Interior Design

BA (Hons)

Intermediate award(s): CertHE, DipHE
Full-Time

This course is available in Clearing, call us on 0845 271 3333 for more information

Designers graduating from this course have a wide-ranging skillset with clear visual communication abilities. You will have a strong client focus and will be ready to engage within industry.
Our interior design studio.

Course overview

Our Interior Design degree aims to foster your creativity and develop your professionalism. We offer a supportive environment that encourages unique vision and helps you realise your creative potential before working in industry.

Interior designers engage with social questions of how we all live, work and play in interior and surrounding spaces. These questions have a dynamic human focus and can have many exciting solutions. Our approach is to support the development of your research, thinking and communication processes to enable you to envisage creative and innovative solutions to current design problems. You will learn, guided by a wide range of industry specialists, the skills needed for you to participate in this exciting area.

Graduates from this course are employed in design practice or are self-employed. To assist with these links, we encourage live projects, foster connections with design groups and support student placements. Cambridge has a multitude of work experience and design opportunities available to enable you to gain skills which are highly valued by employers. Our proximity to London's design festivals and galleries, means there is a wealth of opportunities for you to gain important work experience and creative depth.

On this Interior Design Degree course we aim to turn your aspirations into the skills, processes, and knowledge needed for professional practice. We are responsive to your needs and there is extensive tutorial-based learning to assist your creative development. We also encourage collaborations with illustrators, sculptors, fashion and set and costume design students in a variety of modular courses. These cross discipline collaborations add creative insight and depth into the design process. This is a flexible course of study, one that allows you to delve deeper into areas of particular interest, or to study subjects that you think may prove particularly valuable to your future career. Because this course is taught within an art school environment, we place great emphasis on the creative processes necessary to underpin the practical and technical skills you will develop. Our BA (Hons) Interior Design Degree is distinct in encouraging and supporting both your technical and creative development as well as providing you with the necessary theoretical background and project management skills to allow you to evolve and grow in order to meet the changing demands of Interior Design industry.

Designers emerging from the BA (Hons) Interior Design course have a skill set with clear visual communication abilities and a strong client focus and are ready to engage with the industry. Your final year will concentrate on preparing you for this, as you identify and develop your area of specialism and produce a body of work as the basis for a portfolio for interview.

Sarah Casey

BA (Hons) Interior Design

“I enjoy our BA (Hons) Interior Design lectures because I find it interesting to learn about all aspects of design. The interdisciplinary approach works very well for me as it helps to keep my mind open to a wide variety of concepts and sources of inspiration. The course has met my expectations because I knew it was going to be hard work, and it really is! But it is necessary to prepare me for employment. I am beginning to gain an understanding of what will be expected of me in employment, which is very useful to bear in mind whilst learning as I now know what to focus on and work towards.
”

Additional course information

Level 1 (Year 1)
Students develop confidence, communication skills and process through collaborative and independent work.

The first-year introduces core aspects of interior design through a range of key skills: drawing as a creative process, the development of three dimensional investigative/conceptual designs and the technical and aesthetic principles that are fundamental to the space, form and order of the built environment. These include colour, texture and spatial planning (initially for the domestic or small-scale environment).

Level 2 (Year 2)
Students build confidence, process and communication skills with a focus on developing professionalism.

The second-year is designed to develop the skills initiated in level 1 and broaden your application, by developing opportunities for specialisation and the exploration of more complex design problems. Through a series of projects designed to investigate the challenges of public space: retail, leisure and working environments, you will develop a deeper understanding of the role and responsibility of the interior designer. The course explores the environmental impact of different approaches to design and specification, investigating ecotecture, sustainable technologies and the sourcing of green materials.

Level 3 (Year 3)
Students focus on professional communication using developed process and skills.

The third-year provides the opportunity for you to focus on your specialist direction within interior design, with a view to producing a body of relevant work suitable for interview situations in your preferred career direction. You are encouraged to solve challenging design problems, utilising an enhanced awareness of contemporary interior design practice within a modern informational culture.

