learning by doing through making
• Experimental and propositional – tackling pressing global challenges through design thinking and creativity.

Head of school