Welcome to the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China. By choosing to study here, you will benefit from a world-class international education in China, supported by leading architects and engineers, as well as the department's research excellence in architecture and urbanism, energy and sustainability.
The new age of digitisation and information technology, such as building information modelling, has put pressure on the construction industry to deliver projects at a lower cost and higher quality. Several national agendas have considered better information collection, management and dissemination as one of the significant challenges to achieve 'high value and low carbon construction'. Recent economic and industrial growth in China has resulted in rapid urban expansion and transformation. This growth has created significant and exciting opportunities for built environment professionals to contribute positively to this on-going process. However, the direct engagement of architects and engineers educated in China to this development has been limited by many large-scale projects being handled by foreign design practices. Part of the reason for this has been linked to the nature of built environment education that exists in China, which in recent years has often focused on providing a high level of technical proficiency, yet with inconsistent emphasis given to the holistic, critical and creative understanding of the influence that building services, architecture and urban design can offer to shape the quality of life, and contribute to addressing aesthetic, social, cultural, economic and environmental issues.
Many Chinese nationals have studied architecture and architectural environment engineering at undergraduate and postgraduate level at the University of Nottingham in the UK, and over time the Department of Architecture and Built Environment has developed a strong profile and reputation in China. For many years, the department has also undertaken joint studio projects, collaborative research, and other joint ventures with leading Chinese universities such as Tsinghua, Tianjin and Tongji. In this context, the establishment of the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China (UNNC) has provided a unique opportunity for the department to deliver its flagship course, in China. Its experience, and the presence of significant demand from the student body, has provided evidence of the requirement for a comprehensive, open-ended architecture education in China, which is believed to be more beneficial in the long term to the local architectural development, than Chinese students taking Western or Eurocentric courses in the UK.
Our position within the Faculty of Science and Engineering offers exciting opportunities to interact with eight other programmes and other faculties that provide an opportunity for us to explore design at the interface between architecture and relevant advanced engineering, digital technology and facilities. Finally, we aim to create future leaders inbuilt environment-related disciplines and strive for 'Design by China' in the next 10 or 20 years.
You are also most welcome to visit our beautiful campus at UNNC!
Head of Department of Architecture and Built Environment