MArch Design Practice
London, United Kingdom
Master of Architecture
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
19 Jan 2026*
EARLIEST START DATE
07 Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* as the RCA received a high number of applications we encourage you to apply as early as possible to secure your place on your programme
Key Summary
Our free in-person open days are the perfect way to experience what studying at the RCA is like. Opening times: 7 February 2026 – 10am to 4pm (UK time)
Key Details
Duration
- Full-time: one-year, 45 weeks
- Part-time: two-year, 90 weeks
The MArch Design Practice is a one-year programme that supports architects, designers, and spatial practitioners’ creative and critical engagement with the design of the built environment. With climate as a central focus, students will consider how reuse, materials, waste, and embodied carbon intersect with economics, politics, and identity to produce new opportunities for design practice in the just transition toward a fair and flourishing world.
Students will critically engage with the planetary implications of construction and make bold, rigorous and informed design propositions through which a world otherwise can be built.
Students will be introduced to a range of methods and theories drawn from around the world which aim to deliver renewable and equitable futures. Students are encouraged to draw on their existing practices and experiences, and to use the skills and exposure of the programme to propose interventions into existing architectural models or develop new forms of practice entirely.
Please refer to the programme webpage for the most accurate and up-to-date information about the programme, its structure, modules and any updates or changes.
The MArch Design Practice at the RCA is a transformative, research-led programme that empowers spatial practitioners, whether architects, designers or policy-engaged creatives, to make critical, ambitious interventions addressing the planetary crisis. You explore material processes, embodied carbon, carbon accounting, reuse and bio-based materials, while examining how economics, politics and identity intertwine with design. Through flexible core units and college-wide electives, you develop an independent research project tailored to your interests, supported by one-to-one supervision, with the aim of shaping equitable and sustainable futures.
Programme structure
Term 1
In term 1, you take Material Processes and Carbon Economies, focusing on materiality in the built environment and the role of carbon in the global construction industry.
In the same term, you choose two college-wide electives, enabling you to engage with cross-disciplinary approaches from across the RCA.
Term 2
In term 2, you take Detailing Risk and Just Transition, where you explore design detailing through failure and speculative futures of climate justice and spatial change.
In the same term, you choose two college-wide electives, enabling you to engage with cross-disciplinary approaches from across the RCA.
Term 3
In term 3, you take an Independent Research Project, developing a self-led investigation into design practice, systems, and planetary futures.
The Royal College of Art is the world’s leading postgraduate art and design university, providing students with unrivalled opportunities to develop their practice, build their networks, enhance their career and to deliver art and design projects that transform the world.
For 11 consecutive years, the RCA has been ranked as the world’s number 1 art & design university in the QS World University subject rankings (2015-2025) - attracting artists, designers and communicators from across the globe.
Scholarships are awarded for a specific programme and entry point and cannot be deferred without consent from the academic Programme and scholarships panel.
The RCA Career Progression Bursary
The RCA Career Progression Bursary supports UK mid-career applicants with no prior connection to the RCA applying with a partial fee bursary
Value: Bursaries of £3,500 each, awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Part-time students will receive the fee discount pro-rata over their two years of study.
Funding category: Mid-career applicants, with a preference for those over 50; returning after a career break; career changes; parents returning to work after parental leave; applicants with a disability.
Eligible fee status: Home students, full- or part-time
Students from over 70 countries come to the RCA. We welcome applications from talented, creative individuals from all over the world. Many are from backgrounds you might expect such as art, design, architecture, communications, media and humanities. Others come from disciplines as broad as engineering, social sciences, technology, toolmaking, medicine, business, law, physics, life coaching, economics, teaching, music, etc. The list is endless. What RCA students share is the potential, commitment and ambition to make change in the world through art and design.
What types of jobs to graduates go on to?
The RCA has consistently produced world leaders in the fields of creative endeavour – acting as a launchpad for the careers of major international figures.
Our alumni shape the world – whether founding their own studios and brands, pushing the boundaries of possibility through their start-ups or taking on impressive roles with global companies across a wide range of disciplines.
What if they want to start their own business?
Our creative students have ambitions of being their own boss and making their own decisions, so launch their own enterprises or studios either soon after graduating or any some time employed in industry. Many did not intend to start their studies considering themselves entrepreneurs but discovered an idea during their studies with their fellow students that they believe would make a successful business. InnovationRCA – the College’s centre for student and graduate enterprise and entrepreneurship – supports students and recent graduates to transform compelling ideas into successful businesses, providing incubation, intellectual property and commercialisation support.