UDITRDSN - BA (Hons) Interior Design (Top-up)

Interior Design is concerned with the adaptive reuse of buildings, redesigning spaces so that they respond to new practices and ways of living and working. The course encourages students to design spaces that by turn, excite, amaze, enable and comfort, enhancing the emotional impact and value of users’ connections to interior spaces.

The course will explore and test the design of a range of spaces through live projects, developing students’ awareness of the complexities of the design process, designing sensitively and thoughtfully, respecting and valuing personal, social and cultural contexts. In so doing, users’ and inhabitants’ connection to the spaces will be strengthened, enhancing the longevity and therefore the sustainability of the design.

The course’s ambition is to educate interior designers who share a commitment to improving the quality of people’s lives and spatial experiences through the built environment, and who understand their responsibility towards sustainable design and development, working across the whole range of industry sectors, such as hospitality, public realm, workspace, retail, education and healthcare environments, contributing positively to society, the environment and the economy, both in the present and more importantly for the future. Our graduates will inform industry of the latest practice, principles, and collaborative approaches to inclusive design.
The course’s ambition is to educate interior designers who share a commitment to improving the quality of people’s lives and experiences through the built environment, and who understand their responsibility towards sustainable development, contributing positively to society, the environment and the economy, both in the present and more importantly for the future. Our graduates will keep industry informed with the latest practice, principles and collaborative approaches to inclusive design.

The course operates within a unique programme of interior design undergraduate awards, bringing together best practice from a range of design perspectives. The three related awards, BA Interior Architecture and Design, BA Interior Design and BA Interior Design and Decoration students to explore diverse aspects of the interior design industry, through a range of scales and interventions in the context of communities and their environments. Students research and generate ideas through an explorative design process and then communicate their concepts through professional scaled modelling, drawing and visualisation techniques.

The course promotes individualised, experiential, active and enquiry-based learning offering student choice in curriculum and approaches to study. Independent and critical thinking is encouraged so that students understand the opportunity to identify and redefine problems, offering creative and original design that meets the needs of current and future society. The course specifically asks students to avoid established, conventional ‘business-as-usual’ responses to design challenges, instead encouraging them to become the highly skilled and well-informed change makers needed by society.

The course has been designed in consultation with students and employers in order to ensure that it meets the aspirations of our students and the demands of the contemporary employment environment in interior design. The course aims are aligned with the qualification descriptors in the Quality Assurance Agency’s Framework for Higher Education Qualifications. It aligns with the University’s Strategic Plan, the Education for Social Justice Framework and Student Partnership Agreement in promoting accessible and inclusive education in an environment that respects and values the identities of our students and accommodates diversity in all its forms. Consideration has been given to the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Art and Design (2019), the QAA Higher Education Qualifications Framework, and the University’s Academic Regulations.

Fundamental to the course’s approach is to engage students with primary research from the very beginning of the course. Students will make their own site and building surveys from direct observation, they will interview clients and users, physically test materials, and present their design proposals to live clients to ensure that their learning experience mirrors the professional practice of their discipline as much as possible. In this way employability is fostered through learning from direct experience and real-world contact with external partners and live project opportunities, building the vital ability to work effectively with others.

The course comprises four core 30-credit modules in the areas of design development, design realisation, interior design technologies and production, and contextual studies. Students work through assignments andInterior Design is concerned with the adaptive reuse of buildings, redesigning spaces so that they respond to new practices and ways of living and working. The course encourages students to design spaces that by turn, excite, amaze, enable and comfort, enhancing the emotional impact and value of users’ connections to interior spaces.

The course will explore and test the design of a range of spaces through live projects, developing students’ awareness of the complexities of the design process, designing sensitively and thoughtfully, respecting and valuing personal, social and cultural contexts. In so doing, users’ and inhabitants’ connection to the spaces will be strengthened, enhancing the longevity and therefore the sustainability of the design.

