SLIIT adds architecture to its degree portfolio

SLIIT, the premier degree awarding Institute approved by the University Grants Commission under the Universities Act, has now introduced architecture to its list of degrees offered. SLIIT established its School of Architecture (SSA) under the guidance of senior Architect and former Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Moratuwa, Prof. Nimal De Silva. 

SSA is currently nested within the Faculty of Engineering at the SLIIT campus in Malabe, enabling students enrolled in the programme to get a grasp of engineering and technology components relating to the Architecture curriculum. 

Together with a highly qualified panel of lecturers, SSA provides students with the latest technology and facilities which meet international standards. Students have 24 hour access to air conditioned design studios with individual work spaces, lecture and workshop places, labs with CAD facilities, model making workshops with laser cutters, routers and 3D printers which are on par with facilities at foreign universities. 

Elated by the newest addition to the SLIIT degree portfolio, Prof. Lalith Gamage, President and CEO SLIIT, said: “We place great emphasis on the quality of our education and graduates. We continuously seek to enhance our infrastructure and improve the curricular to ensure that we maintain high standards in our programmes. To maintain the quality of education, we have recruited staff who are practicing chartered architects, highly qualified engineers and subject specialists. They have experience in teaching, both locally and internationally, bringing in a wealth of experience to the studio based Architecture education at SLIIT. With the fully equipped experimental and research facilities that SLIIT provides, and the various societies and sporting activities that are available, students can immerse themselves in a fully rounded university experience.”

The School of Architecture at SLIIT offers students its five year Architecture degree programme in two parts, a three year B.Sc. Degree and a two year M.Sc. Degree in Architecture. These degrees are designed to meet the standards and requirements of the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). At the end of the first three years, students will be subjected to the validation procedures of the above bodies which will allow pupils graduating from SSA to be recognised by universities and professional bodies locally and internationally. 

The SLIIT School of Architecture offers a limited number of seats for anyone with three Advanced Level passes in a single sitting. However, the prospective applicants are closely screened through an aptitude test to make sure the student who are accepted will have the basic traits required for studying architecture including a creative imagination, and a vigilant awareness about the world they live in.

The study programme is aimed at instilling specific sets of skills and knowledge while also teaching students how to lean, enabling lifelong learning. Students in the Architecture programme should be able to transform the culture of a society through imagination, and build environments which are aesthetically pleasing whilst satisfying socio economic needs. 

Commenting on the programme, Archt. Aishani Jayasinghe – Head of the School of Architecture noted, “An architect is a technically enriched artist who is responsive to the needs of society, but at the same time generate architectural solutions that stand the test of time, and create timeless expressions of architecture satisfying the user and the clients. Students’ philosophical interpretations should lead to evoking of imagery in which the student transforms the abstract to a realistic depiction and the simple to a more complex representation. In addition to the foregoing primary design skills, we will also teach students other supplementary design methods, professional skills and adequate legal and management skills to engage in the ‘business’ of architecture.”