One of the key benefits of this course is that it is supported by the joint Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering. It's a friendly environment to work in with academic staff and students always willing to help. It is also highly ranked in many guides for both taught and research degrees.

Combining aspects of design

This course has given me a comprehensive understanding that covered not only the general strategies of environmentally-friendly design from the architectural side, but also in-depth considerations of the technical aspects from the engineering side.

We had the chance to further explore environmental design through activities like the integrated design project with BuroHappold Engineering. We also had training opportunities available to us such as becoming a Certified Passivhaus Designer. Needless to say, the city of Bath is very enjoyable and features good connections for weekend trips!

At an academic level, how the topics progressed and how we were able to apply them to both the design project (industry) and the dissertation (academic) were very interesting. I was awarded one of the two highly commended runner-ups for the Master Student Award in Building Simulation by CIBSE. On a personal level, the best thing was meeting new friends from all over the world and sharing the year with them.

Future steps

After graduating, I stayed at Bath and joined the PhD programme ran by the Centre for Doctoral Training in Decarbonisation of the Built Environment (dCarb). Given the challenges I came across in my master's studies, I am looking forward to tackling issues of climate change, the long-term performance of buildings and their affect on occupants.