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Interior Architecture and Design BA (Hons)
Study level: Undergraduate
From conceptualisation through 2D visualisation and 3D modelling to animation, our course will teach you the skills you need to pursue a successful career in industry.
Year of entry
Location
Coventry University (Coventry)
Study mode
Full-time
Sandwich
Duration
3 years full-time
4 years sandwich
Course code
W250
Start date
September 2025
The information on this page is for 2024-25 entry and should be used as guidance for 2025-26 entry. Please keep checking back on this course page to see our latest updates.
Course overview
The course encourages conceptual thinking beyond the mundane but always marries designs to reality. This ensures students find employment across the many sectors of interior architecture, whether in retail, hospitality and leisure, workplace design, civic and culture or exhibition design.
- Creativity: You will be challenged to develop innovative and experimental solutions, transforming spaces through material understanding and user insights.
- Making: An emphasis on making, both physical and virtual, underpins the course and ensures that graduates are both digitally fluent and materially sensitive.
- Employability: You will be supported to develop the skills, knowledge and resilience required to enter industry. You will build a sophisticated design portfolio over the course of your studies, with the aim of giving you access to opportunities for employment or further study.
Joint Top Modern University for Career Prospects
Guardian University Guide 2021 and 2022
5 QS Stars for Teaching and Facilities
QS Stars University Ratings
Top 5 UK Student City (Coventry)
QS Best Student Cities Index 2023Why you should study this course
- Studio Culture: Our studio-based course will allow you to explore, create, collaborate and develop the skills required to design innovative spaces, supported by peers and guided by experienced practitioners. (Staff subject to change).
- Analogue & Digital: We deliberately strike a balance between traditional hand-processes and emerging technologies. You will participate in workshops for drawing, and model making, along with CAD, 3D computer modelling and animation. Traditional workshops sit alongside facilities for laser cutting, CNC milling and 3D printing4.
- International Network: Our students go on to find employment in a variety of fields and professions including Interior Architecture, Lighting Design, Exhibition Design, Concept Design, Theatre and Stage Design and Project Management. Gain an international perspective with our international collaborative institutions, who provide opportunities for shared learning and the potential for travel and study abroad2. Our visiting speaker programme makes use of our extensive alumni and industry network2.
- Sustainability: In a finite world you will be in a great position to help lead the world with sustainable solutions to architectural problems. Adaptive reuse of buildings as opposed to demolition and rebuild, will become a must and Interior Architects and Designers will be highly sought after.
- Professional Accreditation and Awards: The course has been accredited by The Society of British & International Interior Designers (SBID) as a Centre of Excellence1. Our students have won awards at national exhibitions and events including Free Range and New Designers.
10th
Coventry University ranked No.10 for Interior Design
Guardian University Guide 2023
Accreditation and professional recognition
The Society of British & International Interior Design (SBID)
This course is accredited by The Society of British & International Interior Design (SBID). Please visit the SBID website for further information.
School of Art and Design Showcase
Engage with and explore the talents and achievements of our art and design Foundation Year course and final-year students.
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What you'll study
We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.
More than just a degree
Coming to University for the first time is very daunting and you never know what to expect. However, the first day of the Interior Architecture and design course was great. The tutors really made me feel welcome and part of a team and I had great opportunities to meet new people on the course, who are now my lifelong friends. The work was really interesting and allowed us to use and explore out imaginations
Grace Dettmar, 2022
How you'll learn
The School of Art and Design teaching and learning mirrors the needs of the creative industries ensuring that our graduates are equipped with the skills and attributes to become industry specialists, leaders and innovators to drive social responsibility and design global change.
The ability to be entrepreneurial, innovative and embrace change underpins our Art and Design courses. Our studio and workshop culture ensures you are socially responsible in our creative community and develop critical thinking in research and making processes. Our global initiatives will give you skills to become collaborative communicators and make you culturally competent in the ever-changing world of Art or Design2.
As the creative arena is an ever-evolving space, being curious and adaptable learners is key to our school’s graduates. You will learn how to recognise your strengths and learning needs, how to self-reflect and grow. Throughout your course you will identify areas of personal development that will help drive your projects and improve your career aspirations.
Teaching contact hours
We understand that everyone learns differently, so each of our courses will consist of structured teaching sessions, which can include:
- On campus lectures, seminars and workshops
- Group work
- Self-directed learning
- Work placement opportunities2.
The number of full-time contact hours may vary from semester to semester, however, on average, it is likely to be around 12 contact hours per week in the first and second year dropping to around 10-12 contact hours per week in the third and final year as you become a more independent learner.
