Established in 1985, the architecture program at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) attracts students from around the world.
In 1991 the program received accreditation from the National Architectural Accrediting Board to award the bachelor of architecture degree. In 1995 a master’s of architecture degree program was initiated, and conversion of the five-year bachelor’s degree into a five-year master’s degree took place in 2000. SCAD architecture students established a chapter of the American Institute of Architectural Students by 1990 and a chapter of the architecture honor society, Tau Sigma Delta, in 1993.
As with most SCAD facilities, the architecture department occupies a rehabilitated historic building. First housed in the former Henry Street Elementary School, designed in 1892 by William Gibbons Preston and built by Gottfried Norrman, the department moved in 1989 to Eichberg Hall, known today as Clark Hall. The former engineering department building of the Central of Georgia Railway Company, Eichberg Hall (1887) was designed by Alfred Eichberg and Calvin Fay. In 1994 the college received the National Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and in 1998 it received the American Institute of Architects Honor Award for Urban Design.
By 2004 the SCAD architecture program had grown to more than 420 students. The program benefits from strong interdisciplinary ties with the departments of architectural history, historic preservation, and interior design. A quarterly study-abroad program in Lacoste, France, established in 2002, further broadens the educational experience for students in the program.
