BENG ARCHITECTURE
The BEng Architecture programme provides you with a comprehensive foundation in architecture. Through architectural design tasks you will develop an understanding of the importance of human needs and desires, as well as creative and responsible solutions.
September 2025
Full time
Three or four years
Available
Suzhou
Download file
Design School
Qualification,XJTLU,BEng Architecture,University of Liverpool,BA Architecture
Knowledge and skills
By the time you graduate from the BEng Architecture Programme, you will have:
- Fluency in the productive use of analogue and digital design tools and media
- An understanding of processes that form and transform urban space, principles of structure and construction, environmental control, and professional practice, as well as knowledge of conventional and innovative materials, processes and techniques related to architectural design and construction
- The ability to generate competitive, creative and critical design proposals and the skills and media methods to communicate these proposals clearly and effectively
- Knowledge of architectural history and theory in both the Chinese and international context, as well as an understanding of the role of the architect in society and built environment
- The ability to evaluate evidence, arguments and assumptions in order to make and present sound judgments both within architectural design discourse and beyond.
Yearbook 2023-2024
The yearbook of the Department of Architecture presents student works created during the academic year 2023-2024. The yearbook exemplifies the model for architectural education, for which the department was commended by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The yearbook is a showcase of the creative culture that has guided our students in taking their first steps as responsible and creative architectural designers in both Chinese and international contexts.
As a programme with accreditation from the Royal Institute of British Architects, the students unique learning will benefit from the truly International environment within a Chinese context. The curriculum will prepare students to face the global and ethical challenges of contemporary design, encouraging experimentation and innovation.
John Latto
Programme Director
Modules
*Programme modules listed are illustrative only and subject to change.
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University offers a wide range of courses in the first year, including English for academic purposes (EAP), mathematics and physics, and humanities and social sciences. Click to learn more.
Core Modules
Optional Modules
The great thing about Architecture at XJTLU is how innovative ideas are encouraged. We explore architectural design as a cross-discipline perspective and pursue our beliefs with maximum support. We work hard, stay positive and develop our creativity - these are great qualities that will benefit us for the rest of our life.
Chenjia Ren
Student, BEng Architecture
Careers
Graduates from this programme find excellent opportunities for employment and further education in architecture and its related disciplines, including other creative industries. Most of the graduates continue their studies in international postgraduate programmes. Our alumni have gone on to study at some of the universities ranked at the very top in the field, including the Bartlett at University College London, McGill University, the National University of Singapore, Politecnico di Milano, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Sydney. Our graduates have also secured employment in acclaimed international and Chinese practices such as Arata Isozaki, Arup, David Chipperfield, Farrells, Neri&Hu, and Tong Ming Studio. With a dual degree, RIBA validation, and strong communication skills developed through English language support and Chinese courses for international students, opportunities for postgraduate studies and professional careers in China and internationally are endless. Additionally, XJTLU offers its students a direct path to becoming a global professional architect by allowing them to register directly for the Master in Architectural Design during the first year of their studies*. The students can then bypass the application process upon graduation and become professional architects earlier in their careers. *Final registration and progression depends on completing all the necessary courses requirements and fulfilment of progression criteria
Overview
The programme provides you with a comprehensive foundation in architecture. The curriculum is centred on progressively articulated design studios, where students are confronted with various scales of design, from small buildings to the urban dimension, and with the issue of sustainability in all its facets and implications.
These are complemented each semester by lecture-based modules ranging from theory of architecture and philosophy of arts, to materials, construction and environmental design, from urban studies to professional practice. Unlike other programmes, history of Asian and western architecture are both integrated and equally important in the curriculum.
This is the first Bachelor of Architecture at a Chinese university to receive validation from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). In their last accreditation report, the RIBA board commended the ambitious vision of the department and the university, the dedication of the staff and the provision of “exceptional workshop facilities, studios and resources”, as well as the diversity and richness of the design briefs. In previous visits the department was also praised for “creating a distinctive environment in which students learn from an international and Chinese context with an ambition to produce a new type of graduate, with an emphasis on human-centred architecture, for the emerging global context”, and for promoting an “alternative model for Chinese architecture education […] challenging both Western and Chinese educational paradigms for architecture and design”.
Why should I study Architecture at XJTLU?
RIBA Validation
The BEng Architecture programme has become the first programme of its kind at a Chinese university to receive validation by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), thus demonstrating XJTLU’s commitment to providing world-class, internationally recognised education to students from China and abroad.
The Royal Institute commended the Department of Architecture and its staff for “creating a distinctive environment in which students learn from an international and Chinese context with an ambition to produce a new type of graduate, with an emphasis on human-centred architecture, for the emerging global context.”