Garden & Landscape Design MA
Garden design is a unique discipline. We want you to appreciate its rich history so you can help to shape its exciting future. We want your skills and designs to evolve like the spaces you create, reflecting the diverse and changing demands of their users.
Direct Line: 01326 214367
The Design Centre, Tremough Campus
2 years part-time by blended learning
Apply direct to Falmouth
Why study MA Garden & Landscape Design at University College Falmouth?
MA Garden & Landscape Design - additional information (1.22 MB)
From September 2010, University College Falmouth is offering a new MA in Garden & Landscape Design by blended learning. This internationally unique postgraduate course is for designers and landscape architects wishing to explore new markets, develop new areas of specialism, challenge the way we use outdoor space and push the boundaries of garden design as a discipline.
Would you like to diversify your practice, look for new opportunities to design publicly-funded external spaces as well as privately-funded domestic gardens? This course gives you with an entry into work with different sectors to develop expertise in inclusive design. You'll have the opportunity to design sensory gardens, gardens for play or performance environments, or create experimental/conceptual gardens for commissions - all within a lively environment where you can experiment, research and debate emerging ideas about the future role of gardens in the 21st century.
University College Falmouth is working closely with the
Design Council on Design
of the Times (DOTT) Cornwall; a programme where professional
designers work.
with stakeholders and communities to tackle social,
economic and environmental issues from the bottom up.
Our students and graduates get the chance to work alongside senior design professionals on DOTT projects as part of internships and work placements.
MA Garden & Landscape Design in the news
'Turn on your iPod and learn' - The Independent, Thursday 1 October 2009
Tell me more about the MA Garden & Landscape Design course
"Garden Design at Falmouth offers something really special. We are re-establishing Garden Design as an art form and reconnecting art with the landscape." Richard Sneesby, Course Leader
This part-time course offers a perfect opportunity for students in full-time employment (or constrained by other
commitments) to develop distinctiveness within their chosen profession, reflect and focus on their practice, and pioneer new modes of practice within an academically rigorous environment. The programme offers a range of approaches to design, from site-based through to experimental and conceptual gardens.
Our aim is to develop your knowledge, skills and communication of ideas at a professional level, giving you an opportunity to work alongside, or in collaboration with, students, businesses and design professionals from garden design,
landscape and spatial design, interior design, product design and other design disciplines to build teams and new approaches to influence the design, use and enjoyment of private and public spaces.
Focusing on people, place and environment, the course will build new areas of knowledge, introduce alternative design approaches, explore a range of research methodologies, build innovative business models and develop skills in the communication of ideas at a professional level. It will also develop advanced understanding of the key issues facing
garden and landscape designers including environmentally responsible design, ecological gardens and specialist requirements for a range of users. Projects might include inclusive/sensory design, design for special needs, design
for children, show garden design, sustainable design, edible gardens, outdoor performance spaces and community spaces.
Professional Practice
A professional perspective underpins all elements of the MAs in Design, be it intellectual, theoretical or practical. You can choose to develop live projects with local and national companies and organisations, enabling you to work on real briefs for real clients. Direct consultation with users and clients will also ensure that you're able to communicate your design ideas in a variety of formats. Specific professional practice elements on this course also include costing, specifications, running contracts, website design and marketing.
Exploring the legal and ethical frameworks of the industry is a vital part of each course and will enable you to become an expert in the practical and professional aspects of design. Plus, we'll support and help you develop a unique professional portfolio so that you find your niche in the design market.
Facilities
The Design Centre benefits from world-class facilities and provides the opportunity to creatively experiment with a range of traditional and digital technologies, processes and materials. We have laser cutters, rapid prototyping machines and a five axis milling machine. Just as important are our traditional workshop facilities which you can use for experimentation, modelling and prototyping. There is an ICT teaching suite, specialist software and purpose built studios. Plus you will have the chance to share ideas across disciplines in our communal working areas.
Course structure
The course is built around 20 credit units. There are five one-week condensed residential blocks and four 13-week distance learning project units.
