BA (Hons) Interior and Spatial Design

Why study this subject?

If you are a creative thinker looking to produce designs for residential, retail and work-based spaces, this course may be for you.

By studying this course, you will develop as multi-disciplinary designers, with opportunities to develop different aspects of Interior and Spatial Design. The strong grounding you will acquire in the subject enables you to follow career ambitions within the profession or progress to postgraduate studies upon graduation.

Stay updated with all our latest BA (Hons) Interior and Spatial Design news by following us on Instagram @bnu_interior_spatial.

This course is also offered as a four-year programme, including an initial Foundation Year. The Foundation Year will allow you to develop your academic study skills and build confidence in your abilities, identifying your own strengths and development needs for progression onto an undergraduate programme. 

Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?

With a history of delivery expert craft, art and design education for more than 130 years, Buckinghamshire New University is the perfect place to start your creative career.

Led by a dedicated teaching team with a wealth of experience within the interior and spatial design, exhibition design, landscape design, model-making and design visualisation and animation industry. Many of your tutors on this course are also involved with design practice and research.

Not only will students benefit from a rich and varied programme, they will also have direct access to guest lectures, potential live project briefs, master classes, and plenty of networking opportunities with leading designers.

All of this is intended to help you develop key skills and knowledge needed for a career with the sector.

Although on this Interior and Spatial Design course, you’ll primarily learn within CAD suites, workshops, libraries and lecture theatres across the campus, you will find yourself based in the designated studio for the course. Each student on the course is provided with an individual workspace, and it is in the studio that learning and teaching activities for design projects take place. The studio encourages professional learning as it mirrors practices within the profession.

With London only a short journey away, the Course Team often arranges visits to galleries, museums and lectures, as well as visits to sites of historical and contemporary interest. Many of these study visits are to where members of the Course Team are engaged in practice and introduce learners to their contacts and project sites.

Opportunity modules are a key part of the BNU curriculum. You’ll choose modules in both your first and second year from a broad selection in areas such as sustainability, entrepreneurship, creativity, digital skills, personal growth, civic engagement, health & wellbeing and employment. Opportunity modules are designed to enable you to develop outside the traditional boundaries of your discipline and help you to further stand out from the crowd to future employers.

What facilities can I use?

At BNU we understand that a high standard of facilities is key to your growth and development as a designer.

The course gives you access to a wide range of resources including digital suites, where you will learn how to use Auto CAD, Rhino and other software such as Photoshop and InDesign. You’ll also have the opportunity to develop your studio and workshop-based model-making skills using our laser cutting and 3D printing equipment. You’ll also benefit from our production facilities including a green screen room and Photography studio.

In addition to our state-of-the-art facilities, cross-course collaborations with other students is encouraged and promoted, to help you network within different sectors like you will in the industry. Furthermore, you will benefit from studying critical and contextual studies modules in mixed- discipline groups with others from courses across the Art and Design School.

What will I study?

This programme focuses on the creative enhancement of architectural environments, involving the design of spaces. By working through sequences of projects, you will acquire a wide range of creative and technical skills which enable you to complete design projects from concept to final presentation.

The programme is aimed at those who passionately want to produce designs for the spaces in which we live, work and engage in leisure activities. You will convert and renovate existing buildings as well as design new structures and spaces.

At the start of the degree our broad-based approach will help develop your understanding of a range of design practices and the pathways available to you after graduation.

The degree embeds core professional skills as design tools in the early stages of the course, such as freehand drawing, model making, object fabrication, technical drawing, 3D modelling and digital visualization. You will learn how to design and specify fixtures and fittings as well as materials for construction, evaluate processes, and communicate how spaces are built.

Our external partners and collaborators include interior designers, architects, exhibition and event designers, museums and music industry contacts. The course offers study trips to London and abroad, focussing on the discovery and understanding of design and its consequences by visiting world renown architectural and design practices. Additionally, our alumni who are practicing internationally, continue to offer work opportunities to you. The course is accredited by SBID (Society of British and International Design) and is member of the network Interior Educators.

Upon graduation you should be able to solve interior and spatial design issues and produce detailed and construction drawings for spaces and structures referring to building regulations, as well as specify and source fixtures, fittings and materials.

Our aim is to provide you with the knowledge, understanding and skills to work in professional Interior and Spatial Design practice. We want to develop you as individual, creative, confident and innovative designers with skills in research, conceptualisation, realisation and communication. The programme seeks those who are creative thinkers with initiative who want to respond to the challenges of working on design projects within the local community, in London, nationally and internationally.

How will I be taught and assessed?

As an interior and spatial design student you’ll have to complete a series of modules and projects across your time spent studying with us. Projects are designed to present new challenges to you as you progress through the course. They involve working with varied sites, clients and requirements. By the end of your time with BNU, you’ll benefit from a full portfolio to go to employers with.

You’ll also benefit from lecturers, 1:1 or small group tutorials, seminars that enable open discussions, guided research and reading, group critiques and self-directed study.

We also aim to provide industry brief opportunities for you to apply your knowledge, skills and understanding into real-world contexts. The theoretical underpinning of practice encourages the development of critical perspectives in relation to the language of design.