Interior Architecture BA(Hons)

International equivalencies

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

Portfolio advice 

Applying through Clearing (2017)

If you are applying through Clearing and hoping to start in September 2017, please read the information on our create an online portfolio page.

Applying for a place in 2018

Your application will be considered largely on the content of your portfolio and how you are able to talk about it.

What makes a good portfolio?
Producing a portfolio may be regarded as a design exercise. You will need to plan it as a whole as there are many ways to tell the same story. A good portfolio consists of carefully orchestrated images, lettering and text to convey the information to people who are not familiar with your work. Tutors will look for a broad range of skills, with particular emphasis on drawing ability and a capacity to generate ideas. The work that applicants present in a portfolio usually consists of examples of paintings, drawings, photography, perhaps some sculpture or models.

Please note that we do not necessarily expect to see architectural drawings, but we are looking for a variety of work that shows your ability to experiment and use different media and techniques. We do like students to have good drawing and compositional skills and we also like to see sketchbooks and notebooks to see how your ideas have developed in response to creative problems. In terms of character, we will be looking for students who are self-motivated and inquisitive.

Online portfolios
Online portfolios may be requested via the admissions portal for students unable to attend an interview. Applicants will be advised of where to send their portfolio.

Creating an online portfolio is easy and a useful way to showcase your work. Don’t forget to include the title of the work and the date it was presented. It can also be useful to include a description of each image to explain the thought processes behind your work.

Why study with us?

• You’ll study in Brighton, a coastal city renowned for its culture of creativity. Through community engagement, you’ll have the chance to use your acquired expertise to enhance and transform local projects.

• Through community engagement, you'll have the chance to use your acquired expertise to work on live projects such as set designs, exhibition installations and competitions. In 2014 these projects included TEDx Brighton, EcoBuild in London and a garden project with the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership.

• You’ll participate in a vibrant studio culture, sharing ideas, creativity and techniques and replicating the working environment of the professional design world.

• You’ll learn how to formally present your work to external consultants, tutors and your peers.

• Each year there is an optional field trip that expands your architectural and spatial design knowledge base.

• We employ a range of assessment methods, including public reviews, peer reviews, portfolio submissions, reports and essay submissions to give you the critical feedback you need to excel.

• Each year six students help to run the Brighton Architecture and Interiors Student Society, which organises lectures, events and exhibitions.

• Throughout the course, you will be building a portfolio to help you stand out from the crowd.

Take a look at our 2015 Interior architecture year book. 

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 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: Small, Medium, Large
• Contexts: Skills, Techniques and Processes
• Design: Multiple Programmes
• History and Theory in Spatial Design: An Introduction
• Contexts: Technologies, Precedents and Applications

Students assembling their bench design for a public garden in Brighton, as part of a collaborative project with the council and the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership.

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: Concepts, Site and Technology
• Design: Processes and Resolution
• Contexts and Practices
• History and Theory in Spatial Design

Option modules*

• Home: Making and Unmaking   
• Thinking Through Drawing
• Transforming The Existing 

*Option modules listed are indicative and may be subject to 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: Site, Context and Design Development
• Design: Processes and Resolution
• Contexts and Practices 2
• History and Theory in Spatial Design: Dissertation
• Technologies 

Student view

Amelia Lewis

"I am currently interning at Quintessentially Events in London as part of their creative team. On a day-to-day basis I get involved with helping to form creative concepts for future events that range from private parties to large corporate events for luxury brands. This involves attending brainstorming sessions, sketching ideas, creating mood boards, carrying out research and making visuals on Photoshop and InDesign. I also get to attend various site visits and work at the events themselves.

"Reflecting on my time at Brighton and the course, I am so grateful for the various skills we learned and the opportunities we were given. I now realise how transferrable and vital everything we learned truly is to any industry! The conceptual nature of the course has broadened my way of thinking and helped significantly with the way I approach a design task. The majority of my colleagues studied event management at university, but have commented on how much they value and respect my design-based CV and background.”

Staff profiles

Gemma Barton Course leader

Gemma Barton is an academic with a varied and active flare for writing, curating and designing. She has been teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students for almost a decade in architecture, interior architecture, urban design and design thinking.

Student work

Students carve out their own personal design process, develop a high degree of initiative and learn to work effectively to complete project goals throughout the course, culminating in the Interior Architecture Degree Show. You can see the portfolios and supporting documents that our graduates submitted in 2014.

Location

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Moulsecoomb campus map