Interior Design BA (Hons)

30.00 credits

This module introduces you to the full interior design process in context. It addresses the significance of research, observation, documentation, evaluation, idea generation, concept development, iteration and communication. It also introduces you to core interior design considerations including proportion, ergonomics, scale, function, form, structure and spatial organisation. Conscious awareness and practice of all aspects of the design process is understood as the means for the successful development of project work from inception to resolution. 

30.00 credits

The aim of this module is to introduce you to the principles of ideation and communication in interior design. You will undertake a range of projects, workshops, experiments and exercises to expand your knowledge, challenge preconception and to stimulate confidence and risk taking. You will communicate this project work and other exercises appropriately through a range of newly acquired and developing visual communication skills. The emphasis in this module is on expanding creative outlook and approach and in developing core communication competencies that underpin interior design practice.

30 credits

Through image-based lectures, discussions and study visits, this module presents a thematic history of designed spaces, situating in particular the emergence of the interior in modernity. Themes include: relations between design practices and professions, relations between politics, labour, craft and technology, taste and display, consumption and design, and spatial concepts within and beyond architecture. Each session is intended to address particular ideas and practices that have shaped our contemporary understanding of designed spaces as part of meaningful social, cultural and economic activity. The module engages with critical texts to allow students to examine the relationship between theory and practice, and to develop an understanding of how designed spaces emerge and are situated as cultural responses to modernity.

30 credits

This module will introduce you to the principle of the workshop and studio as integrated creative environments for the interior designer. The workshop is seen as an extension of the design studio, with special facilities for particular activities, such as the 3D workshop and digital media workshop. This principle is explored in the context of materials and construction and their impact on the interior through a series of projects centred on physical (and digital) modelling. Digital modelling facilitates physical modelling which is used to explore materials and construction through scale representation and the model's own attributes. Judgements are made on model aesthetics and communication. The modelling process develops basic workshop skills and refines an awareness of attention to detail.

Material characteristics and properties, manufacturing processes and technologies are also introduced and explored. The module simultaneously grounds you with key competencies and subject context knowledge.

30 credits

This module builds on the historical and thematic content introduced at Level 4 and emphasises the theorisation of interior design practice. A series of lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, screenings and visits informs and supports your own emerging research interests and the development of independent visual and academic research skills that cross history/theory and design practice. Lectures and seminars will deepen critical and theoretical engagement with contemporary issues in interior design. Seminar tasks and assessments are carefully designed to foreground projects that support the location of interior design as a discipline. Research methodologies are introduced though case studies and practical activities that reflect the issues explored through the module's content.

30 credits

The aim of this module is to enhance your understanding of contemporary design practice. Informed by insights from leading design studios, you will be exposed to the skills, sensibilities, attitudes and relationships required to be successful in practice. This module explores how collaborative and interdisciplinary practice enables studios to become more agile and responsive to the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly changing world. You will gain insight into how circular thinking is changing how designers think, and how concerns for equity, diversity and inclusion are informing the future of our practice. This is then applied within a collaborative studio-based project that exposes you to the broader possibilities of emerging design practice.

30 credits

This module develops upon the Level 4 Adaptive Reuse project. You'll further develop the skills and sensitivities required to creatively adapt a disused space, making it useful and meaningful for a new generation. You'll develop highly-valued professional skills in drawing, visualising and creative problem-solving within the context of a building transformed.

Past projects include converting a disused swimming pool into a performing arts venue and adapting of former bank to meet the needs of diverse community groups, who need a place to grow, make, exchange and celebrate.

30 credits

The projects on this module explore spatial storytelling, scenography, exhibition design and immersive brand experiences. Working at a smaller scale provides the opportunity to resolve and communicate the technical and material qualities of a project to a high level. You'll develop professional skills in working with clients, effective collaboration, design for fabrication and memorable story-telling. Past projects include converting a Dutch barge into a mobile community space and creating a digitally fabricated system to exhibit progressive fashion

30.00 credits

This module builds upon the Interior Practice module in Level 5. You will be required to develop a ‘map’ of future possibilities, evaluating future career options and ensuring this positively shapes personal creative direction within the Major Design Project. Contemporary tools and techniques are explored to enhance self-marketing through online platforms and physical events. 

You will be encouraged to expand your network of professional contacts and actively shape your next steps into professional practice and postgraduate study.

60 credits

The Major Design Project is the course 'capstone' project. It provides the opportunity to consolidate and practise all prior learning during your time on the programme, by culminating in a design expression of your personal interior design journey. You'll be invited to explore an urban context in need of a creative rethink. Past locations include disused factories in Chatham Dockyards, a slowly rotting tidal mill in North London, an empty cinema in Margate and an abandoned palace in Athens. 

Sustainable design and circular thinking guides the material resolution of the spaces you design. You'll be encouraged to think and behave in a more sustainable and meaningful way. Our world is always changing, and the challenge is to reinvent post-industrial, post-leisure or, increasingly, post-retail buildings to cater for a new generation. You'll develop inventive design proposals, which are economically viable, environmentally sustainable and culturally meaningful. This project will ensure you are highly valuable within a competitive professional landscape.

15 credits

This module supports an extended research project that deepens your understanding of critical issues relevant to your practice. You’ll explore a topic of your choosing, framed by questions emerging from your own design work and informed by relevant theory, history, or cultural context. Working independently and with tutor support, you’ll undertake rigorous enquiry using appropriate research methods and sources. Through this process, you’ll build your ability to reflect critically, argue persuasively, and contribute to contemporary discourse in interaction design.

15 credits

This module gives you a dedicated opportunity to develop your Future Skills Graduate Attributes. 

At the start of the module, you will be supported to self-assess your current skills profile. You will determine which attributes and skills you need to develop to support your career ambitions. In this process, you will be supported by a dedicated career coach, helping you explore a range of options that includes self-employment/freelancing, starting your own business, higher level study, and other professional graduate-level opportunities. Throughout the module, you will be given opportunities to engage with external mentors, to support reflection and to develop a professional network.

You will undertake a tailored series of activities and projects, aligned to your goals, from a menu of development options. This could include short courses, enrichment activities and experiential learning options such as micro-placements. You will also be able to reflect on activities outside the University that develop your graduate attributes, such as work or volunteering.