Module guide

Year one core modules
  • Interior Design Studio 1

    This module is a studio based module and will introduce you to the foundational design principles and communication techniques of Interior Design which you will develop in later modules. You in this module will explore the conceptual aspects of interior design using a range of key communication skills such as drawing as a creative process, developing three dimensional awareness in design and developing the technical and aesthetic principles that are fundamental to the space, form and order of the built environment, using scale, proportion, colour, texture and spatial thinking. This introductory and exploratory module will be underpinned by a series of lectures on design theory designed to reinforce your understanding of theoretical principles in order to be able to develop a strong rationale.

  • Interior Design Studio 2

    This module is a developed studio based module where you will further explore the skills of technical and aesthetic principles that are fundamental to the space, form and order of the built environment, using scale, proportion, colour, texture and spatial thinking. The studio has a continued focus on spatial design principles and design communication and will explore freehand perspective drawings and advanced practice in hatching and rendering techniques. Design communication is developed through one-point and two-point perspective of objects, interiors and exterior spaces. The studio will introduce you to furniture design; its types, uses and history. You will test their research through a furniture brief. The second design project continues to develop your critical 3D thinking in spatial design. You explore the relationship between people and the spatial environment through an exhibition/museum brief.

  • Digital Media 1

    Digital Media 1 is a core foundational design skill where you focus on 2D professional digital communication tools. You undertaking this module will be introduced to key digital communication tools. Your skills will be built and developed through a variety of discipline specific projects, briefs and by undertaking specific workshops. You will be encouraged to explore image manipulation, image making and visual communication techniques that will contribute to their studio practice modules while discovering the capabilities of the selected programs. Assessment will be based upon a portfolio of work presented at the end of the semester. The portfolio will contain a selection of digital images or drawings, a learning log and a critical review of group and individual working practices.

  • Twentieth Century Design History

    The module is designed to provide an overview of major developments in design during the 20th Century, considering issues of both industry practice and critical theory in relation to the social, cultural and intellectual climate of their times. The module is wide-ranging, considering graphic design, interior design, industrial design, architecture, product design, fashion, media communications and fine art. A constant question for us will therefore concern the possible definitions of 'design' itself. It begins with an assessment of the Arts and Crafts movement and ends with a review of the impact of digital technologies and ecological ideas. In between, the module will consider a series of movements, the Art Nouveau, Futurism, the Bauhaus, de Stijl, Constructivism, Art Deco and Streamline, 'Contemporary' modernism, Pop art and design, post-modernism and Hi-tech. Recurring themes will be: the role of the designer, designer education, the relationship of design to the 'fine arts', the relationship between the designer and manufacturer, consumer research, advertising and the market, branding, economic factors.

Year two core modules
  • Interior Design Studio 3
  • Interior Design Studio 4
  • Construction and Materials
Year three core modules
  • Major Project
  • Specialised Practice in Interior Design

Assessment

Assessment is by portfolio, written and practical work.

Facilities

  • Dedicated Interior Design Studio with Drawing boards/lecture room
  • Technical Reference library
  • Computer labs for computer aided design work
  • Fully equipped sculpture workshop for prototyping and model making
  • Laser cutter
  • Life drawing studio
  • Ruskin Digital Gallery

Libraries

Our campus libraries offer a wide range of publications and a variety of study facilities, including open-access computers, areas for quiet or group study and bookable rooms. We also have an extensive Digital Library providing on and off-site access to e-books, e-journals and databases.

We endeavour to make our libraries as accessible as possible for all our students. During Semester time, they open 24 hours a day from Monday to Thursday, until midnight on Friday and Saturday and for 12 hours on Sunday.


IT Resources

Our open access computer facilities provide free access to the internet, email, messaging services and the full Microsoft Office suite. A high speed wireless service is also available in all key areas on campus. If you are away from campus or a distant learner, our student desktop and its many applications can be accessed remotely using the internet. Your personal student email account provides free document storage, calendar facilities and social networking opportunities.

Throughout your studies you will have access to our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), providing course notes, reading materials and multi-media content to support your learning, while our e-vision system gives you instant access to your academic record and your timetable.


Special features

The teaching of practical, technical and collaborative skills from a foundation of artistic integrity makes this Interior Design course at Cambridge School of Art unique. Cambridge School of Art was established in 1850 and is a modern and progressive art school with a fully functional digital gallery space and an integrated teaching approach that offers field trips and opportunities to work closely with other creative disciplines.

