Interior Design MA
Subject and course type
- Design
- Postgraduate
Create incredible spaces. Kingston University’s Interior Design MA challenges you to create sustainable spatial designs that respond to real-world problems and create future debates.
You are reading:
Create and transform amazing spaces
The Interior Design MA gives you an in-depth understanding of interior and space design
You will gain an in-depth understanding of interior and space design in different contexts, such as urban, public and private spaces. You will explore diverse applications to enable creative and employment opportunities in existing and emerging fields of work.
Through an unbounded design approach, the course integrates design, emerging technology, artificial intelligence, social context, ecology, policy and community engagement.
As part of Kingston School of Art's commitment to environmental and social justice, this programme gives you the skills needed to address global issues.
By leveraging London's dynamic interior design practices, the course offers an immersive exploration of interior and space design across urban, public and private contexts. You will engage in multidisciplinary critical work, combining research, analysis and practice-based learning, with projects that address real-world industry briefs and the global sustainability goals set by the United Nations.
Interior Design MA not only prepares you for a wide range of design practices and employment opportunities in the interior design industry but also gives you a critical perspective on sustainability and a strong foundation for problem-solving and collaboration across disciplines.
Student work
-
Yining Zhang
Sponge City
-
Yining Zhang
Sponge City
-
Salsa Chatab
-
Xinyi Zhang
-
Salsa Chatab
-
Salsa Chatab
-
Wanwan Ye
-
Wanwan Ye
Why choose this course
While you study, you’ll benefit from top quality teaching at Kingston University. Not only are we ranked Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, we’re also Top 10 in the UK for Art & Design (The Complete University Guide 2026).
University museums and galleries
Kingston University has two on-site galleries, which offer exciting opportunities for career progression. Grade II-listed Dorich House is the former home of the sculptor Dora Gordine, while the Stanley Picker Gallery is one of the UK’s leading university galleries. Our Knights Park campus also has a bookable project space for large-scale exhibitions.
Workshops and studios
Explore, collaborate and share ideas in our state-of-the-art workshop facilities, designed by Stirling Prize-winning studio, Haworth Tompkins. Facilities are open to all Kingston University students, and include:
- 3D workshops, with spaces for ceramics, concrete, resin-casting, plastics, metalwork, woodwork, bronze-casting foundry, set design and large scale model making
- Animation and post-production studios
- A digital media workshop
- Knitting and sewing workshops with digital and analogue facilities, plus a working dress archive including from 1750 to the present day
- A HackSpace for collaborative, creative, solutions-focused projects
- A letterpress and printmaking workshop
- A moving image workshop, with studios, an editing suite and industry-standard equipment
- A fully-equipped photography workshop
The Complete University Guide 2026 ranks us in the Top 10 in the UK for Art & Design – covers Fashion, Fashion Promotion and Communication, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration Animation, Interior Design, and Product and Furniture Design.
The Art School Experience
As part of Kingston School of Art, students benefit from joining a creative community where we encourage collaborative working and critical practice.
Our workshops and labs are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.
Course content
This course is part of the Design School's Postgraduate Framework, which promotes interdisciplinary practice opportunities, underpins research, supports personal trajectory and industry contact, and includes a supporting lecture series.
Modules
This postgraduate Interior Design programme offers an open platform to develop as an interior space designer and other related areas of practice. MA Interior Design aims at the development of a high level of intellectual and practical mastery of the analysis and design of diverse interior spaces, with broader implications for spatial design. The approach of the spatial exploration, solutions and design involves research contexts transferred into new design strategies and design interventions.
Compulsory modules
30 credits
This module establishes that research is integral to the design process, and developing a robust understanding of practical, theoretical, and material approaches to it, is fundamental to enquiry-led practice. You are therefore asked to explore a diverse range of multidisciplinary practice-based research methods through engagement with externally facing, social, political, cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts.
Throughout this module you will be expected to engage with how research is part of the making process and can become outcome in itself. We will consider how the designer can make knowledge public, through the design of information, artefacts, narratives, and spaces. The module is workshop based, taking a dialogic and discursive approach to learning. You are encouraged to co-create the curriculum to create an expanded, collaborative set of cultural references, critical tools, and research resources.
To support your personal and professional development the module asks you to consider your own capabilities, values, and ethics as a researcher, and to articulate how that underpins your work. This critical reflection is presented as essential to informing effective decision making within professional practice. Collaborative work is integrated into the curriculum in a supportive studio culture where diverse knowledge is shared.
