BA (Hons) Interior Architecture
About the course
Interior Design BA(Hons)
Interior design is an exhilarating practice responding to the rapid pace of the interiors industry. It involves an exciting range of projects embracing commercial, social and temporary projects such as workspaces, hotels, retail, museums, exhibitions, and health and educational spaces. This Interior Design BA will introduce you to the latest research as well as industry professionals who will bring their knowledge and experience to the course.
Your first year – through an active and holistic learning and teaching programme – is designed to develop your thinking, key skills and understanding of the industry and related practice, allowing you to produce a portfolio and discover your career aspirations through explorative approaches. You’ll explore sketching, drawing, sketch-modelling and the production of scaled accurate models through workshop practice and orthographic techniques, with digital software also used to strengthen your ideas and skills. This will guide you into your second year where we ask you to choose a studio in which to cultivate your design philosophy, sector specialisms and professional skills. The course also offers an opportunity to work within the industry and gain real life work experience with an interior design company, which is assessed as part of your degree. We then build on this in the third year and advance your individuality and expertise through both studio specialisms and a mentoring scheme leading you towards successful employment.
Our studios are run by practitioners and experts in their field who develop a series of year-long projects covering contemporary and relevant design issues and topics. We work with well-known businesses, associations, and museums and galleries running live projects. This gives you the opportunity to discuss and exhibit your projects, which in turn helps you to develop a range of professional presentational skills.
The course takes place in the heart of London's creative district, which gives you access to an abundance of live projects and industry mentors. You’ll be surrounded by the best interior practices in London from Shoreditch, Clerkenwell, the West End and Mayfair.
We also promote an entrepreneurial spirit, which leads to students participating in national and international competitions and taking advantage of volunteering opportunities.
Interior Architecture and Design BA(Hons)
We are fascinated by the way people inhabit existing and new spaces, both at the scale of the home and at the scale of the city. Interior architecture is a distinct, rigorous practice that requires a specialist way of thinking about how we occupy complex spaces and how the elements of space are brought together at a human scale both to accommodate and to delight.
It's the collaborative nature of professional practice that guides this course. It's the only interiors course where students work alongside architecture students. This link is underpinned by how and what you study and by the design practitioners who work with you to help you to develop your design skills and thinking.
You'll develop specialist skills in the areas of observational and spatial drawing, computer drawing, model making and technological and material investigations. Alongside making design proposals we ask you to comprehensively research, analyse and articulate the culture and context in which your design thinking is being applied.
As you progress through this course, you'll develop your own individual enquiry, creative approach, critical thinking and deepen your understanding of design processes. We encourage you to combine intellectual and creative ambition with detailed resolution of your work and to test how to communicate your ideas effectively to your peers and in the wider world.
Our teaching programme is supplemented by study trips, practice visits, design workshops and weekly lectures by designers and architects. Where possible, we link with The Projects Office, to other areas of the University and with our established international partners.
Interior Design and Decoration BA(Hons)
You’ll study the history of interior design, discover its ceremonial and ritualistic role in society through the ages and develop the hands-on skills and techniques you need to succeed in the industry.
Taught by experts in the field, you'll learn about the different decorative, sculptural and textural elements of interior design and examine the relationship between furniture, design, user, product and place. As you develop your skills through hands-on practice and research, you’ll explore your own creative responses to light, colour, acoustics, and graphic and illustrative patternation. You’ll also work with a range of material processes in studios and workshops and use creative and imaginative narratives to develop sensory, intellectual and aesthetic spaces that make an impact on the audience and user.
During the course, you’ll study structural model-making with a range of materials including wood, metal, concrete, upholstery and ceramics. In addition, you’ll gain skills through traditional and digital workshops, helping you develop a comprehensive, clear design vision of residential and/or retail environments. You’ll also have access to important archives kept at institutions such as the V&A and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), which will allow you to research methods and approaches that are so often relevant today.
Led from a sustainable stance, each project will see you discuss the suitability of the materials and processes involved and look at best practice throughout the world. You'll also work with informed and ecological agencies such as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and the Building Research Establishment (BRE), as well as material libraries, to take into account the importance of using sustainable resources, recycling, upcycling and reusing in order to create a circular economy.
Allied to both the architecture and design school, this course is perfect if you’re interested in either discipline. If you’re keen to focus on decorative interior design, you’ll work closely with a team of furniture, textile and upholstery designers to develop your skills and vision. If you’re more architecturally minded, you’ll work with experts in structural environments, manipulating the qualities and looks of surfaces and materials to create impactful spatial experiences. In both cases, you’ll develop your skills and knowledge to create your own personal design style. You’ll also have the opportunity to undertake a work placement at a leading London design practice, helping you develop the practical skills and contacts you need for your career.