Bachelor of Architectural Design

Acknowledged by the national and international architectural profession, the Bachelor of Architectural Design is designed to help you develop a rich understanding of architecture, and build a diverse set of skills that will carry you through your career.

Learn in an environment that is similar to a cutting-edge architectural design firm. Through your core and elective subjects, you'll have the opportunity to focus on your drawing, 2D and 3D design skills, and will be surrounded by like-minded creatives. You'll combine both experimental and speculative design with practical projects, and engage with real-life industry projects to expand your knowledge and help you discover innovative approaches to problem solving.

Learning from internationally-recognised and award-winning architects alongside visiting national and international experts, consultants and specialists, you will explore the core skills required of an architect and architectural designer. As a student, you will be immersed in new ideas and perspectives that will develop your design and communication skills.

Why study architectural design at RMIT?

Industry links

Design studios delivered by academic experts, innovative designers and international practitioners.

Hands-on learning

Learn in an environment that is similar to a cutting-edge architectural design firm.

Path to accreditation

This course is a pathway to the Master of Architecture, and professional accreditation.

Student in an orange top wears an orange top and a VR headset as she builds the Greek God Dad Bod Pavilion.

Slowbuild Augmented Reality Studio

Observe Bachelor of Architectural Design students designing, producing, assembling and hand-painting the inhabitable Greek God Dad Bod Pavilion structure over six weeks, using state-of-the-art facilities with the Slowbuild Augmented Reality Studio.

Details

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Learning and teaching

It’s all centred around design.

Our unique design studios are one of the major reasons why RMIT Architecture and its graduates are so highly regarded by industry.

Learning intensively in small groups, you will have the opportunity to work intensively on one project throughout the semester. In your studios, you will have the opportunity to develop skills in drawing, 2D and 3D design in an environment that follows the best practice of a local or international design firm. Run by academics and leading members of industry, design studios provide a unique way of exploring ideas by challenging future designers, and allowing them to connect with peers, industry, and other disciplines.

Studios are located across the city campus and within the multi award-winning RMIT Design Hub designed by RMIT architecture alumni Sean Godsell.

Assessment methods

In the Bachelor of Architectural Design, your assessment relies upon continuous cycles of reviewing, feedback and reflection. Throughout your study, your work is presented verbally, critiqued and submitted in a portfolio of drawings and images. Each semester, work from your design studios is presented as a part of a public exhibition.

Other forms of assessment include assignments and projects, presentations, essays, and tests.

Learning at RMIT

The types of classes you have will depend on the course you’re studying. Classes are offered in various formats designed to provide meaningful engagement with staff, industry and peers and provide for access and use of spaces where learning can be applied and active, including an array of specialised equipment.

Most RMIT courses do not include passive large-scale classes such as lectures, instead the content traditionally provided in lectures is made available online. This may be in the form of readings, videos or other on-demand learning materials. This content will also support the basis of interactive learning that takes place in on-campus classes.

RMIT Capabilities

The world is constantly changing, and there are universal skills that can help you adapt to the evolving nature of work and global engagement.

As part of your study experience at RMIT, we provide 6 future-focused RMIT Capabilities:

Ethical Global Citizens
Connected
Adaptive
Digitally Adept
Expert
Critically Engaged.

RMIT Capabilities are built into your course as well as some of our extracurricular experiences. They inform the design and delivery of your learning activities and assessments, so by the time you graduate, you’ll be ready to apply these capabilities in your life and work.

Learn from internationally-recognised and award-winning architects.

RMIT aArchitecture is well known for its long-standing links with industry. Design studios are delivered by academic staff, as well as sessional staff from innovative practices, or visiting international practitioners and academics.

In design studios, you will also have the opportunity to work on real world projects with local and global community and industry partners. Many public lectures are held throughout the year, led by prominent local and international architects and urban designers.

