BA in Interior Architecture and Design

Do you want to learn how to transform spaces? This innovative Interior Architecture and Design degree course covers a broad range of design possibilities, ranging from reordering to transforming space. Situated within Birmingham School of Architecture and Design, our course will provide you with the facilities and education that you’ll need to succeed within the industry, as well as offer excellent opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and networking with industry partners.

What's covered in this course?

Our BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design course provides you with the skills to transform or give new life to spaces, as well as teaches you how to plan and design creative interiors.

You will look at hierarchies and relationships between different spaces, describing these relationships in new ways. This industry-aligned degree course offers you the opportunity to study and practise the adaption and re-use of space within new and existing building stock, while also addressing aesthetics, human needs, materiality and more, as well as the ephemeral qualities of atmosphere, character, colour, light and shade.

Alongside the regeneration of existing space, you will discover new interior environments, in a broad range of industry sectors, such as hospitality, retail, leisure and residential, using an experimental approach to design to develop the refined techniques required for effective space planning, conceptual design, development, visualisation and the refurbishment of space.

Professional placement year

This course offers a professional placement year. This allows you to spend a whole year with an employer, between the second and third years of your degree and is a great way to find out more about your chosen career. Some students even return to the same employers after completing their studies.

The University will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. If you do not find a suitable placement, you will be automatically transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.

Please note that fees are payable during your placement year, equivalent to 20% of the total full-time course fee for that year (£1,850 for UK students).

Why choose us?

You will work with our industry connections, have the opportunity to be featured in Dezeen, and as well as the chance to enter international design competitions During each year of study, you will be working closely with our team of Industry Professionals that dedicate time each week to working alongside you as students, helping to align all projects and work output with the industry standards, and in the context of present-day projects. Interior Design is a field that draws on many other fields to inform itself, such as the arts, literature, film, photography, fashion, etc. and so, by its nature, touches many disciplines. One of our objectives is to provide our students with an interdisciplinary approach to the discipline of Interior Architecture and Design through different collaborations with lecturers and students from other schools within the University. These collaborations will enable you to explore different strategies to face an Interior architecture/design project based on transferable skills from different disciplines. You will benefit from study trips, which could include design-focused European Cities, and/or Clerkenwell and The London Design Festival. Two-thirds of the impact of our research was judged to be very considerable (3) or outstanding (4) - REF2021

With around 29,000 students from 100 countries, (HESA Student Record 2020/21 © Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited) Birmingham City University is a large and diverse place to study. We put students at the heart of everything we do, giving them the best opportunities for future success.

The University for Birmingham

We put £270 million into the regional economy and support thousands of jobs in the area. We're investing £340 million in our estate, including a major expansion of our city-centre campus at Eastside, providing students with an enviable range of facilities.

Social responsibility

At Birmingham City University we are committed to transforming students’ lives and enhancing opportunity through education and advancement. We play a key role in supporting the economy and public sector in Birmingham and the West Midlands, as the University for the city of Birmingham.

Whether developing research to enable people to lead healthier lives, decrease bullying in schools or help talented children in South Africa reach their musical potential, Birmingham City University undertakes a wide variety of work to ensure that we operate as a socially responsible University.

On Monday 17 September 2018, we announced that staff had voted for Acorn’s Children’s Hospice and Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid to be the University’s Chosen Charities.