The Schools of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art (eca) and Architecture at the University of Edinburgh, in conjunction with the School of Built Environment at Heriot-Watt University, have announced that they are involved in developing an innovative teaching and research alignment programme across the three institutions.
A key aim of the project will be the alignment of Architecture and Landscape Architecture teaching at eca and University of Edinburgh working towards the creation of a jointly owned School of Architecture. There will be a single professionally accredited programme, from September 2009, for which ARB and RIBA parts one and two validation is being sought and also an enriched suite of postgraduate programmes. The School of the Built Environment at Heriot-Watt University will contribute to postgraduate level teaching and research programmes of the aligned School.
The Alignment project, funded by the Scottish Funding Council, is the first of its kind in Scotland. It brings together two Architecture Schools with research and design-practice strengths, and builds on the unique potentials that arise from the convergences between the creative arts, humanities and social sciences in both institutions. It also forms a key part of the Academic Federation instituted between eca and University of Edinburgh, and has resulted in both Architecture schools producing a joint submission for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.
This institutional alignment will offer an exceptionally rich and challenging environment for those seeking to study Architecture in Edinburgh, and to explore other subject areas in Architecture and related disciplines in the Arts, Humanities and the Built Environment. At postgraduate level students will have access to the combined academic resources and research facilities of all three institutions; eca, University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University, who are developing in consortium, a suite of taught postgraduate Masters courses, using various delivery modes, that will be accessible to all future students.