Recent studio partners:

RMIT Associate Lecturer Amy Muir
MUIR Architecture
RMIT Associate Professor Paul Minifie and Dr Jan van Schaik (lecturer)
MvS Architects
RMIT Professor of Architecture Carey Lyon
Lyons Architecture
RMIT Adjunct Professors Howard Raggatt and Ian McDougall
ARM Architecture

The Bachelor of Architectural Design has a range of international exchange agreements with universities in the USA, Europe and Asia.

You’ll also have the opportunity to choose design studios that require overseas travel, and give you the opportunity to work with students from international universities.

Recent design studios have included collaborations with students in Berlin, Germany and architecture practices in Shanghai, China.

Overseas work, exchange and study experiences

RMIT offers a range of opportunities for our students to study abroad through overseas work, exchange and study experiences with over 165 partner universities worldwide.

Explore overseas study and work

As a graduate of this course, you will have advanced down the path toward becoming a graduate architect, with the competency to enter design practices and contribute creative and independent ideas and concepts to a design project team. You will be able to apply your design skills, both practical and theoretical, to conceptualise and develop designs, as well as to comprehend key architectural works, cultural movements, and ideas, and how these relate to broader social contexts.

You will also be able to critically analyse and evaluate a wide range of architectural challenges, then use this knowledge to reflect on your learning achievements and take responsibility for your future design direction and ongoing learning.

You will have skills in computer-based architectural communication, technology, and history, and have the ability to apply these skills to convey complex design ideas through verbal, visual, and written media to a diverse range of audiences.

This degree forms part of a 5-year specialist degree, made up of the 3-year Bachelor of Architectural Design plus the 2-year Master of Architecture by coursework.

The Bachelor of Architectural Design offers a range of opportunities to develop a strong knowledge base in the field and experience the architectural design process.

From first term, first semester you will be hands-on in design studios developing your design skills and learning in an environment that follows the best practice of an innovative architectural design firm.

Design studios typically makes up half the degree each semester and are taught in small groups. You will focus on a particular theme and project each semester. After first semester, you’ll be able to select which design studio you wish to follow, completing one per semester.

Supporting subjects such as technology, communication and history comprise the remainder of your degree, and give you an understanding of the social and physical contexts of the built environment, as well as teaching you drawing skills.

Course structure

Choose a plan below to find out more about the subjects you will study and the course structure.

Bachelor of Architectural Design

Program code: BP250

Title

Location

Duration

Plan code

CRICOS

Bachelor of Architectural Design

City Campus

Full-time 3 Years, Part-time 6 Years

BP250

060830J

Location

City Campus

Duration

Full-time 3 Years, Part-time 6 Years

Plan code

BP250

CRICOS

060830J

View plan

Bachelor of Architectural Design

City Campus

Full-time 3 Years

BP250

060830J

Location

City Campus

Duration

Full-time 3 Years

Plan code

BP250

CRICOS

060830J

View plan

Important information for international students

International student visa holders can only study full-time.

Career

This undergraduate degree is a stand-alone award that provides employment options for those who seek to work as an urban designer, in architectural practices or as a designer more generally, in roles that do not require professional registration.

Students must complete the Master of Architecture to be eligible to apply for accreditation as an architect.

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Graduates may be employed in an architectural practice or a related design field, but need to complete the Master of Architecture in order to be eligible to apply to be professionally recognised as an architect. In Australia, completion of the Master degree will allow you, following two years’ professional experience, to sit the Architects Registration Board examination and register as an architect.

Entry requirements and admissions

You must have successfully completed the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) (or equivalent qualification).

Prerequisites

Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) units 3 and 4:

a study score of at least 25 in English other than EAL; or
a study score of at least 27 in English as an Additional Language (EAL)

or equivalent studies.

Rankings and adjustment factors

Entry to this program is competitive. Applicants are ranked and selected in order of merit based on the assessment of their selection task.

Selection task

The selection task is now closed for Semester 1, 2026.