30 credits
This module recognises that principles and practices of interior design are diverse, and perspectives on design’s role within it are sometimes contested. You are, therefore, asked to undertake a critical and sensitive examination of designing spaces, that considers its multi-faceted context using unbounded design approach.
This module aims to cultivate a deeper understanding of the scope and potential of interior design, urging students to envision new typologies that respond to societal, cultural, and technological shifts, underpinned by sustainability. By exploring innovative design approaches, students are prompted to address emerging concerns and anticipate future needs, while also delving into novel ways of perception, representation, and experiential design. The inclusion of international and diverse case studies prepares students for Global practice.
Workshops and practical skills building sessions will enable students to actively engage in critical debate and feedback with tutors and peers to stimulate self-critical development. We value equality and diversity and encourage explorations of different cultures. Furthermore, students are encouraged to explore networks outside Kingston School of Art to expand their knowledge and outlook, and lend their work greater rigour and credibility.
30 credits
This module establishes that many future jobs do not yet exist, so there are opportunities for you to play a part in co-creating them. You are therefore asked to critically consider current roles for designers, emerging fields of design, and how we might reframe, or even reinvent, our future design practice.
Throughout this module you will be expected to take an unbounded approach to design, using ‘what-if’ questions to open spaces for critical debate and imaginative thought. Through projects and workshops (Element 1) we will anticipate new multidimensional and hybrid practices and investigate the possibilities of designer as maker / curator / social innovator / educator / activist. This exploration will support you producing a Major Project Proposal (Element 2) for a sustained independent project realised in TB3.
To support your personal and professional development the module enables you to build confidence, independence, agile thinking, and resilience. We will collectively map the pluriverse of design opportunities and professions as a means of positioning your practice ambitions within a rapidly changing world. Future skills will be developed that are not only valuable to the creative industries, but to the global economy: analytical skills, adaptability, communication, criticality.
30 credits
This module engages students in a speculative design process. Students will define the underpinning values and ambitions that will drive their personal future practice. This self-initiated inquiry is aimed at seeking out and evaluating the challenges and opportunities within a carefully defined context to establish a design brief. The physical context for the study needs to be described; being either site specific or in response to a defined typology or social / technological phenomena. A research pathway also needs to be developed in-depth study of precedents, familiarization and engagement with the contemporary and historical thinking.
Seminars encourage participants to speculate about the different modes of delivery and enable students to map a project’s trajectory against professional practice in a specific subject area from the scale of an urban district to the experience of a room and all the possibilities in-between.
During this module, students will establish the scope of the project’s realization in terms of the factors of ambition, scale and resolution. Assumptions are tested by interrogating the value of research through physical prototypes and/or exploring speculative scenarios through virtual media. Students are encouraged to combine playful exploration with rigorous testing and critical reflection.
60 credits
This module establishes a space to build your future practice through a critical, sustained enquiry that synthesises rigorous research, original concepts, and confident experimentation at Postgraduate level. You are therefore asked to define, test, resolve and realise your intended ideas and ambitions for an individual Major Project. This will be evidenced in a substantial body of work taking any form relevant to the project’s objectives and audience. You will be supported in your choices by tutor guidance and the planning undertaken during DE7301.
Throughout this module you will be expected to assimilate learning established so far on the course, identifying real-world contexts and innovative dissemination modes. You will bring an individual critical position to your project, in an expanded notion of your discipline and its possibilities. You will be supported through tutorials, reviews, and peer-to-peer activities.
To support your personal and professional development the Major Project provides a framework for you to recognise, act on, and consolidate a range of transferable skills in relation to design. You will engage with fundamental aspects of professional practice that could include project management and production, research techniques, responsible practice, external collaboration and discourse, presentation skills, and strategies for self-promotion.
Career opportunities
You’ll complete this course fully prepared for diverse design practice, as well as a range of opportunities in the interior design industry. Recent graduates have progressed to roles including interior designer, space designer, visual merchandiser, space researcher, production designer, exhibition designer and more.
Teaching and assessment
The teaching on the course is very much in line with the 3D Design Department ethos, involving studio practice, research, workshops, guest lecturers and visiting lecturers, who enrich the provision. We also have rich blended learning content.
When not attending timetabled sessions you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This typically will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and CANVAS, the online virtual learning platform.
At Kingston University, we know that postgraduate students have particular needs and therefore we have a range of support available to help you during your time here.
