Study at Sheffield

Professor James Hitchmough in a small group tutorial

Our Mission - Putting Landscape At The Centre

At Sheffield, we aim to put landscape at the centre of actions to create, regenerate and conserve urban and rural environments. We do this by:

Producing graduates with outstanding skills, who will take leading roles in multidisciplinary projects;
Undertaking innovative research that broadens understanding of the importance of landscape functions, characteristics and values;
Emphasising a view of landscape architecture that integrates design, planning and management, so that landscape becomes an integral component at all stages in creating and conserving urban and rural spaces.
Instilling in our students an ethic of care for the land and the people who live within it.

Rigour, Ambition and Relevance

Our courses are all designed to combine academic rigour, creative ambition and professional relevance. We believe that our graduates are equipped for the cutting edge of landscape practice, policy making or investigative research. We offer two main routes into the Landscape Architecture profession:

a five year undergraduate programme comprising a three year BA or BSc, followed by a year in practice, and a one year Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA).
a two year MA in Landscape Architecture for graduates in other subjects.

For suitably qualified and experienced graduates, there is also a one-year professionally recognised MA in Landscape Management.

Professional Approaches

Within the profession there are specialist routes that attract some of our graduates – for example, in urban design, green space planning, restoration of historic landscapes, or detailed management of sites of ecological importance. However, many landscape employers address a varied range of projects, and look to appoint graduates who can demonstrate broad interests and diverse skills.

We meet the needs of the profession for a balance between specialism and broad expertise by offering dual BA/BSc degrees and by creating flexibility in major projects in the MLA and MA. The BA/BSc degrees combine a core Landscape Architecture curriculum, as accredited by the Landscape Institute, with an additional proficiency in ecology or planning. We also jointly teach a BA in Architecture and Landscape (the home department is Architecture in this case). The studio based nature of many of our modules allows for personal interests and ambitions to develop in the context of critically supportive discussion.

Educational Ambition

We strive to balance creative freedoms and initiative with responsibilities to society and the environment. Our modules address a range of art, humanities and science questions, most often explored in the context of real-site design problems. The landscape profession tends to attract people who enjoy a wide range of challenges, have varied enthusiasms and are stimulated by the multi-disciplinary questions. Whatever the background of individual applicants, the courses are designed to give students the ability to work equally across these different areas. Our teaching supports integrated development of the knowledge and skills needed to design places that excel socially, ecologically and technically while making a positive contribution to the contemporary cultural landscape.