School of Architecture

The School of Architecture offers a Master of Healthcare Interior Design professional degree (MHID) and a NAAB accredited Master of Architecture professional degree (M. Arch).

The School of Architecture capitalizes on the unique conditions provided by the city of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. The School of Architecture current research emphasis areas are: 1. Sustainable desert climate architecture; 2. Solar and energy efficient building design; 3. Ecological land use planning; 4. Hospitality Design; 5. Environmental, historic, and socio cultural contexts ranging from the city to the building site; and 6. Design-research problem-solving approaches to neuroscience informed environmental design strategies.

The Master of Healthcare Interior Design program provides an interdisciplinary and research/innovation-driven educational experience that is responsive to current and projected modes of professional practice in the design of health promoting and healthcare environments.  The UNLV School of Architecture offers the following Healthcare Interior Design programs:

MHID (professional degree 4+2 Year Program + 48 credits)

MHID (professional degree 4+3 Year Program + 72 credits)

The M. Arch. program has the goals of developing students’ abilities to conceive and accurately represent environmentally sound and aesthetically fitting spaces at different scales and to provide a basis for understanding the consequences that these spaces have for their inhabitants, for society, and for the environment.  The program supports critical thinking, design research, and paths toward licensure through award-winning faculty, world-class facilities, and a one-of-a-kind living laboratory (the Great Basin, Mojave Desert, Las Vegas, the Strip, and some of Earth’s most engaging environments).  The program serves its students, the profession, the state, and a diverse global community with studies focused on the built environment of a sustainable future.

Accreditation

In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted a 6-year, 3-year, or 2-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.

Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree. The UNLV School of Architecture offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs:

M. Arch. (pre-professional degree + 48 credits)

M. Arch. (non-pre-professional degree + 96 credits)

The next NAAB accreditation visit for both programs: 2017.

Alfredo Fernandez-Gonzalez, Director
Glenn Nowak, M. Arch. Graduate Coordinator
Attila Lawrence, MHID Graduate Coordinator

Program Information 

School of Architecture Faculty  

School of Architecture Courses  

Department Website

Plans

Graduate Certificate in Hospitality Design  

Master of Architecture    

Master of Healthcare Interior Design