Interior Architecture BA(Hons)

What to expect this autumn

COVID-19 has changed everything. We’ve made some changes to the way our courses are taught to keep everyone safe and that will help you stay connected and involved in university life.

From the start of term in September, you’ll learn through a blend of on-campus and digitally enabled remote learning that will provide lots of opportunities to interact and engage. Together with carefully managed access to libraries, labs, workshops and studios this means your studies are as collaborative, practical and flexible as possible.

Year 1

In year 1, you will be introduced to the discipline of interior architecture within a wide historical and cultural context, establishing your skills, specialist knowledge and practices.

Modules

• Design 1: An Introduction to Context

  This module will introduce you to the Interior Architecture course, with the broader aim of enabling you to understand the physical context of existing structures and situations and how to design appropriately for them. In doing this you will develop core representational skills in order to communicate your ideas effectively.

  In this module you will learn how small-scale design/spatial interventions have the power to transform existing contexts. You will be introduced to a range of creative design, production and representation techniques through a range of workshops.

• Design 2: An Introduction to Narrative

  This module explores the narrative of existing buildings and introduces the range and use of narrative tools for exploring inhabitation, complexity of programme and contextual engagement.

  This module introduces social, historical, political and fictional elements into the design and presentation processes as a method for developing design briefs, site responses and speculative design propositions.

• Interior Histories and Theories 1 – an Introduction

  This module provides an overview of major themes that are relevant to understanding the context of interior architecture. Specific case study lectures will build into a general survey of the historical and cultural dimensions of interior architecture and related disciplines that inform the built environment in general.

• Culture 1: Critical Voices

  This module introduces you to the contested multiple critical voices of the discipline of interior architecture. It focuses on personal development, communication skills and techniques whilst developing a critical voice by understanding and reflecting on diverse approaches that inform interior architecture.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through Student View.

2019 graduate Holly Nash talks about the projects, teaching and strong community of students on Interior Architecture. She also tells us how the subject differs from interior design

All Interior Architecture BA(Hons) students participate in the Context Workshop Week - a five-day project-based learning activity. The aim is to introduce specific skills, techniques and processes that will inform your design practice and thinking.

Year 2

In year 2 you will broaden and deepen your awareness of the field. This is a year for creative experimentation and the exploration of new territories.

Modules

• Design 3: Territory and Catalyst
• Design 4: Experience and Systems
• Culture 2: Identities
• Interior Histories and Theories 2

Options*

• Home: Making and Unmaking
• Thinking Through Drawing

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Final year

In year 3 you will have opportunities to apply your skills and spatial design awareness. The intention throughout this year is to consolidate your knowledge, enable you to develop an independent creative voice, and prepare you for entry into professional practice or enable you to engage in further research. Each year, graduating students exhibit their work in the arts and humanities graduate show.

Modules

• Design 5: Territory and Catalyst
• Design 6: Experience and Systems
• Culture 3: Future Practice
• Interior Histories and Theories 3: Dissertation

Facilities 

Facilities and workshops are supported by full-time specialist technicians and include: 

• dedicated studio spaces for each group and programme specialist model-making and construction workshops with equipment for fabrication in wood, metal, plastics, resins and textiles
• photographic studios and darkroom 
• digital fabrication facilities including laser cutting and 3D printing rapid prototyping, 5-axis milling and CNC routing facilities 
• PC and Mac computer suites with software including Adobe suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator), Vectorworks, Autodesk suite, Rhino, Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D and Premiere 
• an in-house reprographic department  
• a wide range of surveying and audio-visual equipment available for loan. 

Check out the 360 videos of our workshops and photography studio.

Meet the team 

Gemma Barton, course leader

Gem Barton is an academic with a varied and active flair for writing, curating and designing. In 2019 she won a National Teaching Fellow by Advance HE for her "hands on and inspiring" teaching (read more about the award).

Gem has been teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students for almost a decade in architecture, interior architecture, urban design and design thinking.

Find out more about Gem's teaching and research interests.

Other staff who teach on the course include: Michael Spooner, Terry Meade, and Glenn Longdon-Thurgood.