You must complete and submit the Architectural Design selection task^. Late submissions will not be considered. 

^Pathway applicants

Graduates of RMIT’s Advanced Diploma of Building Design (Architectural) can still apply for Semester 1 2026 and will be guaranteed an interview for the Bachelor of Architectural Design. After you have applied either directly to RMIT or via VTAC, please email the documents listed within the selection task requirements below for applicants with at least one year of tertiary studies, to the School at aud.he@rmit.edu.au and include your RMIT student ID number.

Selection task dates

If you are applying via VTAC, you must complete and submit the Architectural Design selection task by the following date:

Applicant type	Register and submit the selection task by
All VTAC applicants	3 October 2025

Submit your VTAC selection task

Selection task dates for direct applicants

You must complete and submit your direct application. The link to submit your selection task will appear on the applicant dashboard after you have submitted your application. Please see the Apply page for information on eligibility to apply direct.

Applicant type	Register and submit the selection task by
All direct applicants	3 October 2025

Selection task requirements

Please note:

This course has different selection task requirements for:

Applicants who have completed less than one year of relevant tertiary studies
Applicants who have completed at least one year of relevant tertiary studies

See each tab below for more information.

For applicants who will not have completed at least one year of vocational education study at diploma level or above, or higher education study, comparable to the first year of this program, in a design discipline (e.g. architecture, interior design, industrial design, landscape architectural design, graphic design, art or fashion design) by the program commencement date.

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The degree is interested in how you interpret, respond to, and reimagine the built environment through design. You will be required to create an original response specifically for this task.

In this task, we encourage you to think broadly and creatively as the selection panel will be assessing your ideas and vision and not your architectural knowledge or skills. You may draw elements from previous projects from coursework such as Visual Communication or Studio Art course, but do not copy them directly.

You should allow approximately 8 hours to complete this task.

The submission of the design task should consist of 4 x A3 landscape pages (to be viewed digitally at full screen) and be merged into a single PDF. Your single PDF file must be named as follows: Design Task_(Your first name)_(Your Surname).pdf.

Please see below the requirements for each page:

Page 1 – You as a designer

We are interested in how your personal interests, experiences, and projects influence your thinking. Whether it’s music, sport, social issues or art, your perspective matters.

Include the following:

Visuals such as images, collages, drawings that represent your interests and inspirations. You may include screenshots of books, films and other references.
Written reflection (maximum 200 words) describing how these influences shape your approach to design.

Page 2 – Site analysis

Select a site, real or imagined, that is interesting to you and has potential to be reconsidered through design. This could be a vacant lot, a section of your neighbourhood, a building, a public space or fictional place.
Show how you explored the site – use drawings, maps, photos, notes, collages, or news articles that identify the qualities, characteristics and issues particular to this site.

Page 3 – Design proposal

Reimagine your chosen site and create a design proposal. Instead of providing a conventional response to your site, go beyond practical problem solving towards imaginative and creative proposal. You may consider one of these following prompts to help you develop your ideas for your proposal or you can develop your own prompt/s.

What if it was designed for a fictional character?
What if it created a new identity for a place?
What if it uncovered forgotten histories about a place?
What if it changed how people interact with one another?

Include:

Title of your design
Key image that best captures your proposal. This can be a collage, drawing, or any other kind of visualisation.
Design statement (maximum 100 words): What ideas and questions does your design explore? Explain the rationale for your design.

Page 4 – Additional images and inspiration

Additional images of your proposal: drawings, visualisations, collages, or sketches.
Inspiration and influences: What influenced your idea? Mention any architecture, media, books, news, or artworks that shaped your thinking.

If you have used AI to generate images or texts in your selection task submission, please describe where this occurs and what AI tools were used (maximum 100 words).

Shortlisted applicants will be required to attend an interview. Interviews will be held in the first week of December and applicants will be advised by late November the date they are required to attend.

If you have evidence of compassionate or compelling circumstances preventing you from attending in person, respond with this evidence to the interview invitation sent by the program to request an online interview.