The course’s ambition is to educate interior designers who share a commitment to improving the quality of people’s lives and spatial experiences through the built environment, and who understand their responsibility towards sustainable design and development, working across the whole range of industry sectors, such as hospitality, public realm, workspace, retail, education and healthcare environments, contributing positively to society, the environment and the economy, both in the present and more importantly for the future. Our graduates will inform industry of the latest practice, principles, and collaborative approaches to inclusive design.
The course’s ambition is to educate interior designers who share a commitment to improving the quality of people’s lives and experiences through the built environment, and who understand their responsibility towards sustainable development, contributing positively to society, the environment and the economy, both in the present and more importantly for the future. Our graduates will keep industry informed with the latest practice, principles and collaborative approaches to inclusive design.

The course operates within a unique programme of interior design undergraduate awards, bringing together best practice from a range of design perspectives. The three related awards, BA Interior Architecture and Design, BA Interior Design and BA Interior Design and Decoration students to explore diverse aspects of the interior design industry, through a range of scales and interventions in the context of communities and their environments. Students research and generate ideas through an explorative design process and then communicate their concepts through professional scaled modelling, drawing and visualisation techniques.

The course promotes individualised, experiential, active and enquiry-based learning offering student choice in curriculum and approaches to study. Independent and critical thinking is encouraged so that students understand the opportunity to identify and redefine problems, offering creative and original design that meets the needs of current and future society. The course specifically asks students to avoid established, conventional ‘business-as-usual’ responses to design challenges, instead encouraging them to become the highly skilled and well-informed change makers needed by society.

The course has been designed in consultation with students and employers in order to ensure that it meets the aspirations of our students and the demands of the contemporary employment environment in interior design. The course aims are aligned with the qualification descriptors in the Quality Assurance Agency’s Framework for Higher Education Qualifications. It aligns with the University’s Strategic Plan, the Education for Social Justice Framework and Student Partnership Agreement in promoting accessible and inclusive education in an environment that respects and values the identities of our students and accommodates diversity in all its forms. Consideration has been given to the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Art and Design (2019), the QAA Higher Education Qualifications Framework, and the University’s Academic Regulations.

Fundamental to the course’s approach is to engage students with primary research from the very beginning of the course. Students will make their own site and building surveys from direct observation, they will interview clients and users, physically test materials, and present their design proposals to live clients to ensure that their learning experience mirrors the professional practice of their discipline as much as possible. In this way employability is fostered through learning from direct experience and real-world contact with external partners and live project opportunities, building the vital ability to work effectively with others.

The course comprises four core 30-credit modules in the areas of design development, design realisation, interior design technologies and production, and contextual studies. Students work thr

The course’s aims are aligned with the qualification descriptors in the Quality Assurance Agency’s Framework for Higher Education Qualifications

Graduates of the course will be able to use academic and other resources to build a detailed and coherent body of discipline-specific knowledge that together with analytical skills acquired through study will enable them to analyse problems, dealing with uncertain and ambiguous situations, and to propose solutions, sustaining argument convincingly. They will be able to work independently, pursuing self-development, managing themselves and others, able to communicate effectively with specialist and non-specialist audiences, and understand the transferability of their knowledge and skills.

The course aims to provide a design education relevant to commercial interior design, equipping its graduates with attributes required for employment in the sector. It seeks to ensure that its graduates are knowledgeable, creative, flexible, culturally, socially and environmentally aware, technically proficient and therefore of value to future employers. The course aims to enable students to think independently, take risks, and work in an exploratory way to seek innovative solutions to design problems. Students are encouraged to understand learning as an iterative process, with apparent success and failure both being relative and valuable as part of the process, thereby becoming critically self-aware and developing resilience and self-reliance.

The course’s students will:

employ idea-generated risk-taking, exploratory and innovative strategies for designing spatial environments and control their narrative, function and experience;

conduct evidence-based primary research and analysis, developing a rigorous and professional approach to the practice and challenges of the interior design profession;

ensure responsible ethical practice in relation to cultural, environmental, material and social circumstances and the needs of peoples and communities;

understand the working practices, roles and regulatory environment of the sector;

understand the cultural, psychological, emotional, political, technological and economic factors related to the design, production, and use of aspects of the built environment and its component artefacts;

develop curiosity, a habit of independent enquiry and the capacity to reason, critique and reflect upon their own practice;

through working with 2D and 3D materials in both traditional and digital processes and platforms, develop employment-ready design and realisation skills aligned with sector requirements;

develop confident and persuasive presentational and communication skills utilising multidisciplinary approaches and production techniques;

be able to work independently, manage their own time and tasks and those of others, reflect objectively on their own performance, understanding the opportunities for their talents and interests, and plan effectively for the future, including self-development for career advancement.

