Year 1
Unit 1 - Introduction to Interior Design: methods and processes
This unit is an introduction to your course, the college and the university.
Unit 2 - Design objects
The unit introduces you to the design of objects. You will explore ways in which the materials you use might inform and generate design ideas when designing products or furniture.
- To produce technical drawings, sketch models
- Introduce you to analogue and digital technologies to generate imagery and 3D modelling
- Make a presentation communicating the results of a research process
- Make and present a 3D model that responds to the project brief
- Provide a design folio and supporting material showing evidence of your research and drawings
- To work on your reflective blog
- Written work
Unit 3 - Design media
The unit introduces you to tools for mapping, measuring, recording and forecasting interior space.
- To explore a range of digital, technical and physical media
- The use of photography as a design tool
- Digital mapping and recording of design data
- 2D and 3D strategies of depiction
- Analogue and digital making processes
Unit 4 - Design contexts
The unit introduces you to the relationship between users and their environments. The unit situates design within a social and cultural context. It will draw from sociology, material culture, design anthropology and ethical design.
- Your design project will identify cultural behaviours and individual practices in the design of a small-scale interior
- To analyse an existing site, initiate a design proposal and formulate a programme of use
- Design research will introduce you to experiential ideas and theories rooted in philosophy, literature and art
- Write a design proposal that interprets the client brief
- To produce drawings and models supported by evidence of research
- Make a personal manifesto captured in a short film
- Fill out a self-evaluation form
Year 2
Unit 5 - Professional practice
The aim of this unit is to introduce you to professional practice.
- To engage you with the theoretical principles for practice through a series of research seminars and practitioner presentations
- Studio workshops introduce you to planning processes, technical drawing packages, building regulations, case studies and anatomies of practice
- Examine the design sector and look at possible routes for career progression
- Explore interior design as a multidisciplinary field
- To prepare your portfolio, research the direction of your career pathway and prepare for your final year specialism
- Written work
Unit 6 - Collaborative and collective practices
This unit aims to introduce you to different ways in which collaborative practice can focus and enhance your own creative strengths. The unit has 3 core purposes:
- To engage with fellow students with different practices and interests in a collaborative project
- To engage with external audiences, participants or institutions to consider new contexts for your work
- To develop your creative attributes to enable you to take on future challenges in a variety of contexts
Unit 7 - Public proposal
This unit is designed to support and develop a greater depth and analysis of individual research through a design proposal. The aim of this unit is to deepen your understanding of the context in which design operates.
- Lectures and seminars on approaches to the analysis of space
- To write a proposal or report
- Recording and mapping research
- A visual presentation of your research process
Unit 8 - Public interior
During this unit you will take part in a live project. This will take the form of an industry led collaboration.
- To realise a design proposal that specifically responds to the workings of a public environment
- You will be asked to explore new ideas for the function and spatial organisation
- To work in design teams to simulate the experience of working in a design studio
- Give a presentation pitch to clients, creative industry practitioners and fellow students
- Professional practice seminars on designing for public environments
- To develop your project management, communication, organisational and leadership skills
Year 3
Unit 9 - Critical practice
The unit is made up of 3 components - programme proposal part 1, research report and presentation of critical practice.
- Your programme proposal will be the blueprint for your final design project
- Your research report will analyse and scope out initial ideas for the programme proposal
Unit 10 - Design programme - proposals and counter-proposals
The unit is made up of 3 components - programme proposal part 2, presentation of programme proposal, realisation of your final design.
- You will produce a large-scale interior project that examines all aspects of an interior environment from conception through to completion
- Take part in the college degree show exhibition
Optional Diploma between year 2 and 3
Between year 2 and 3 you can opt to undertake the Diploma in Professional Studies or the UAL Diploma in Creative Computing. Whilst these Diplomas are an optional aspect of the course, they are designed as an integrated and assessed part of your journey through the course.