Interior Architecture BA(Hons)

International requirements and visas

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

Visas and immigration advice

Portfolio advice 

Admission to this course includes a review of your portfolio. This helps us to see your potential and understand how you think, create and explore ideas. We want to see your passion and curiosity – not just your finished work.

Creating your portfolio

Find out what to include in your portfolio and how to present it by reading our portfolio requirements.

Sharing your portfolio

Once you have applied and received details on how to activate your University of Brighton username and password, you can log on to Student View and share your portfolio link. Please make sure we can access this link without a password or login.

Support and advice

Take a look at our advice and guidance on creating a portfolio. If you need help, please contact our Admissions Team. We also run regular online portfolio advice sessions where you can get support from our expert team.

Top reasons to choose this course  

• Brighton’s vibrant creative community – study in a city known for its design culture, with opportunities to connect with local studios and attend exhibitions and events.
• Work experience opportunities – boost your CV with an optional placement year, internships and industry-led projects that help you gain valuable professional experience.
• Collaborative studio environment – share ideas and projects with peers across design disciplines in a supportive, creative studio community that reflects professional practice.
• Specialist technical skills – develop expertise in drawing, 3D modelling, digital rendering and physical model-making alongside design theory and professional practice.
• Hands-on learning from day one – work on live client briefs, real-world projects and collaborative design assignments that mirror the professional design world.
• Specialist facilities – access dedicated design studios, fabrication workshops and digital labs equipped for model-making, CAD and visualisation.
• New Designers showcase opportunities – take part in the prestigious New Designers exhibition in London, showcasing your work and connecting with industry professionals.
• Research and innovation – engage with staff working on projects in sustainable design, adaptive reuse and emerging technologies in interior architecture.

Year 1

The first year equips you with essential design and communication skills. You’ll learn architectural drawing, making, and professional CAD software. You’ll explore sustainable systems, materials, structures and physics of the built environment, enabling you to create innovative responses to live projects.

Modules

• Design and Skills 1: Fundamentals of Interior Architecture

  An introduction to the Interior Architecture course, during this module you will learn the fundamentals of working with existing sites and how to design in response to them. By undertaking mini design projects you will explore how spatial design interventions have the power to transform the existing. You’ll develop the core skills needed to begin exploring, testing and communicating your design ideas effectively and learn creative design processes and representation techniques through workshops.

• Architecture Criticism/Design Criticism 1: Histories & Theories

  On this module you will be introduced to the major themes relevant to spacial design disciplines. You’ll explore these themes through contemporary and historical case studies, making connections between the old and the new and considering the cultural, environmental and social values embedded in the disciplines. Workshop activities will help you to develop your critical thinking and communication skills.

• Design and Skills 2: Strategies and Processes

  This module builds on the fundamentals of interior architecture by enabling you to develop strategies for working with existing sites through the design process – from site and contextual analysis, concept and design development through to proposed resolution. Workshops and lectures will focus on core themes such as technology, sustainability, alternative techniques and media to communicate, test and explore your ideas.

• Technology: Principles

  This module introduces the structural systems, construction methods, materials and environmental performance requirements that are fundamental to high-quality spatial design and architecture. You will explore technological principles that are relevant to sustainable and climate responsive design to develop your appreciation and understanding of various technologies as essential design tools for architectural and spatial design.

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.

Year 2

You’ll continue to engage with the social, environmental and political aspects of design through a series of workshops and projects. These activities help you practice and combine your skills on real local projects while addressing global challenges. You’ll also study the history and theory of design, placing your work in a cultural and modern context.

Modules

• Design 3: Design Modes

  This module will explore different approaches to a design strategy, from communicating a response to a given site context and developing a spatial design from concept, to conveying the experience of a spatial design. The focus will be on exploration, reflection and testing through 2D and 3D digital and analogue processes, making and drawing. You will be able to reflect on how you might employ different approaches in your own work as you develop your design, communication and representation skills.

• Technology: Strategies

  This module covers systems and materials that are fundamental to spatial design/architecture and construction today. You will explore strategies around environmental performance, material selection, construction methods, structures and sustainable design practice. The aim is to cultivate your appreciation of technology, construction, systems and materials and to be able to apply these in your design practice and building analysis.

• Design 4: Experience and Systems

  In this module you will explore and experiment with a variety of design skills, using strategies and techniques characteristic of your interior architecture practice. The emphasis will be on a critical application to build independence and develop a more self-directed practice, leading to a socially/ethically responsible design proposal.

• Architecture Criticism 2

  This module provides you with an overview of contemporary global concerns in spatial design disciplines. You will explore the different ways these disciplines constitute and relate to social, economic, cultural and environmental concerns more broadly, and how they draw on and inform other disciplines and professions. You’ll develop your skills of critical thinking through analysis and research by participating in seminars and workshops.

Placement year

A placement year gives you the opportunity to gain professional experience, either through external work placements with industry partners or by working on live projects, enhancing your employability opportunities upon graduation.

A year on placement strengthens your portfolio, builds confidence, develops your technical and communication skills and provides valuable contacts, giving you a competitive edge in the job market.

