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The Bartlett School of Architecture

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About Us

Welcome to one of the most influential, exciting and innovative architecture schools in the world, where students learn today to build the world of tomorrow.

Building on a long tradition of innovation and ingenuity, The Bartlett School of Architecture is a community of 1700 students and 400 staff, working across architecture, design and related practices with dedication, inventiveness, intelligence and wit. 

Our staff are among the most accomplished in the field and are at the forefront of international research and teaching. They are responsible for pioneering research and award-winning buildings all over the globe. In the UK’s latest Research Excellence Framework exercise (REF 2021), The Bartlett Faculty was ranked first for Research Power, with 91% of research submitted deemed ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent'. 

Our students are recognised for their creativity, curiosity and dynamism. In the past 20 years, they have received more RIBA medals than any other school. Many have gone on to occupy leading roles in established practices worldwide and are now part of our vibrant alumni network.

Our Vision

Our vision is to operate as a vital and creative agency in a world in which architecture, as both a method of critical thinking and creative exploration, is valued for its capacity to enhance human experience and understanding, improve global environmental conditions, and provide a constructive and adaptive legacy for future generations.

We seek to encourage big questions that address social, cultural and economic challenges; radical questions that approach history, technology and practice with an open and critical mind; and difficult questions that provoke progressive and imaginative ideas described through speculative projects in design and text. 

Our Values 

The culture of our school is defined by our sense of community and our commitment to praxis. As a school, we work to instil a sense of community in our members, recognising that our unique life experiences and diverse identities enrich our culture and yield designers more attuned to the nuances and complexities of the world around them.  Our community focuses on the student experience and our priority is to cultivate a sense of agency, advocacy and activism in our graduates. 

The school is home to some of the most inventive, hybrid and collaborative spatial practices in the world, yielding graduates who are agile, cooperative and ethical practitioners. These variegated spatial practices are the foundation of the school's radical pedagogy. We value and prioritise spatial justice and climate justice. We are dedicated to the decolonisation and decarbonisation of architectural practice and pedagogy. Our community's diversity of spatial practice aspires to a built environment that is more racially, spatially and environmentally just. 

Our History 

In 1841, UCL became the first British university to appoint a chair of architecture, Thomas Leverton Donaldson, a founding member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The faculty was later named after its benefactor, engineer and contractor Sir Herbert Bartlett.

Our alumni have made waves in the worlds of architecture, design, manufacturing, education and research, curating, urban planning, governance and policymaking, filmmaking and more. Originally based in the UCL Quadrangle, the school moved to its 22 Gordon Street location in 1974. The building’s refurbishment was completed in 2016 and we expanded to premises in East London in 2018.