The one-week blocks are delivered at Falmouth, or at other strategically located study centres in the UK to allow students to meet, share information and ideas and to experience, and interpret, landscapes and gardens. One block is abroad to help give the course an international perspective.
The project units are delivered by distance learning. Students work within a ‘virtual studio' and have regular communication with tutors and other students. Projects are delivered through negotiated focused projects which have similar learning outcomes and objectives, but are centered around the student's negotiated course of study. In the second year students can collaborate with peers or business partners.
More information about home based learning is available here
Having obtained 60 credits you can gain a Postgraduate Certificate in Garden Design; with 120 a Postgraduate Diploma. You will need to gain 180 credits in order to receive your MA award.
How is the course taught?
You'll be taught by leading professionals, practitioners and academics from the worlds of landscape architecture, garden design, horticulture, architecture and interior design in collaboration with industry, public sector organisations and key research establishments.
The project units are delivered by distance learning. You'll work within a virtual studio and have regular communication with tutors, practitioners and other students, sharing in lively debates, interrogating ideas and testing emerging designs through video links and web-based learning opportunities. Projects are delivered through negotiated focused projects, which have similar learning outcomes and objectives but are centered around your negotiated course of study. In the second
year you can collaborate with peers or business partners.
You'll also learn how to produce computer visualisations, make models using CAD/CAM, and develop advanced planting design skills.
Assessment
Formative assessment takes place at interim stages within each unit and is intended to guide you in terms of your levels of achievement and performance. Summative assessment of portfolios takes place at the end of each 20-credit unit.
Assessment methods will help you to engage with the learning process, obtain feedback on your progress and help you identify areas of strength and weakness.
Course outline
Year 1
- Research methodologies
- Approaches to individual learning
- Distance learning strategies
- Negotiating topics
- Specialist units
- Self reflection
- Professional practice
Year 2
- Collaborative design
- Business partnerships
- Specialist design projects
- Professional practice
- Marketing and website design
- Exhibition design
Throughout the course you'll receive regular feedback on your work.
Answers and advice about the course
If you have any queries about the course please visit our HelpMe Forum.
HelpMe Forum: MA Garden & Landscape Design
Additional information
2010 Postgraduate Prospectus (4.82 MB)
Funding your study
A Master’s degree represents a significant investment in your future, and you will rightly be concerned about funding. Our student fees & funding section outlines fees for full and part time students and has guides to introduce you to ways of funding your course at Falmouth.
Creative Enterprise Cornwall
Put your skills to use in Cornwall's dynamic business environment on a paid placement project
Creative Enterprise Cornwall is a project offering financial support to postgraduate students who live in Cornwall during their studies. It is run by University College Falmouth and part-funded by the European Social Fund. The aim of the project is to promote graduate opportunities within Cornwall - develop new business skills if you are changing your career, or use the opportunity to strengthen the skills you already have. A maximum of £1250 is available.
The placement project must meet the following criteria:
- It must take place in Cornwall or benefit a Cornish company
- It must meet your course objectives (Course Leader must agree to the placement)
- Must be a minimum of one working week in duration (maximum 3 weeks) and be confirmed by the company
More information about the project can be found here
Career opportunities
This course will push your design in new directions to help unlock new markets and develop market distinctiveness. It's also suitable for applicants wishing to diversify their own design practice, and for employers to develop staff expertise through specific development opportunities. Further possible options include teaching and postgraduate study.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements through the university sector include Honours Degrees, Foundation Degrees and HNDs in a related subject, alongside a relevant portfolio of work that explores your previous practice, experience and processes. If you have solid professional industry experience rather than academic achievement, this may be acceptable for entry to study at this level through a process called APEL (Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning).
We also require you to submit a single page proposal with your application that outlines what you aim to do, how you aim to do it, and what you aim to achieve. This proposal is not binding; it is just a starting point for discussion and an initial framing of your studies.
For further information about MA Garden Design at University College Falmouth, please email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 214367.
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