This course is professionally oriented. You will build on existing knowledge and skills acquired in your Landscape Architecture degree and further develop creative, artistic, technical and intellectual abilities through a diverse range of design projects that explore contemporary issues and problems, which grow in scale and complexity. The format of studio learning is continued with an increased emphasis on research and experimentation. Design themes include research-led design projects relating to landscape health and wellbeing, habitat creation and biodiversity, climate change, settlement design and food security as well as large infrastructure schemes like High Speed 2 (HS2) and the West Midlands National Park. The landscape as a sequence of interrelated designed environments provides the scope for a design laboratory connected by land, ecology, water, climate and infrastructure, linked to a cultural context that extends from parish to global political and economic systems.

Our modules, including our new Design for Climate Change module, provide a fascinating forum for systems scale interventions, innovation and exploration of new sustainable approaches to respond to the climate change emergency, imaginative solutions to extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and for the planning and designing of ecologically inspired places and communities.

Our links to industry, local authorities and our Co.Lab partners offer an opportunity for you to be involved in the complex nature and challenges of being a landscape architect in the real world. These extend to collaborating with local stakeholders and institutions, and working alongside colleagues across the University on projects that demonstrate the authority of Landscape Architecture in improving the quality of future urban and rural living.

The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course. This will allow you to complete a credit bearing, 20-week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to landscape architecture, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace