I have always had a passion for the theory, history and practice of architecture. I am based in the UK and am in the very fortunate position that, if I save a high proportion of my salary for the next 7 years (coronavirus-economy allowing), I will have enough money to build a small house on some land that I own in Spain. I currently work as a software engineer which I do enjoy, but at the same time I miss having a visual creative outlet. I seem to spend a lot of time, when at home, staring into space, imagining different layouts for the walls and windows and doors of my London flat. 

Previously, I earned a Masters Degree in Cinema while working part-time. Over the next year, I plan to cut my work back to 3.5 days a week so that I can study further, and would ideally like to study architecture.

My questions:

- Would studying the RIBA Part I, part-time over 5 years, be useful if I eventually want to 'design' and build my own house? (By 'design', I mean broadly conceptually - I appreciate I will not have the skill or experience to do the full design myself)

- As I am a mature student and already have a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and an MA in cinema, do you think studying for an Architecture MA (Part II) would be possible/advisable without doing Part I? Or would it be too much of a jump?

- Even with a RIBA 1 and/or 2, I know I would be a long long way from being an experienced architect and so would still need to hire an architect to work on a self build - but would having a BA/MA make me a better client with clearer ideas of what I want? Or would it make me an architect's worst nightmare of a client - "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" etc?

Many thanks.