Studio pedagogy is intrinsic to most education programmes within the built environment higher education sector. As student numbers increase and academic institutions place pressure on staff to achieve more with less, improve student retention and heighten the first year experience, appropriate and effective pedagogies become critical. Consequently, studio teaching and learning environments, and in particular planning studios in most countries have been re-thought and re-structured in recent years. Our paper will draw upon some of the literature on the first year experience and planning studio teaching and learning in general. We will discuss the changes made to the first year planning studio and comment on possibilities for and relevance of planning studios, specifically in relation to the first year experience and as a means to address the institutional call for economic and efficient teaching models that deliver excellence teaching and learning outcomes. Results show that by restructuring a planning studio to include an intensive mode of delivery, time and cost saving can be achieved and student outcomes improved.