Previous design students at Brighton have undertaken placements in a variety of roles across the creative industries. These experiences often lead to lasting professional relationships and even graduate job offers.

Learn more about placement opportunities at Brighton.

Final year

In your final year, you’ll work on creating a professional portfolio and focus on modules that support your personal interests and aspirations. You’ll foster professional connections and build a platform to assess and improve the skills that will inspire and shape your future practice. Each year, graduating students exhibit their work at the end of year show.

Modules

• Design 5: Design Agency

  In this module, you will explore ways to communicate your design by practising your own ‘agency’ (self-direction) as a designer. The aim is to develop a personal position by critically reflecting on the methodologies and self-selected techniques used in the spatial representation and communication of a design. You will test and explore your ideas through drawing, digital media and making, and enhance your presentation skills. 

• Architecture Criticism 3

  During this module, you will plan, carry out and complete an independent research project on a topic related to spatial design disciplines. You will take responsibility for shaping your inquiry and managing your research process. Your investigation may draw on written and visual sources and, where appropriate, other research methods such as interviews, observation, drawing or analytical mapping. You will also engage with digital research tools, including the critical use of generative AI where relevant to your research focus.

• Design 6: Experience and Systems

  This module will advance your design skills through use of interior architecture practice strategies and techniques. You’ll communicate understanding through a portfolio supporting future employment and adopt a critically thoughtful approach through a detailed contextual analysis and design process development. You’ll also explore a range of sustainability-focused agendas within contemporary discourse and identify socially and ethically responsible outcomes.

• Skills 4: Resolution

  This module is your opportunity to develop part of the design project you are creating in Design 4 to a detailed level of resolution. You'll use research, testing and prototyping to gain an in-depth understanding of materials, systems and sustainable design methods and apply that to your design proposal.

• PRACTICES: Future Practice

  This self-directed module supports you to explore your future ambitions through a research-led enquiry into your interests and personal aspirations. You will look at people, practices, organisations or approaches that inspire and inform understandings about your work and its wider implications. The module will encourage you to identify and critique your skills, personal attributes, approaches and individual ambitions that relate to and inform your design work.

Meet the team

Dr Peter Marsh, principal lecturer

“I’m not so interested in the idea of learning just to get grades, but I am passionate about critically thinking, experimental and compassionate approaches that relate to real-life concerns. I enjoy the opportunity that teaching offers to empower students to both reveal and read the ingrained societal and political narratives which have invited them to see the world in certain prescribed ways and draw on their imagination to explore alternative paths.”

Read Peter’s profile here.

Facilities

You’ll benefit from access to specialist facilities designed to support creative exploration, technical development and hands-on spatial design practice throughout your studies.

• Dedicated design studios – work in a collaborative studio environment where you can share ideas, develop projects and learn alongside students from across the design disciplines.
• Fabrication workshops – extensive workshop facilities supported by experienced technicians who will help you realise your design concepts and projects.
• Digital labs – specialist digital workspaces equipped to support design development, visualisation and technical project work.
• Model-making facilities – develop physical model-making skills as part of your exploration of interior and spatial design practice.
• CAD and visualisation resources – access facilities that support computer-aided design, digital rendering and the communication of design ideas.
• Drawing and design development spaces – build specialist skills in drawing, design communication and spatial exploration through studio-based learning
• Technical support from experienced workshop staff – benefit from guidance and expertise from specialist technicians who support the development and fabrication of your projects.
• Professional studio culture – learn in an environment that reflects the professional design world, encouraging collaboration, creativity and the exchange of ideas
• Specialist facilities for live projects – use workshops, studios and digital resources to develop work for live briefs, exhibition installations, competitions and client-led projects.

Summer shows

At the end of every academic year, the campus comes alive with creativity, celebration and community spirit at our annual Architecture and Design Summer Show. This event marks the culmination of months of hard work, innovation and exploration by our talented students and offers a glimpse into the future of architecture and design.

Take a virtual tour of the Architecture and Design Summer Show and explore our students’ creative work.

Course fees

Interior Architecture Progression Scholarship

Open to first year Interior Architecture BA students, this scholarship provides one student with a grant of £2,000 per year for three years of study, free gym membership for Sport Brighton and a 1–2 week work placement at Charlotte Tilbury. Find out how to apply.

The course fees shown here are what you will pay for the first year of your course if you start in the academic year 2026–27 and you are studying full-time (fee amount is subject to parliamentary approval). You pay fees in each year of your course. The fees you pay may increase each year.

Regulated fees

Fees for UK students on undergraduate and some postgraduate courses are set by the UK government. These are known as regulated fees. From academic year 2026–27, regulated fees will increase annually in line with forecast inflation.

Student Finance England loans for tuition fees and maintenance will also rise in line with inflation.

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Unregulated fees

Course fees for international students taking undergraduate courses and for most postgraduate courses are not regulated by the UK government. Unregulated fees may increase each year by up to 5% or the forecast Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation (whichever is higher).

Find out more

• Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international undergraduate students
• Student finance and budgeting while studying
• Read our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf) for more on University of Brighton tuition fees.
• Brighton Boost – cost of living help for our new undergrad students. Find out about how we can help with your study, accommodation or travel costs and more.

Campus where this course is taught

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