University of Limerick

Profile of the School

The School of Architecture at the University of Limerick offers a 5-year undergraduate degree in architecture. The objective of the School is to educate architects with a strong set of integrated skills, balanced with a clear understanding of the environment - built, existing and imagined - and vital to professional practice. The Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) is the professional accreditation body for architecture degree programmes in the Republic of Ireland.

The School of Architecture embraces all parts of an architect’s education; it is a place where the study of architecture is undertaken with passion and inventiveness, an open and transparent society of mobile thinkers. The School of Architecture teaches an architecture that is integrated with Environmental and Structural engineering, as disciplines that set us free from the limitations of our own knowledge and help us to achieve a balance with the environment by focusing human abilities.

The School of Architecture at UL is located in a rural and beautiful landscape along the banks of the River Shannon. As a School of Architecture located in Ireland, PLACE is very important; the place is not in an urban setting; it is part of a landscape. Most architecture schools are located in cities. As the school at UL is not in a city, the environment will play a strong role in the pedagogical approach of the school, and in particular give a holistic understanding of the problems posed by the use of that environment. Fundamentally the school will explore architecture as an element of a broader environment, and the understanding of those disciplines necessary to be able to work within it. The School seeks to become a leader in thought on environmental issues by situating these issues within a strong philosophical, technological, cultural, and historical context.

Admission requirements and details of fees and funding for all applicants is available at the following link:

Bachelor of Architecture | University of Limerick

The syllabus is organized over a 5-year course. Training as an architect is engaging in a process of learning by doing with the course curriculum structured around the design studio. The design studio is a creative laboratory where learning is developed through experimentation and reflection. Woven into the design studio will be courses of study in structures (structural engineering), environmental science (environmental engineering), history (of architecture, society, technology), and philosophy, sociology, law and management (professional practice).

The course is designed to equip students with a broad range of skills fundamental to becoming an architect. These skills include hand drawing, sketching, modelmaking, photography, computer-aided drawing, audiovisual and verbal presentation, as well as core skills including problem solving and working with other people.

Architecture is a high creative endeavour, and it requires a student to be creative as well as achieving a high academic standing. The study of architecture is rigorous, challenging and requires that students are firmly committed to the discipline.