Conservation of Historic Buildings MSc

Explore the theory and practice of preserving the world’s historic architecture and cultural heritage sites while studying in a UNESCO World Heritage city.

We offer you the unique opportunity to learn how to design and manage conservation projects while studying in the culturally significant city of Bath. Our course teaches you the components that make conservation projects successful worldwide. You’ll explore philosophical approaches, materials, techniques, traditional construction principles and structural behaviour. You’ll also study the international standards and charters, as well as English legislation frameworks, that impact conservation.

To see conservation in practice, you’ll visit historic sites in and around Bath. This allows you to uncover the fabric of buildings and understand how our built heritage is repaired and reused. It also highlights the challenges of conservation today, such as sustainability. You'll learn how to adapt buildings to be more energy efficient and climate resilient. You’ll finish your master’s degree with a research project in an area of conservation that excites you.

Key Benefits
• Integrated learning: combine archaeology, analysis, architectural history, engineering, ethics, project management, materials science and on-site project work.



• A global outlook: study aspects of international conservation to help prepare you for a career anywhere in the world.



• Sustainability focus: learn how conservation can reduce the carbon costs of development.



• Collaborative projects: work in teams to find a solution that preserves a historic building near Bath.



Learn from experts in the field
Our Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering has a history of working with heritage organisations on research projects. These involve studying materials for conservation, repair methodologies and degradation processes. Our course draws on the expertise of academics, as well as our connections to industry and the heritage sector. We also benefit from being close to the headquarters of the National Trust and Historic England. This means that sometimes we invite their staff to share insights into the conservation projects they have been involved in.

Use specialist facilities
We have a range of facilities to support your studies. Our library gives you access to online historical literature, maps and audio visual services, as well as professional databases such as Construction Information Services.

From course to career
We work with industrial partners to make sure you have the technical, communication and design skills that employers value. You’ll graduate with the ability to contribute to the preservation of our architectural landscape. Typical roles include inspector, manager, conservation officer, conservation architect, engineer or surveyor. Some of our recent graduates have gone on to work at:


• Saudi Arabian Heritage Commission



• Historic England



• National Trust



• Local authorities



• Architectural practices specialising in conservation



• Church diocesan offices