On completion of this course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding:

1. recognise and describe the relationship existing between design, culture, environment and society, and commerce and the economy (both historic and current) and the relevance of these relationships to the practice of design;
2. analyse and understand a range of interior design precedents and relevant contextual theories and utilise that understanding in their design process;
3. apply ethical and regulatory principles and standards that are required for the proper conduct of professional practice;

Cognitive Intellectual Abilities:

4. apply critical intellectual skills to interrogate design problems; utilising direct observation and primary and secondary research to enable independent critical analysis, reasoned and evidenced argument, and persuasive proposals;
5. make reasoned and considered judgements and decisions in situations where uncertainty, ambiguity and conflicting interests render simple solutions inappropriate and unviable, considering and balancing the needs of all parties and users as fairly as possible;

Transferable Skills:

6. independently and collaboratively communicate design proposals to colleagues, industry professionals, clients, invested communities and the general public, through the effective use of a range appropriate visualisation techniques;
7. as part of the design process, communicate ideas and proposals effectively by oral, written and visual means to others with clarity and confidence, using skills of persuasion and negotiation to secure the desired outcome;
8. exercise independent project management skills, including time and task management, team leadership and collaboration, self-evaluation and critical reflection;

Subject-Specific Practical Skills:

9. generate complex and detailed design concepts and proposals suitable for interior and multidisciplinary design projects, through analogue and digital drawing, modelmaking and visualisation techniques;
10. develop confident entrepreneurial and self-promotional skills to maximise employment and career opportunities;
11. understand the roles and associated expertise of the extended team members in the interior design and construction industries and work effectively in that context;

Professionalism and Values:

12. demonstrate confidence, resilience, ambition and creativity and act as inclusive, collaborative and socially responsible practitioners and professionals in their discipline;
13. ensure that social, cultural, ethical, and environmental contexts are engaged in the design process alongside economic and business factors.

QAA Subject Benchmark Statement; Art and Design (2019)

The assessment strategy for the course has been designed holistically, to ensure fairness, accessibility and inclusivity as well as manageable timing, workloads and clarity of expectations for students, and to avoid duplication of assessment of learning outcomes. Where appropriate, students are engaged as partners in the design of their assessments.

The assessment regimes for the modules and tasks are designed together with the briefs, prior to the start of the year, considering student, external examiner, professional collaborator and colleague feedback from previous instances. The requirements of briefs and their components, the assessment criteria, grading scheme and descriptors are published and explained to students at the start of the year and are designed to be used as consistently as possible, to avoid unnecessary complication.

In every case, there is required formative assessment and feedback prior to summative assessment at set points. This is recorded so that it can be used by both students and staff to track further progress and engage support where it is required. Feedback follows good pedagogic practice in that it is constructed as ‘feed-forward’, with a focus on specific actions and strategies as to how to improve, not only on what requires improvement.

Students are informed of the procedures for first, second and parity marking, and external examiner scrutiny of the assessment process and marks, to ensure that they understand and have confidence in the probity of the process and security of the final marks. Additionally, the course engages in Subject and School parity exercises to ensure that assessment standards are consistent.

Work-based learning is embedded in the course through live projects, industry visits, visiting professional speakers and participation in public events.

The majority of tutors and lecturers contributing to the course are practitioners who share their knowledge and experience with students throughout their course of study. The flexible practice-led model of delivery for the course means that evolving opportunities for work-related learning through collaboration with external companies, agencies, institutions, competitions and professionals are taken up as they arise.

Students’ understanding of professional standards and expectations builds as they progress through the year, working towards completion of interview-ready professional portfolios of project work, exhibited at the annual summer show and associated events.

Part-time Structure

Year 1 – DN6020 & DN6018

Year 2 – CP6015 & DN6029

All modules on the course are core and compulsory. The part time route is prescribed.

