Churchill has a distinguished architectural heritage and the striking design of the College continues to inspire creative thinking. In contrast to the historic Cambridge Colleges, with their medieval Gothic and Neo-Classical buildings corralled behind high walls, Churchill’s layout is spacious, open and modern. The groundbreaking architectural competition that brought the College into being is considered by many to be a watershed moment in British Post-War architectural history. Since the foundation of the College in the 1960s, we have continued to commission distinctive buildings and works of art. Recent additions include the multiple-prize winning Cowan Court, by 6a Architects, completed in 2016.
Architecture graduates of Churchill have made notable contributions to the world of architecture. For example, two of our graduates are members of Assemble, who made history as the first art, architecture, and design collective to win the Turner Prize 2015. Other recent graduates in Architecture have been employed by leading international practices, including OMA, Bjarke Ingels Group and Allies and Morrison, while some have continued to Masters level courses in Land Economy and Management Studies or PhD studies in Philosophy.
In addition to an Architecture community made up of undergraduates, postgraduates, and Fellows, Churchill hosts engineers and physicists , many of whom are interested in the problems of energy conservation and sustainable design. There is, therefore, a considerable body of architects, designers, and technologists in the College – an informal but valuable mutual support network.
Full course details are provided on the Department’s Undergraduate webpage and the University’s Undergraduate Study webpage.
Admissions
To find out about admissions, go to undergraduate applications.
Entry Requirements
Course-specific information, including the University’s typical offers and the attainment level of the University’s typical entrants, is available by selecting your course from the University’s Course List then looking at the Entry Requirements tab. Academic offer conditions can vary by College so if you want to apply to Churchill then check out our entries in the by-College list of entry requirements that’s available on the same tab. The University’s Entrance Requirements and International Entry Requirements webpages may contain guidance relevant to you too.
You can learn more about the academic profiles of Churchill entrants and our approach to setting conditional offers on our undergraduate applications page.
Submitted Work
If you apply to Churchill, we will ask you to submit a pdf of your own artwork, comprising 6 A4 pages and less than 15MB. This selection should in part reflect material you might use as part of an interview portfolio.
If you’re subsequently invited to interview, you should attend with a selected portfolio of graphic work you have done in the last year or two, which may be discussed. This should typically contain 10-15 recent pieces that demonstrate the range and quality of your skills. Digital work can be included. If you’re not studying Art, we recommend that you have some drawing lessons or attend a life-drawing class. Please include preparatory drawings and sketchbooks, which are often more interesting than set pieces. Work done on your own initiative is likely to be more persuasive than coursework, so keep a sketchbook to record your travels – Architecture cannot be experienced adequately by looking only at photographs.
Admissions Assessment
All Architecture applicants are required to take a written assessment after shortlisting for interview. There’s more information on and linked from the University’s Admissions Assessments webpage.
Interview
The role of academic interviews in Churchill’s admissions process is explained on our interviews page. Our interviewers will be looking for evidence of your commitment to design and the subject more generally. When you visit buildings, for example, try to discern what influences of culture, climate, or construction materials inform their architectural flavour, since this could become the basis of an instructive conversation. We have no specific reading list for our interviews but we recommend that you study the work of one or two architects who interest you.
