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Summary:
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (K120)
Course Code: K120
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (K1FY)
Course Code: K1FY
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Which Options Would You Like With Your Course?
Why choose the School of Arts and Creative Industries
Our academic team has professional connections with the British Institute of Interior Design; Royal Institute of Architects; and BREEAM, the world-leading certification system for sustainably built environments.
Course Leader Dawn Hesketh-Joslin has worked in the architectural and design industry for 35 years; she is an Affiliate Member of the British Institute of Interior Design and Royal Institute of British Architects.
Senior Lecturer Anna Stanton has over 30 years’ experience in the field of architectural design and branding; she is a BREEAM Associate and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
About the course
Interior architecture designers are experts in creating experimental, imaginative and stimulating spatial environments. On this course, you learn how to design spaces that are individual and experiential while offering ergonomic and environmentally sound functionality. You discover the latest innovations used to solve contemporary design problems, and broaden your understanding of building, structure and fabric construction, enabling you to take a design from initial research through to detail design and specification.
Facilities and specialist equipment
- Spacious studios and facilities in Alexon House, the previous home of the Alexon and Eastex fashion company
- Equipment includes 2D and 3D computer-aided design; digital image creation and manipulation; video production and editing
- Alongside developing your analogue skills, such as sketching, orthographic hand drawing and 3D model-making, industry-replicating software includes Adobe Creative suite, AutoCAD, Vectorworks and SketchUp.
Student experience
Work on live projects and unique proposals for a range of environments from bars, restaurants and theatres to workplaces, retail spaces and exhibitions.
Work the way you would in the creative industry, collaborating in teams across disciplines, in a studio environment.
Learn to analyse and utilise real sites, and design projects in collaboration with companies such as Caravane Ltd in Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross, and PSLab Lighting in Bermondsey.
Final year students work on a large, spatial design project within a live site, with reference to construction, building regulations, specification and BREEAM considerations.
Attend weekly World of Work guest talks with students from other courses and begin to establish a deep understanding of the creative industries.
As part of your developing professional practice unit, attend a weekly presentation by practitioners from the field of interior architecture and design, such as Pradumn Pamidighantam (Barr Gazetas Architects), Paula Murray (Supertonic), and Stuart Newman (Network Career Consultants).
Experience industry-relevant field trips such as the Surface Design Show, Building Centre, Material Lab, Roca Gallery and Chelsea Harbour Design Centre.
Take up the opportunity to join an international study trip, a great chance to get to know students from all courses and see amazing art, design and culture in real life. Previous visits have been to Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris.
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
Course Leader - Dawn Hesketh-Joslin
Dawn is a 'Creative Practitioner' with over thirty years of experience in the commercial spatial design professional practice, within both design studios and architectural consultancies. My work has taken me to sites in the UK, Europe and South-East Asia.
Course Leader - Dawn Hesketh-Joslin
Dawn is a 'Creative Practitioner' with over thirty years of experience in the commercial spatial design professional practice, within both design studios and architectural consultancies. My work has taken me to sites in the UK, Europe and South-East Asia.
What will you study?
Studying our Interior Architecture and Design BA (Hons) course will allow you to explore the relationship between interior spaces, architectural forms and human experience. You will have various opportunities to express your creativity throughout the course, one area being our Spatial Design: Exploring Materials and Methods unit where you will explore a series of design and skill enhancement projects to develop your ability to create and present spatial designs. You will then get to apply this knowledge in our Spatial Design: Developing Materials and Methods unit where you can research, test, experiment and explore with creative production methods and material processes for spatial design while also learning to manage creative risk. This is closely linked to our Thinking Through Making unit that will encourage you to take creative risks and develop an aesthetic sense through using various technologies, processes and ideas.