Student views 

Jack Hovell, graduate 2020

"I have had a brilliant experience during my university life at Mithras House in Brighton. The 3rd floor studio spaces for architecture and design are a vibrant, welcoming and social hub to work in at all hours of the day. I’ve made many great friends, between years, courses and tutors. This unrivalled social experience facilitated by the University of Brighton, is one of the main attributes for which I will remember the course.

Although, in the past few months (Covid lockdown), students and tutors alike have experienced unprecedented disruptions, there has none the less been constant communication and encouragement from all tutors, motivating be to persevere in paving a career for myself the industry, regardless of the obstacles."

Marshal Baloch, graduate 2020

"From this course as well as advancing my technical skills such as learning various design software and surveying I have also been able to further my personal skillset by becoming a more confident and a better all rounded individual."

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice

Portfolio advice 

Applying for 2020

Once we receive your UCAS application, we invite you to submit a digital web portfolio in support of this. We understand that at this stage you will still be undertaking key pieces of work for your studies, and we would very much like to see this work in progress. Regardless of completion, we are keen to see how you generate and work with ideas. Once we have received your portfolio, if we are able to accept your application, we will offer you an opportunity to come and meet us in Brighton, discuss your work and perhaps participate in a short design-based taster session.

What should be in my work-in-progress portfolio?
Your portfolio should include up to 20 images of your work (JPEGs or PDFs). These should include preparatory drawings and studies as well as any finished pieces you may have from previous projects/personal work. Please include the type of work you are most actively interested in pursuing. We do not necessarily expect to see architectural work, we are looking for a variety of work in different media showing your ability to experiment and utilise different techniques. Please include a good proportion of analogue (non-computer) generated work. As you will not be present in person to explain the ideas behind the work, you may wish to add a brief statement that supports the images and tells us more about your interests and ambitions.

How do I send my work-in-progress portfolio?
We recommend using an online site such as Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, Carbonmade, or Flickr to showcase your work as these sites can host visual imagery and accompanying text. When digitising analogue works, please be sure to take care with the photography or scanning process, make sure the digital copy is a good quality representation of the original.

Make sure that the portfolio is publicly viewable and does not require a log in or account to view. Please avoid Dropbox or other sites that are not suited for hosting visual portfolios.

Please do not send pdfs or PowerPoint files directly to us as these are normally too large and likely to bounce and delay your application review.

Course fees

Perkins+Will Thesis Prize for Architecture

The £250 Perkins+Will Thesis Prize for Architecture is open to final-year students of the Interior Architecture BA(Hons) and the Interior Design MA. It rewards work that exhibits strong design principles and that shows concern for sustainability, social responsibility, diversity, wellness and innovation.

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies, although we have tried to keep this to a minimum. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included, whilst studying a course in the School of Architecture and Design are listed below:

• In your first year of studies, you will need to buy a drawing and modelling toolkit. Each course will suggest a list of items of which some will be essential, and others optional. You should budget around £100–£250 for these.
• For most courses you will need to budget between £100 to £300 per year for printing and portfolio costs. Costs will vary depending on type of printer and type and size of paper used. Some students tend to work digitally, spending more on printing and some by hand, spending more on materials so these costs vary widely between students.
• Most essay and report submissions can be made online however, you should budget around £25 for printing and binding dissertations in your final year.
• For most courses you will need to budget between £10 and £100 for material costs per design project. Costs will vary depending on how and what you use to make models. You are encouraged to recycle used materials where possible.
• Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget from £15 to £100 per year to buy your own copies and subscribe to design magazines.
• You will have access to computers and necessary software, however many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses. Find out what free software is available from the university.
• You will need to budget between £5–£50 to exhibit work for the end-of-year show. Fundraising by the student society, BIAAS, normally helps towards this cost.
• Most courses include mandatory site visits and travel expenses are included in the fees.
• There will be opportunities to attend additional study trips throughout the course but these are not required to pass your course. The cost of travel to them will be covered by the course but there may be additional costs varying from a packed lunch to entrance to a museum.
• International field trips are offered in each year which are optional and are not required to pass your course. You should expect to budget approximately £150–£350 for these, to cover flight, accommodation, food and entrance to museums. The total amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken.

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2020–21.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Local area

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps