University students had the opportunity to have class outside for a day in Saint John on Sunday to study the city’s unique variety of architecture.

Dozens of McGill University architecture students are all over the Port City sketching items of architectural interest.

"It gives you the time to actually sit down in front of something that first attracted your eye so that you understand what was the detail that may you want to sit down and sketch," said architecture student Maureen DeCarbonniers.

The trip is compulsory part of the program’s curriculum.

"The history of the city, the Maritime location, the character of the place – it's different from Montreal," said architecture professor Robert Mellin.

A lot of the architectural character can be found in the uptown where streets of heritage buildings were made of brick and stone after the great fire of 1877 destroyed the area.

“Old buildings that are almost impossible to build nowadays with a beautiful contrast between the oceans the rivers and the hillsides," said architecture student Jamie Pearce.

There's no shortage of interesting architecture in Saint John. While they're in the city, students will be sketching and examining a lot of it.

But they're also there to look at the city’s cultural landscape, including where people work. The students are also sketching heavy industrial sites like port facilities and the refinery.

Teachers say many of the students will go on to work in those fields.

"There's been some very interesting factories, new factories designed by architects,” said Mellin. “They may not design all the apparatus, but they would design some of the building, the front office, the layouts and so on."

The presence of so many students studying the city on a Sunday morning was a welcome sight for people who live in the area.

"You come to realize and appreciate that there's much that has surrounded you for a long time that has a charm that maybe you didn't notice. It's always nice to have people point it out," said resident Carl Killen.

The students will be taking their sketch pads to several neighbourhoods in the days to come, looking for a variety of buildings and architectural styles unique to the city.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.