Course Leader

Tim Kobin

Bogdan Burciu

Graduated in 2011

“During my time as a student at Anglia Ruskin I have developed new skills and knowledge that offered me the chance to be part of New Designers exhibition in London 2011, getting closer to the industry by participating at design competitions and seeing the interior design field differently from before. Studying at Anglia Ruskin University I got in touch with Interior Designers in Cambridge, who believed in me and offered me the chance to work with them. Staying in good relation with the tutors and the University, I have been offered a job as a studio supervisor at Anglia Ruskin and now I am enjoying the University from the other side. Excellent tutors, practical environment, great experience!
”

Links with industry and professional recognition

Graduates are invited to become members of professional bodies such as the Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) and the British Interior Design Association (BIDA).

Pathway Leader Tim Kobin has a masters degree in Architectural lighting design from Parsons Design School, NY, and two related undergraduate degrees in visual communication and spatial design. He has a particular research interest in narrative spaces and has worked in related industry for twenty years while also teaching interior design and architecture In New York, Sydney and Cambridge.

The following organisations/individuals have assisted, or are planning to assist, with course development and placements: Alium Design; Robert Mathew Johnson Marshall - architects; Haley Sharp - Global Designers; Julia Johnson interior designer; Alison Monteith of Monteith Scott designers; Fred Baier - furniture designer; Peter Brooks interior designer; Graham Waterhouse - architect; The Junction Theatre; Cliff Lane Primary School - Ipswich; GVA Second London Wall Project Management Limited; Stuart Forbes - architect; Jonathan Furbank - designer; Project 5 Architecture LLP; Douglas Wallace architects; Earle Architects; Syntax UK architects; Anglia Fireplaces; Barron Design Group; Benedicte Foo - architect Jane Sanders - architect; Hannah Webb - Illustrator; Jane Human - Illustrator; Thomas Moore - building technologist.

Associated careers

Graduates can work for architects or design groups in private practice, or for commercial organisations that contain in-house design departments. It is also possible for graduates to work in the visual arts such as film, television, events and theatre design, as well as exhibition and museum design. The management skills you will acquire can be transferred to any project management role in a variety of industries. There are also possibilities for further study in order to obtain a masters degree or a PhD. In addition, when graduates have worked in the industry for a few years, they can enter the teaching profession after obtaining a PGCE.

UCAS Tariff points: 200 - 240
Additional Requirements: Required subject(s): Any Art, Design or Media A level grade C., OR ND in Art & Design Preferred subject(s): BTEC Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (level 3) is an advantage. Non-Academic Conditions: Art Portfolio, Interviews GCSE(s) Required: English at grade C or above (or equivalent)
Entry requirements listed are for September 2013 entry. Entry requirements for other intakes may differ.

Please note AS levels are acceptable only when combined with other qualifications.

Portfolio Requirements

Any work of art, design and drawing can be included in the portfolio, such as freehand drawings, conceptual sketches, technical drawings, coloured drawings/ representations, photographs, movies, paintings, collage, etc. Pictures of models or large pieces of work are also accepted. All work presented in the portfolio must be the original work of the applicant.

If invited to interview you will receive a letter further detailing the requirements for submission of your portfolio.



International Applicants
International applicants are encouraged to host their portfolios online and provide us with the URL or submit in pdf format by email attached. CD or hardcopy formats submitted by post to our International Admissions Office are also acceptable but please note that these will not be returned to applicants.
Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements.

We welcome applications from International and EU students. Please select one of the links below for English language and country-specific entry requirement information.

If we have confirmed you do not meet our entry requirements you might want to consider a preparatory course at Cambridge Ruskin International College (CRIC), our partner college, based on our Cambridge campus, before coming to study with us.

How to apply

UCAS code

W250

Location

Duration

3 Years

Available starts

September

Student finance

Open Day

Saturday 22 June
Undergraduate Open Day

Advice & support

Employability

Faculty

Arts, Law & Social Sciences

Department

Cambridge School of Art

Contact us

UK and EU applicants:International applicants:
Bookmark this page with: