The programme will pursue a multi-layered, multidisciplinary approach, reflecting the demanding technical and specialist nature of Interior Design. Its practice should be perceived as parallel and equal to Architecture.

The first year of the course will see students responding to a wide variety of live and conceptual briefs, working at large scale and within all sectors: health, retail, leisure, education, exhibition, hospitality, domestic, etc. This will be an intense period of creative production and exploration, intended to strengthen existing theoretical, practical and conceptual sensibilities and develop new ways of thinking and working.

Working together in cross-programme, College-wide collaboration with their peers in other disciplines, and with help from industry-experienced tutors, this phase will prepare students for the thesis required in the second year, as well as for the varying demands of a range of projects, from super-economical solutions and sensorial, immersive installations to the luxurious extravagance of opulent, high-end design and the rigour required when working in, for example, the cultural sector.

Term 1 – Typologies of Interior Design

Students will participate in a series of intense projects over ten weeks during which they will explore existing and innovative typologies of space. During these they will work to a variety of client briefs for different projects including restaurants, retail spaces, exhibitions, residential and transportation. They will work with real clients, consultants and producers to invent radical new solutions both to existing problems and to those as yet unknown.

In parallel to these projects, students will also be completing their ‘Supporting Studies’ programme. These studies will be timetabled to support the design projects, and in Term One this module will be ‘Contemporary Practice’.

Term 2 – Materials of Interior Design

Up to ten rapid-fire, materials-based projects looking at process, materials and craft within interior design. Students will work with manufacturers and specialist producers to learn about methods of production and bespoke processes involved in different materials – ceramics, textiles, timber, resin, paint, metals, fabrication, mud, stone. They will look at ways of innovating – using traditional materials in nontraditional ways and vice versa – in an effort to change the way that these materials are both used and perceived.

In this term, the students will also complete the ‘Technical Studies’ module of their ‘Supporting Studies’ programme.

Term 3 – Your Philosophy of Interior Design

This term will be dedicated to students finding their own voice and approach. They should contemplate, research and develop a personal stance and response to the key questions facing interior designers today. To aid this contemplation, they will take part in a series of projects, devised with help from their tutor and tutor group, designed to explore their personal passions, creating a refined and crafted attitude. Alongside this exploration, students should be refining and researching their dissertation topic (which should be linked closely to the subject of their thesis project) in preparation for its completion over the summer break following the end of Year One.

In this term, the students will also complete the ‘History & Theory’ module of their ‘Supporting Studies’ programme.

Term 4 – Concept Development

Students will apply the skills they have learned in Terms 1 and 2 and the research of Term 3 to a rigorous development of a solid concept for their thesis project, creating a vision for a sensorial, crafted design that liberates their concept and clearly shows their discoveries and conclusions.

In this term, the students will also complete the ‘Contemporary Practice 2’ module of their ‘Supporting Studies’ programme.

Terms 5 and 6 – Thesis Project

Students will work on the development and finalisation of their thesis project and dissertation with the guidance and support of their personal tutors.

In Term 5, the students will also complete the ‘Professional Practice’ module of their ‘Supporting Studies’ programme.

Interventions

Throughout the two-year programme, there will be regular, short, intense workshops that shake up the process, challenge assumptions, teach new skills and expand the students’ toolkit.