Additionally, you will be expected to undertake significant self-directed study of approximately 15 hours each week, depending on the demands of individual modules.
Part of university life is undertaking self-directed learning. During a typical week you will have time that allows you to work independently to apply the skills and knowledge you have learnt in taught or facilitated sessions to your projects or assignment briefs. This self-directed learning allows you to use your research skills, consolidate your knowledge or undertake collaborative group work.
As an innovative and enterprising institution, the university may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the university may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.
Since COVID-19, we have delivered our courses in a variety of forms, in line with public authority guidance, decisions, or orders and we will continue to adapt our delivery as appropriate. Whether on campus or online, our key priority is staff and student safety.
Assessment
You will be assessed using a variety of methods which could vary depending upon the module. In the School of Art & Design we design our assessment methods to replicate the creative industry ways of working. This ensures that you have the chance to learn skills for future career opportunities.
Assessment methods may include reports, practical coursework and presentations as part of individual assignments or group work elements.
The Coventry University assessment strategy aims to ensure that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards achieving the intended learning outcomes.
International experience opportunities
Coventry School of Art and Design has a typically multicultural population, and you may have the opportunity to work alongside students from all over the globe.
There may be global opportunities for students to apply for a study exchange with students on a similar course in overseas universities2. We have direct links with countries beyond Europe, including universities in China, Indonesia, Singapore and Egypt.
Throughout the course, projects will be set with an international focus, with the aim of enhancing your global experience and broadening your mindset. Recent examples include a collaborative online international learning (COIL) project with universities in Singapore and Egypt. To gain a deeper insight into the industry, you will also be given opportunities to enter international competitions, such as Planning and Visual Education (PAVE) and competitions arranged by The Society of British & International Interior Designers (SBID).
Interior Architecture and Design is about us. It's how we interact with the world, how we connect to the world, how we live and love, how we find shelter, how we indulge in leisure and how we find succour and solace in culture. Ever since we walked into caves, interior architecture and design has been the background to our lives. Often unnoticed, interiors have sustained and protected us from harm and the vagaries of life. That is why I am an interior designer.
Richard Jones, Senior Lecturer and Design Practitioner for 39yrs, 2022
Entry requirements
Typical offer for 2024/25 entry.
By studying Interior Design at Coventry University, I have obtained the necessary knowledge to apply later in my professional career. It gave me opportunities and skills that allowed me to design confidently and choose a career path most suitable for me. Wonderful tutors with in-depth career knowledge taught me the importance of design in our daily lives. The tutors understood every student's individual needs and differences, which created a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable place to attend and be involved with.
Karolina Kepinska, 2022
Fees and funding
2024/25 tuition fees.
| Student | Full-time | Part-time |
|---|---|---|
| UK, Ireland*, Channel Islands or Isle of Man | 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £9,250 per year |
Not available |
| EU | 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £9,250 per year with EU Support Bursary** 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £19,850 per year without EU Support Bursary** |
Not available |
| International | 2025/26 fees TBC 2024/25 fees - £19,850 per year |
Not available |
If you choose to do a work placement2, you should consider travel and living costs to cover this. There is also a tuition fee3 of £1,250 that will cover your academic support throughout your placement year.
For advice and guidance on tuition fees and student loans visit our Undergraduate Finance page and see The University’s Tuition Fee and Refund Terms and Conditions.
We offer a range of International scholarships to students all over the world. For more information, visit our International Scholarships page.
Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessments, facilities and support services. There may be additional costs not covered by this fee such as accommodation and living costs, recommended reading books, stationery, printing and re-assessments should you need them. Find out what's included in your tuition costs.
The following are additional costs not included in the tuition fees:
- Any optional overseas field trips or visits: £400+ per trip.
- Any costs associated with securing, attending or completing a placement (whether in the UK or abroad).
*Irish student fees
The rights of Irish residents to study in the UK are preserved under the Common Travel Area arrangement. If you are an Irish student and meet the residency criteria, you can study in England, pay the same level of tuition fees as English students and utilise the Tuition Fee Loan.
**EU Support Bursary
Following the UK's exit from the European Union, we are offering financial support to all eligible EU students who wish to study an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree with us full-time. This bursary will be used to offset the cost of your tuition fees to bring them in line with that of UK students. Students studying a degree with a foundation year with us are not eligible for the bursary.
How do you know if you need to pay UK or international tuition fees?
Facilities
The Faculty of Arts and Humanities is joining two of our school’s completely refurbished Art and Design buildings, which are planned to fully open in 2023, adding a range of new facilities4.
