School of Architecture: Honours Bachelor of Architectural Studies

The Honours Bachelor of Architectural Studies degree provides the foundation of skills, knowledge, judgment and practical experience required for subsequent professional studies in architecture. Though the Academic Program is pre-professional, it is fully dedicated to imparting to students the culture and practice of design. Design is a synthetic activity. To do it well and serve the needs of the individual and society requires an extremely broad education. Students acquire an understanding of the workings of society and culture, of the principles of physics, of materials and techniques of construction, of the human interaction with the natural and built environment, of historical process, of critical thought and of the diverse forms of creative expression.

Theme Areas

Courses in the Honours Bachelor of Architectural Studies degree, are arranged in four main thematic groups:

1. Design: The practice of design and the understanding of its theories and methods.
2. Culture: The understanding of cultural forces in the creative world.
3. Technology: The understanding of technological and practical aspects of design and construction.
4. Environment: The understanding of environmental issues in natural and human ecologies.

Design

The design courses are the primary focus of Architecture and are informed both directly and indirectly by the knowledge and skills developed in the other theme areas. Design courses are conducted in the form of studios in which students undertake a series of directed design projects, aimed to illustrate and engage practical, theoretical and artistic issues of architectural conception, and progressively establish expertise and understanding.

The projects range from fundamental design studies of building elements to large-scale complexes, in exercises which include individual and multiple habitation, design in natural and built environments, development of building programs, studies of principal building types, and urban design. In the final term, theory and design are integrated into a major individual project - the comprehensive building design project and technical report.

Culture

Cultural history is a unique element of Architecture at Waterloo. The courses are concerned with the human imagination and the forms through which it expresses itself. In class students read and write a great deal. They are exposed to works of history, philosophy, literature and the other arts. Architecture is thus conceived as a form of cultural expression and the creative activity of all students takes place against a background of broad humanistic study. The Academic Program fosters critical, discursive and expressive abilities that are essential to the quality of the School and its graduates.

Technology

The study of the technical aspects of building and design begins with courses in statics, strength of materials, building construction and computer applications in architecture. These establish a basis for the main sequence of courses in building materials and methods, structural design, the mechanics of environmental control and computing.

Environment

Architecture has an essential relationship with its context, and can never avoid being part of a larger reality. Understanding these situations, in both the natural and built environment, is a necessary and important part of architectural design. This theme area addresses such questions that include an introduction to sustainable building, landscape and energy-efficient building, environmental assessment systems such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ^TM), passive design, acoustics, carbon emissions, daylighting, studies of settlement patterns and the nature of cities.

Professional Accreditation

The Canadian Architectural Accreditation Board Visiting Team reviewed the professional program in 2011, including the Honours Bachelor of Architectural Studies and Master of Architecture degrees. The team report was presented to the full Certification Board in June 2011. The Board granted the maximum six-year term of accreditation. The Program was deemed to have met all 37 academic performance criteria. The Canadian Architectural Accreditation Board (CACB) accreditation allows University of Waterloo Architecture graduates to directly enter the process of professional licensure in Canada and the United States.

The provincial architectural associations in Canada require that an individual intending to become an architect hold a professional degree in architecture accredited and/or certified by the Canadian Architectural Certification Board. Two types of degrees are accredited by the Board: (1) the Bachelor of Architecture, which currently requires a minimum of five years of study, except in Quebec, where four years of professional studies follows two years of Quebec Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) studies and (2) the Master of Architecture, which currently requires a minimum of three years of study following an unrelated bachelor's degree or two years following a related bachelor's degree. These professional degrees are structured to educate those who aspire to registration and licensure to practice as architects.

Three- and four-year degrees, even when included in reviews of the professional programs, are not accredited by the CACB. These degrees are useful to those seeking a foundation in the field of architecture, as preparation for either continued education in a professional degree program or for other professional studies or employment options in fields related to architecture.

Graduates wishing to proceed to professional registration in Ontario should contact The Registrar, Ontario Association of Architects, 111 Moatfield Drive, Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 3L6 for information regarding the work experience and other requirements.

Non-Architecture Students

Students not enrolled in the Architecture Program may take any architectural course listed in the recommended core Program (depending on availability of space) with the exception of courses in the theme area of Design. Prerequisites indicated in the course descriptions are primarily for Architecture students. For non-Architecture students, prerequisite evaluation must be carried out by the respective instructors. Please contact the Course Instructor or the Undergraduate Officer for Architecture if you are interested in taking any Architecture courses.

Note

Those students who entered the Academic Program prior to September 2003 should consult the undergraduate calendar as indicated above for degree requirements and course credit weightings.

Requirements for the Degree of Honours Bachelor of Architectural Studies

(Pre-Professional Architecture)