Welcome to the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). By choosing to study here, you join a vibrant international community backed by over 140 years of expertise at our UK campus. Our programmes run parallel to and in some cases mirror those at the UK campus, ensuring you graduate with a University of Nottingham degree recognised worldwide.
Choosing to study the built environment today means entering a discipline undergoing a profound transformation. Climate change, rapid digitalisation, and artificial intelligence are fundamentally reshaping how we design, construct, and inhabit cities. Yet, within this state of flux, new creative possibilities emerge. While AI transforms technical workflows, the core of our discipline remains uniquely human: the ability to ask meaningful questions, think critically, collaborate across disciplines, and translate abstract concepts into tangible realities. At ABE, you learn not merely about designing buildings, but about shaping the relationships between people, technology, culture, and the environment.
Our RIBA Part 1 validated BEng Architecture, CIBSE accredited BEng Architectural Environment Engineering, and MSc Urbanism and Sustainable Environment taught degrees, along with our MRes and PhD research degrees, align directly with national strategic priorities in sustainable urbanisation, smart city development, and green building practices. As China shifts focus toward adaptive reuse and cultural heritage preservation, our curriculum bridges UK academic rigor with local urban challenges. Our students progress seamlessly from foundational principles to advanced digital modelling, AI-assisted design, and eco-friendly construction. Through lectures, design studios, hands-on workshops and laboratories, study trips, seminars, and industry engagement, we bridge theory with real-world practice.
This rigorous and cross-cultural education gives our graduates a distinctly competitive edge in both Chinese and global job markets. Our alumni are exceptionally well-prepared, whether pursuing further study at leading universities or launching careers in government offices, research institutions, or world-class architecture, urbanism and engineering firms.
We aim to educate future leaders and thinkers who can navigate uncertainty, embrace innovation, and shape the future of our built environment.I look forward to welcoming you to our department and seeing the unique impact you will make here.
With best wishes for your journey ahead,
Edward Cooper
Head, Department of Architecture and Built Environment (ABE)