These will include a hyper studio designed for cross-disciplinary projects; immersive studios with cutting-edge virtual reality and mixed-reality technologies. Our aim is to offer you sector-leading facilities in a unique environment.
Our current digital and industrial workshops are of industry-standard quality and house 3D rapid prototyping, laser cutters and milling machines. These facilities are available to all students on our courses at no extra cost. These are subject to availability.
We also have a ceramic and small-metal-working workshop, a large digital print bureau, and clay modelling studios where you can realise your creative artistic and design solutions.
The fashion workshops have digital embroidery machines, digital printers and a printmaking workshop that includes etching, screen printing and a rare, one of only three in existence in the UK, letterpress studio.
In our Mac and PC CAD labs, you can become digitally literate in presentation and design skills using the Adobe suite of software. You can also learn other software packages including Alias, Toom Boom, Revit, and Maya that maybe relevant to your studies.
Digital design workshops
Our extensive workshops will allow you to model in wood, metal, plastics, glass, ceramics and styling clay, with additional facilities for 3D printing, CNC milling and laser cutting.
Digital labs
Our PC and Mac labs are equipped with the latest 2D and 3D modelling, visualisation and animation software, such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Rhino, VectorWorks, Sketch-up, Cinema 4D, Twinmotion and Enscape.
Art shop
You will have access to presentation equipment and our print bureau at the Ink Well. Here you can print up to A0 size, perfect for presenting your design skills.
Careers and opportunities
On successful completion of the course, you will be able to:
- Apply creative and logical thinking processes to the business of solving spatial and interior design problems and develop ideas through to material outcomes and construction.
- Analyse the interrelationships within and between aspects of interior design; to describe, interpret and evaluate designed spaces from a range of critical perspectives, considering the context of their construction, clients, users, brand issues, markets and history of design processes.
- Engage in integrated design practice based on the acquisition, understanding and application of the skills and working methods typical of interior architects and designers.
- Realise a range of practical, creative and theoretical projects, analyse design problems and provide appropriate design solutions; initiate projects, meet deadlines, liaise with commercial collaborators, make presentations, research and synthesise information, produce reports and evaluate the design and research work of self and others.
- Demonstrate skills associated with professional practice; time management, project management, professional level communication, self-promotion, interview technique, information gathering and use of information and communication technology as appropriate.
- Employ materials, media, techniques, methods, technologies and tools associated with interior architecture and design through drawing, modelling, computer visualisation and animation methods using skill and imagination.
- Utilise the various means by which one can represent interior design and judge their fitness for purpose; select and use various 2D, 3D, and digital techniques appropriately to communicate design intent and detail.
With the skills you learn and the confidence, we instil in our students. Alumni are now working all over the globe from LA to Cairo, Dubai, Berlin, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, to Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Some have gone on to work for multi- national companies such as Gensler or GES. Whilst others have branched out on their own as consultants and freelancers.
The variety and the many sectors of Interior Architecture and Design as a profession, mean you could work in leisure and hospitality, museum design, education design, retail design or even as a concept designer.
Where our graduates work
Recent graduates have gone on to become interior designers for companies including:
- Creation Shopfitters
- Furnish Studio
- Gensler
- GES
- GMP Design
- HÅLLNING
- Hirsch Bedner Associates
- Identity
- Imagination
- Rhino Interiors Group
Further study
You can choose to continue your studies at Coventry University with the Interior Design MA or Design Management MA. You may be entitled to an alumni discount on your fees if you decide to extend your time with us by progressing from undergraduate to postgraduate study.
My work placement was a great opportunity to gain an understanding of how the industry works, and it prepared me so much for the final year. If you can do it, do it.
Katie Hulley, 2022
Graduate Immigration Route visa
Based on current information from the UK Government, international students whose study extends beyond summer 2021 may be eligible for a visa under the UK Government’s Graduate Immigration Route, which will enable students to stay and work, or look for work, in the UK at any skill level for up to two (2) years. Check the most up to date guidance available to check your eligibility and any updates from the UK Government before making an application or enrolment decision.
How to apply
UK students
Applications open for this course in May 2024. In the meantime you can register your interest in Coventry University.
Part-time students should apply directly to the university.
If you'd like further support or more information about your course get in touch with us today.
Chat with our admissions team
Complete our contact form
International students
International codes:
AHU121
For further support for international applicants applying for an undergraduate degree view our International hub.
You can also download our International guide which contains lots of useful information about our courses, accommodation and tips for travel.
Get in touch with us today for further advice and guidance.
Chat with our admissions team
Complete our contact form
Disclaimers
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