In core areas of art study, you will be introduced to key theories on art and design as well as its effect on culture and society in our Context and Ideas unit. To further deepen your insight on contemporary art and design practices, our unit in Critical and Creative Contexts will allow you to explore issues and critical debates in the field which will be particularly useful for your Interior Architecture: Final Major Project. This unit is a brilliant opportunity for you to pursue your creative interests and channel it into a piece of work for public display. Another area of project work involves our Collaborative Enterprise unit where you will work to apply your knowledge and expertise gained throughout this course into a collaborative interdisciplinary project. To help you with the research and analytical skills needed for project work, our unit in Context and Meaning will allow you to critically examine a range of texts on art, design and visual culture while placing this theory and practice into global contexts.
To diversify your skill set, our Introducing Studio Practice unit will allow you to develop discipline-specific skills and experience such as independent learning, self-confidence, collaborative working and reflection, and apply them in other areas of study. To prepare you for your career in a professional creative role, our unit in Creative Futures will provide you with the skills and knowledge you need for a professional creative role. Whether you aspire to become a freelance artist, designer, teacher or pursue further study, this unit will support you in developing a career that suits your ambitions and interests. Furthermore, this unit will encourage you to participate in live projects, competition briefs and other group work while developing your ability to professionally present yourself and your portfolio. To add to this, our unit in Developing Professional Practice will teach you to incorporate independence and professionalism in the presentation of your work while also developing your confidence to take creative risks.
How will you be assessed?
A range of appropriate assessments will enable you to grow in confidence and demonstrate your acquisition of knowledge and skills. The formative and summative assessment methods used across the course include:
- Coursework to include examples of spatial design process working through: discover / define / develop / deliver in a phased route of working this will be presented as finished work and also through a sketchbook sketch-models and final outcomes visual communication 3-D work or installation research portfolios notebooks research assignments essays contextual writing.
- Assessments based on individual and group presentations.
- Portfolio reviews are a key means of assessing but they are also important for collating work for a professional portfolio. This instils in students the right attitudes towards professional work whereby you can use your portfolio to promote yourself in professional contexts.
- Essays and reports feature in developing students writing skills helping you to express ideas in a variety of ways and styles and to develop academic writing skills that are of particular benefit in producing the final year contextual rationale for your major project.
- An online social media presence through a blog/personal website.
- A midpoint Formal Formative Assessment to review all work in progress.
Key Skills relevant to Interior Architecture Design and creative enterprise are embedded in the teaching and learning of the course and will be taken into account in all assessments. The assessments will develop incrementally across the course and allow you to gain skills confidence and knowledge receive feedback and develop as a practitioner thus allowing you to implement this knowledge and feedback into subsequent assessments.
At the end of the course completion of the assessments will demonstrate your ability to analyse current design practice in relation to Interior Architecture Design practices - and communicate this in both written and visual formats as well as demonstrate a range of transferable skills relevant to your professional employability
Careers
Employability skills are integrated into the course and provide you with an awareness of the real-world context of the creative industries in general and Interior Design in particular. You will be helped to develop a strategy for obtaining appropriate employment at the end of your course.
Professional practice will be emphasised as part of all learning with a work-related learning unit that will especially help you to become more focused on managing your career. You will be helped with the preparation of a professional portfolio; including a CV and social media skills needed to promote yourself in a social-mediated art and design world.
Typical graduate destinations include: various roles within Interior Design Interior Architecture Architectural Practice Scenographic Decoration and Styling.
Further study at Masters level (Level Seven) include: MA in Interior and Spatial Design Art and Design etc.
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £9,250 per year. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees. You can also apply for a maintenance loan from the Government to help cover your living costs. See www.gov.uk/student-finance
Excellence Scholarships
Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications*
» If you don’t qualify for an Excellence Scholarship but have 120 UCAS tariff points, you have enough points for one of our Achievement Scholarships offering £500 per year of study**
» Other scholarships, bursaries and financial support packages are available
* Points requirements vary depending on type of qualification.
** Threshold is 120 UCAS tariff points across all awarding bodies and qualifications.
International
The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year.
There are range of Scholarships available to help support you through your studies with us.
A full list of scholarships can be found here.
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