This year, unit one takes the term 'Alternative Arrangements' from the text of the Brady Amendment of the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement for an alternative to the so-called 'Irish backstop', as it’s starting point. It looks closely at the town of Carlingford, County Louth in the Republic of Ireland, as well as surrounding areas of the Cooley Peninsula and beyond. The town lies on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic which runs 310 miles from Lough Foyle to the Irish Sea at Carlingford Lough - dividing the six counties of Northern Ireland from the Republic since 1921, and now the UK from the EU.

This unit is seen from within the context of Brexit, but it is not about Brexit. It is situated in a border town, but it is not just about borders. It is specifically about Carlingford: what makes this town what it is; what research-led architecture can do to build upon these histories (official and unofficial); and what approaches each student can bring to draw out these stories. Conceptually, practically, and methodologically, it is interested in the role of architecture when used as a lens for examining politics, culture, and society.