The course’s principle of guiding learning through a practice-led curriculum promotes ongoing reflection and personal development. This is supported by regular formative feedback on work in progress that enables students to understand their progress and find opportunities for multiple and individualised routes to successful outcomes. Modules have interim points of review, which ensures that students, together with their tutors, can devise study strategies appropriate to individual learning styles, while ensuring monitoring of engagement and progress. At these interim formative assessment and feedback points, students reflect on their progress to date with their peers and course staff (with the benefit of feedback from professional partners), seek help where they identify the opportunity for improvement in learning strategies and outcomes, and make recommendations to themselves for future development. The feedback and student reflection is recorded and forms an action plan for the next period of study.

This system is highly individualised, but also benefits from peer engagement in studio critiques. The School’s programme of employability events and embedded work-related learning within the curriculum supports students’ personal development planning. Through these initiatives, students are increasingly able to understand the professional environment of their disciplines, the various opportunities available to them, and how to shape their learning according to their ambitions. This ensures that personal development for career planning is effectively contextualised and suitable for the contemporary workplace.

Careers advice is integral to the course and supported by tailored input from the University’s Careers Office who support the review of student CVs. Portfolio surgeries are carried out in which students are given specific advice about their presentational focus in relation to their career aspirations. Students have contact with industry professionals throughout the year and are encouraged and supported to seek internships and work experience. Competition, exhibition and publicity opportunities exist throughout the course and students are encouraged to develop their public professional profile.

Students leave with a high-quality interview-ready portfolio of work and a range of practical, professional and academic skills, providing an excellent basis for both employment and further study. Most of our graduates go on to practice in interior architecture and interior design, or are employed by design studios or architectural practices or progress to postgraduate study. The course also provides graduates with transferable knowledge and skills that enable individuals to seek work in a wide variety of areas connected to the built environment and other related professions.

Students can also benefit from support and guidance from the Careers and Employability services and the University’s business incubator unit, ‘Accelerator’.

This course will prepare you to work with confidence as a specialist in a design or architectural practice. On entering the workplace you will find your role requires a range of skills and experience beyond the purely creative. The collaborative nature of the projects you’ll complete whilst studying are ideal for preparing you for interacting with other professionals and performing construction industry processes.

Recent graduates have been employed by design companies including Gensler, BDP, Turner Bates, Black Sheep, Fitch, AI Architects, Woods Bagot, Foster and Partners, Seen Displays, Areen, My Beautiful City and Avante Garde.

We also have graduates who have chosen to work for set designers, interior design magazines and in museum and gallery curation.

Others have chosen to continue onto postgraduate study. Graduates of this course are well-suited to pursuing further studies in interior design, sustainable design, architecture and environmental design and strategic brand management at postgraduate level. We have a variety of suitable courses at London Met, such as:

• Interior Design MA
• Environmental, Sustainable and Regeneration Design MA
• Architectural History, Research and Writing MA
• Public Art and Performance MA

Every student who studies on one of our three interiors courses has the opportunity of a work placement at a leading London design practice. We place our students in the top 150 interior and architectural practices in London including Penson, Gensler, turnerbates, Fitch and WeAreYourStudio.

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have one of the following:

• 240 credits from a Higher National Diploma (HND), Foundation Degree (FdA/ FdSc) or equivalent international qualification in a relevant subject
• 240 credits from years 1 and 2 of an undergraduate degree (BA/BSc) in a relevant subject at a different institution

If you live in the UK you will be invited to a portfolio interview. If you live outside of the UK you will be asked to submit a portfolio via email.

Portfolios and interviews

Your portfolio should be selective, but have enough work to show a range of your interests and talents. We are interested in seeing how you develop a project from beginning to end, not only finished work.

If you cannot bring certain pieces of your work to your portfolio interview, please take photographs and include them.

Physical portfolio

If you are coming in person to your interview we strongly suggest bringing a physical portfolio of work.

Things to bring:

• Sketchbooks– we love to see your sketchbooks with ideas and notes, even if they are messy.
• Examples of the development of a project from start to finish and the final outcome.
• Some work that you are really proud of and want to talk about.
• Some work that shows you experimenting with different processes.

Digital Portfolio

If you are submitting an online application, please follow these guidelines.

Things to include:

• Scans or photographs demonstrating items from the list above.
• Storyboarding for motion-based work.
• Also include scans of sketchbook pages showing development.
• Be sure to check the resolution and overall quality of your image to ensure submissions are not pixelated.