When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor. This is the member of academic staff who will provide academic guidance, be a support throughout your time at Kingston and who will show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer at Kingston University.
A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.
One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 180 credits across a year (typical for a postgraduate course) would equate to 1,800 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.
- 16% scheduled learning and teaching
The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.
Your course will primarily be delivered in person. It may include delivery of some activities online, either in real time or recorded.
Assessment typically comprises briefs assessments and final submissions are portfolios compiled at a professional standard.
The course also includes developing research books, formative reviews and group feedback.
The approximate percentage for how you will be assessed on this course is as follows, though depends to some extent on the optional modules you choose.
Type of assessment
- Coursework: 100%
We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.
Fees and funding
| Fee category | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | |
| Full Time | £12,900 |
| Part Time | £7,095 |
| International | |
| Full Time | £23,700 |
| Part Time | £13,035 |
| Fee category | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | |
| Full Time | £12,400 |
| Part Time | £6,820 |
| International | |
| Full Time | £21,800 |
| Part Time | £11,990 |
Fees for future course years
Part time
If you start your second year straight after Year 1, you will pay the same fee for both years.
If you take a break before starting your second year, or if you repeat modules from Year 1 in Year 2, the fee for your second year may increase.
Funding support for postgraduate students
If you are a UK student living in England and under 60, you can apply for a loan to study for a postgraduate degree. Find out more through the government's website.
Scholarships and bursaries
Interested in studying Interior Design MA at Kingston? The following funding support is available:
Get a 40% reduction in fees for taught masters or postgraduate diploma courses with September start dates. Find out more.
Receive up to £5,000 towards tuition in your first year of study. Find out more.
Get a 15% reduction in tuition fees. Find out more.
Kingston University offers a 10% discount on full- and part-time postgraduate degree course tuition fees to our alumni. Visit our alumni discount page to find out more.
Student work
-
Adam Gojdics
-
Baina Badmaeva
-
Georgia Pearce
-
Hannah Gould
-
Izabela Heftowicz
-
Joseph Beadle
-
Kasia Turowska
-
Matilde Menezes
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Our libraries have an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as open-access computers and laptops available to rent. However, you may want to buy your own computer or personal copies of key textbooks. Textbooks may range from £50 to £250 per year.
While most coursework is submitted online, some modules may require printed copies. You may want to allocate up to £100 per year for hard-copies of your coursework. It’s worth noting that 3D printing is never compulsory. So if you choose to use our 3D printers, you’ll need to pay for the material. This ranges from 3p per gram to 40p per gram.
Kingston University will pay for all compulsory field trips. Fees for optional trips can range from £30 to £350 per trip.
Your tuition fees don’t cover travel costs. To save on travel costs, you can use our intersite bus service. This route links the campuses and halls of residence with local train stations: Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames and Norbiton.
You’ll need to buy your own laptop (minimum specification CPU 2.6 GHz+, 8GB Memory RAM) to use for the duration of your studies. This laptop should support 3D CAD software for your course, such as Revit, SolidWorks, KeyShot, Vectorworks and 3D Photoshop. The University will give you access to these programmes. Estimated costs for a laptop start at £500.
Project materials will cost between £100 and £200 per year. You’ll also need to purchase tools at a cost of around £50.
You’ll need to buy your own board and cardboard materials, which should cost between £40 and £80 per year. The course also requires you to have your own interior model-making tool set, which will cost between £25 and £40.
How to apply
Before you apply
Please read the entry criteria carefully to make sure you meet all requirements before applying.
How to apply online
Use the course selector drop-down at the top of this page to choose your preferred course, start date and mode, then click 'Apply now'. You will be taken to our Online Student Information System (OSIS) where you will complete your application.
If you’re starting a new application, you’ll need to select ‘new user’ and set up a username and password. This will allow you to save and return to your application.
Please note: If you’re from a country outside the EU or EEA that’s classified as overseas fee-paying, you won’t be eligible to apply for a part-time course because of visa regulations in the UK. For information about exceptions, please visit the UKCISA website or email our CAS and Visa Compliance team.
Application deadlines
We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Applications will close when the course is full.
After you apply
If the admission tutor wants to see your portfolio, we will email asking you to upload your zipped portfolio to the OSIS portal within three weeks. If we need more information or want to invite you for an interview, we will be in touch directly. After that you will then hear whether your application has been successful.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Find out more about course changes
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