An advisory letter indicating the outcome of your selection task will be sent on 10 December at 5pm.

For applicants who will have successfully completed at least one year of vocational education study at diploma level or above, or higher education study, comparable to the first year of this program, in a design discipline (e.g. architecture, interior design, industrial design, landscape architectural design, graphic design, art or fashion design) by the program commencement date.

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Provide a short statement outlining your motivations and aspirations for studying architecture including details of any relevant experience such as employment, voluntary work, etc. and how this strengthens your application to this program (maximum 250 words).

Upload your academic transcript(s) of your previous study in design and your curriculum vitae (CV).

Your folio must comprise 3 to 5 projects. For each project please include:

a brief description of the project intent
some developmental work (drawings, models, renderings, sketches etc.)
a series of images of the final outcome.

Each project may have up to 4 pages dedicated to it (no more than 20 pages for the entire folio). Please ensure your folio is well organised and clearly presented.

It is important to demonstrate in your folio how you have engaged in the creative and design process through a selection of projects you have undertaken either in previous study or projects of your own. The folio will demonstrate your development of creative ideas in a logical sequence, and ideally 3D representations of how this has evolved.

You may include up to one page of projects completed in architectural work-related project experience, but this is not essential. If you choose to do this, it needs to be clearly differentiated and labelled.

Submission instructions

Your folio should be collated in a single PDF, maximum size 10MB. Alternatively, you can provide a URL to your work. Please provide a username and/or password if applicable.

If you have used AI to generate images or texts in your selection task submission, please describe where this occurs and what AI tools were used (maximum 100 words).

Shortlisted applicants will be required to attend a folio presentation. Folio presentations will be held in the first week of December and applicants will be advised by late November the date they are required to attend.

If you have evidence of compassionate or compelling circumstances preventing you from attending in person, respond with this evidence to the folio presentation invitation sent by the program to request an online folio presentation.

An advisory letter indicating the outcome of your selection task will be sent on 10 December at 5pm.

Selection criteria by applicant type

Please select the highest level of education you have or will be completing in order to find out the selection criteria that applies to you, in addition to meeting the above entry requirements.

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You must have successfully completed an Australian Year 12 (or equivalent senior secondary school) qualification.

Adjustment factors available only to applicants currently studying Year 12

School Network Access Program (SNAP)

The SNAP access scheme is designed to increase tertiary participation by giving priority access to RMIT diploma and degree programs to eligible applicants currently studying Year 12 at a SNAP partner school.

Adjustment factors available only to applicants currently studying Year 12 or whose highest qualification is a completed Year 12.

Equity access schemes

Equity access schemes take into account personal information and location, difficult family and life circumstances, financial hardship and living with a disability or medical condition that may have impacted on an applicant's most recent academic performance.
Find out more about the eligibility requirements for each VTAC Equity schemes and scholarships and RMIT access categories.
If you are applying through VTAC you should apply for the Equity schemes and scholarships.
If you are applying directly to RMIT you should apply for RMIT Access. The system will prompt you to do this during your application.

Elite Athlete Program

The RMIT Elite Athlete Program supports eligible elite and emerging athletes to achieve sporting and academic excellence, allowing students to balance the demands of both their studies and their athletic responsibilities.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

The Indigenous Access Program supports your application to RMIT through an informal interview process where you will receive help from the Ngarara Willim Centre. Additional consideration will be given if you have relevant life, work, education or training experience.

You must have successfully completed an Australian Certificate IV or above (or equivalent).

Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT)

You may satisfy the academic requirements by completing the STAT multiple choice and achieving a minimum overall score of 156.

Your STAT results are valid for two years prior to the commencement of study.

If you are applying to RMIT as an applicant with vocational education and training study, you may sit the STAT multiple choice if you:

are 19 years of age or over as of 1 January in the year in which you will start your studies and
have not been enrolled in secondary studies for at least two years and
have no prior secondary school (Year 12), VET studies, HE studies or relevant work experience that can be considered for entry, or these do not meet the minimum academic requirements for the program.

