Providing and developing architectural education, research and professional practice within:

• Building & Sustaining Cultural/Environmental Dimensions.

• Keeping abreast of Technological Development

• Maintaining a Global Intellectual Dialogue and Exchange Expertise with World academic and Professional Centers of Excellence.

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The Department of Architecture and Building Science at King Saud University was first established in 1387H (1967/68G) as a department within the College of Engineering. The department represents the first school of architecture in the Arabian Peninsula and in the Arabian Gulf region. The department has produced generations of architects and planners who have played a pivotal role in establishing schools and faculties of architecture throughout Saudi Arabia.  Its graduates now hold prominent positions in both the public and private sectors. The department has continued to grow and expand, both in terms of student enrollment and faculty, as well as in the development of its academic programs and foundational courses. With the kingdom's economic and urban growth, and the increasing demand for architects and planners, the department was elevated to an independent College of Architecture and Planning in 1404/1405 AH (1984/1985 AD). 

The Department of Architecture and Building Sciences awards its graduates the degree of Bachelor of Architecture upon successful completion of 170 credit hours and sixty days of field training. The Department’s program is dedicated to the design studio education process that employs project-based learning to represent professional behavior and motivate students through meaningful application of the knowledge that they acquire. The design studio courses are complemented by courses in theory, history, technology, environment, and practice taught by distinguished scholars in those topics to assure that students may design from a base of extensive and comprehensive knowledge of the built environment. 

The Department also offers a Master of Architecture degree (M.Sc.) which was introduced in the year 1406 AH (1986/87 AD). The introduction of the doctoral program, (Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture Ph.D.), in the academic year 1425/26 AH (2003/04 AD) was a natural outgrowth of the post-graduate program. Since then, it has been the first architecture department offering such a degree in the entire Arabian Gulf region.

As a pioneer of architectural education in the Kingdom and the region, the Department of Architecture and Building Sciences adopts a teaching strategy based on the following principles: 

-Preserving Islamic values and Saudi societal traditions, and upholding the ethics of architectural profession. This is achieved through upholding Islamic values, respecting the needs of Saudi society, and adhering to professional ethics.

-Preserving the natural environment and the architectural heritage of the country. This is accomplished by adopting the principles of environmental sustainability and conserving Saudi architectural heritage. 

-Keeping abreast of advances in the field of building technology. This is achieved by maintaining a strong connection between academic qualifications of graduates and the advancements in the building industry and the utilization of computer technology. 

This strategy has been supported by a faculty of over 50 members, all holding PhD degrees in architecture from prestigious universities. They have collectively contributed to a superior learning environment, secured numerous research projects and grants for the department, and been deployed to government and private institutions to assist in national and community development. Furthermore, the strategy is supported by several laboratories and two research chairs: King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Foundation for Developmental and Housing Research chair and Prince Sultan bin Salman Chair for Architectural Heritage. Additionally, in term of community service, the Department of Architecture and Building Sciences has actively participated in national and international competitions, aligning with the Kingdom’s development goals. The department has also initiated the process of obtaining Substantial Equivalency (SE) from the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).

The Architectural program in the college of Architecture and Planning at King Saud University was granted the Substantial Equivalency (SE) by the National Architectural Accrediting Board, NAAB, in the United States for a six-year period starting from January, 2013.

Given the NAAB Substantial Equivalency in January 2013, the Architecture program at King Saud University was the first in the Kingdom and the second in the Arabian Gulf Region after Kuwait University, to achieve the NAAB Substantial Equivalency. 

To obtain SE, the program underwent three successful visits from NAAB evulation teams. The first visit was led by Mr. kin DouBeus, in December, 2010, and the second occured in December, 2011 by Mr. Moris Brown and Prof. Fatih Rifki. The final visit, headed by Mr. William Davis, was in December 2012. Prior to the first and second visits, the program submitted an institutional overview and an architectural program report, respectively, to NAAB. Based on the positive reports from these three visits, NAAB awarded the Substantial Equivalency to the Architecture Program at King Saud University in January 2013.

Obtaining the NAAB Substantial Equivalency is a source of great pride for all students, faculty, and administrators.

Attached Files

APR  KSU, visit 3

King Saud VTR_cof-3

2013 NAAB PROCEDURES FOR SUBSTANTIAL EQUIVALENCY

SE Conditions 2019

King Saud VTR for Visit 2

PSER Program Self - Evaluation Report

Final decision letter from NAAB, January 2013.

• Providing the Department’s students with the necessary scientific principles, analytical capacity and technical skills so as to address the issues of national, local and regional planning with the view to raising the level of performance and efficiency of the urban environment.

• Training the Department’s students in order to enable them to carry out planning and urban design with high efficiency in various government and private agencies.
• Training students to develop planning programs to ensure the production of physical environment appropriate to the specificities of the region, taking into account the values of Arab and Muslim society.
• Acquiring various vocational skills and employing them in planning and urban design such as the use of computer and information systems technologies and keeping pace with advances in the field of planning and urban design at the practical and theoretical levels.

The Urban Planning Department at the College of Architecture and Planning, King Saud University, is the oldest urban planning department in Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1983 AD (1404AH). Since then, dozens of distinguished faculty members who received their education at prestigious universities worldwide have taught in the department.
This has bestowed our department with a long-standing reputation for delivering excellent higher education, a high level of diversified experiences, and a distinct academic environment. The positive impact of the department on the community can be clearly seen as many of its members have held senior positions in government agencies, and many of its graduates took on important positions in public and private sectors and played leading roles in the development and management of the Saudi built environment.
The department has undergone various stages of development for its undergraduate program, the last being the adoption of the new academic plan. The department's program is linked with the architecture department in the first two years of study. This is followed by two years specialization in one of two tracks; Urban Planning or Urban Design. Lately, our department has expanded in its postgraduate programs. It now provides three programs. They are; Urban Planning, Urban Design, and Real Estate Development.
This has kept pace with the university aspiration to expand further in postgraduate Studies in order to meet the needs of the labour market with specialists in the built environment fields at all levels. The department is also proud regarding the contribution of its staff to serve the community through the provision of consulting services to many governmental and private bodies in the areas of town planning and urban studies, not to mention the active involvement in the scientific societies such as; Saudi Umran and Saudi Association of Real Estate Sciences. Being chosen by the university as an academic specialization for excellence was a key motive for the department to continue its distinction and to achieve leadership in the areas of urban planning/design education at the national level. In addition to determined endeavours to accomplish the objective of academic accreditation as well as achieving the desired quality in higher education.

Chairman, Urban Planning Department