You are still required to meet all other program prerequisites or equivalents.

Learn more about the STAT and STAT results.

You may be eligible for the following adjustment factors:

Equity access schemes

Equity access schemes take into account personal information and location, difficult family and life circumstances, financial hardship and living with a disability or medical condition that may have impacted on an applicant's most recent academic performance.
Find out more about the eligibility requirements for each VTAC Equity schemes and scholarships and RMIT access categories.
If you are applying through VTAC you should apply for the Equity schemes and scholarships.
If you are applying directly to RMIT you should apply for RMIT Access. The system will prompt you to do this during your application.

Elite Athlete Program

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

You must have successfully completed at least two courses (subjects) in an Australian bachelor degree or four courses (subjects) in an Australian associate degree, or overseas equivalent.

Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT)

You may satisfy the academic requirements by completing the STAT multiple choice and achieving a minimum overall score of 156.

Your STAT results are valid for two years prior to the commencement of study.

If you are applying to RMIT as an applicant with higher education study, you may sit the STAT multiple choice if you:

are 19 years of age or over as of 1 January in the year in which you will start your studies and
have not been enrolled in secondary studies for at least two years and
have no prior secondary school (Year 12), VET studies, HE studies or relevant work experience that can be considered for entry, or these do not meet the minimum academic requirements for the program.

You are still required to meet all other program prerequisites or equivalents.

Learn more about the STAT and STAT results.

You may be eligible for the following adjustment factors:

Equity access schemes

Equity access schemes take into account personal information and location, difficult family and life circumstances, financial hardship and living with a disability or medical condition that may have impacted on an applicant's most recent academic performance.
Find out more about the eligibility requirements for each VTAC Equity schemes and scholarships and RMIT access categories.
If you are applying through VTAC you should apply for the Equity schemes and scholarships.
If you are applying directly to RMIT you should apply for RMIT Access. The system will prompt you to do this during your application.

Elite Athlete Program

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

You must have successfully completed an Australian Year 12 (or equivalent qualification) and meet the stated prerequisites. You may satisfy the academic requirements by completing the STAT multiple choice.

Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT)

You may satisfy the academic requirements by completing the STAT multiple choice and achieving a minimum overall score of 156.

Your STAT results are valid for two years prior to the commencement of study.

If you are applying to RMIT as an applicant with work and life experience, you may sit the STAT multiple choice if you:

are 19 years of age or over as of 1 January in the year in which you will start your studies and
have not been enrolled in secondary studies for at least two years and
have no prior secondary school (Year 12), VET studies, HE studies or relevant work experience that can be considered for entry, or these do not meet the minimum academic requirements for the program.

You are still required to meet all other program prerequisites or equivalents.

Learn more about the STAT and STAT results.

You may be eligible for the following adjustment factors:

Equity access schemes

Equity access schemes take into account personal information and location, difficult family and life circumstances, financial hardship and living with a disability or medical condition that may have impacted on an applicant's most recent academic performance.
Find out more about the eligibility requirements for each VTAC Equity schemes and scholarships and RMIT access categories.
If you are applying through VTAC you should apply for the Equity schemes and scholarships.
If you are applying directly to RMIT you should apply for RMIT Access. The system will prompt you to do this during your application.

Elite Athlete Program

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

You must have successfully completed at least one year of vocational education study at diploma level or above, or higher education study, comparable to the first year of this program, undertaken in a design discipline (architecture, interior design, industrial design, landscape architecture, graphic design, art or fashion design) within 10 years of the program commencement date.

Timely applications will be accepted until 31 May 2026. These applications will receive an outcome in early July.

If places are still available, applications received after 31 May will be considered in July. Applications will be accepted until Friday 17 July 2026 unless places are filled earlier.