Course Overview
Students on our course produce designs for residential, retail, and work-based spaces as well as undertaking projects for the leisure, hospitality and event and performance industries. Our course will give you the opportunity to work with private and public spaces and within a wide range of buildings and sites as you develop as a versatile designer. The course covers the conceptual, theoretical and practical skills needed to become a successful Interior and Spatial Designer. We look for creative thinkers who respond to the challenges of working locally, in London, nationally and internationally.
Create stunning designs through drawings, scale models and visuals
You will learn how to successfully complete all aspects of design projects from initial site visits and client briefings through to final presentations. We will teach you studio and workshop based model-making skills using our laser cutting and 3D prototyping equipment. You'll be taught drawing and CAD visualisation techniques using AutoCAD, Rhino and Photoshop, so that you can present your work with confidence.
Understand the theory as well as the practice of design
We teach historical and contextual studies, giving you a knowledge of the relationship between design theory and practice. You'll also analyse the material qualities of spaces so that you can specify fixtures and fittings.
Through group reviews of work and presentations to clients, you will develop your communication skills to a professional standard and learn to work as part of a design team. Developing as a multi-disciplinary designer with a diverse portfolio, you focus on a particular area of Interior and Spatial Design with your final major project in your third year of the course.
BA (Hons) Interior and Spatial Design scored 100% overall satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2018.
More placements, more choices
Bucks is a Placement Plus university. So, whatever degree you do, you can be sure there’ll be plenty of industry-relevant opportunities on offer, to help you get into your chosen field.
We’ll also prepare you for work beforehand, with special Skills for Work training, further boosting your CV, and building skills employers will value. In recognition of the value we place on these skills we have incorporated this experience into your study time.
Placements Plus is all about helping you get some valuable experience under your belt while you’re a student. To increase your choices later, and help you get the graduate-level job you want.
Course Details
UCAS CODE: 1W97, W240
Tutors on our long-established course are involved with design practice and research. Members of the course team have experience in interior design, exhibition design, landscape design, engineering, model-making, design for performance, design visualisation and animation.
We have a wide range of workshops, enabling you to produce work in a wide variety of media. For each of the three years that you are with us, you'll have your own designated work space in our design studios.
Create innovative designs in our professional standard studio and workshops
This course is 75% practice-based so you will have ample opportunity to develop your subject through a hands-on, experimental approach. This will involve access to workshops to support the design process.
Working for clients
Recently, students from the course have worked on projects with Bouygues Development, Murray Chalmers Music PR, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Showroom London, Space-pod Bourne End and Pentagram London.
Our students have displayed their work in local galleries and practices as well as at venues and events in London such as the V&A Museum and at New Designers. We also offer you the opportunity to travel to New York and a European city for study tours and to participate on our Erasmus exchange programme.
What are the course entry requirements?
A typical offer will be a UCAS Tariff score of 80. A minimum of two full A-levels (or equivalent) is required. Every application is considered on an individual basis.
For further details of our international English entry requirements, please visit our international pages.
Applicants who do not meet the minimum requirements for the three-year undergraduate programme, or those who do not feel fully prepared for a degree course, can apply for a four-year programme including a Foundation Year; find out more.
Course Modules
Module Map
This module map provides a list of the modules that make up your course.
Each module is worth a specified number of credits (typically either 15 or 30 credits for undergraduate courses). Compulsory (or ‘core’) modules cover key subject knowledge, while ‘option’ modules enable you to develop your own interests. For a full-time course you must take modules worth a total of 120 credits at each level of the course. The number of option modules you can take depends on the number of compulsory modules at each level. You can find more information about how your course is structured via the Academic Advice pages.
Our teaching is informed by research and employer requirements, and modules change periodically to reflect developments in the subject area. In addition, where we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an option module, this may not be offered. If an option module does not run, we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.
The modules available on this course are as follows:
Year 1 Modules
- Critical and Historical Studies - Historical and Critical Thinking
- Design Tools
- Interior Design
- Spatial Design
Year 2 Modules
- Critical and Historical Studies - Design Research and Theory
- Design + Detail
- Retail Design
- Professional Studies
Year 3 Modules
- Critical and Historical Studies - Dissertation
- Final Major Project
- Professional Practice
Fees
How much does it cost
Full Time Home and EU, September 2019: £9,250 per year
Full Time International, September 2019: £12,000 per year
Full Time Home and EU, February 2020: £9,250 per year
Full Time International, February 2020: £12,000 per year
Most courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees.
You could benefit from financial support through a bursary or scholarship during your time as a student. For more details visit our financial support, bursaries and scholarships section.
Questions about fees?
Contact our Enquiries Team:
0330 123 2023
advice@bucks.ac.uk
How do I apply?
For application details please visit bucks.ac.uk/applynow
Teaching team
Student Testimonials
Our students are our best ambassadors and their voices here will provide you with a clear sense of their Bucks experience.
Daisy Munns
I thoroughly enjoyed my three years studying Spatial Design at Bucks New University. The multi-disciplinary and practical nature of the course is what appealed to me most when applying, as I initially wasn't sure what type of designer I wanted to be.
Having the opportunity to work on projects in different areas of spatial design enabled me to discover the direction I wanted to take after graduating. I am now working as an Interior Designer for a design and build company that specialises in the commercial and leisure sectors.
Anna Lee Laferlla
Four years ago, I applied to Bucks New University to do a degree in Interior and Spatial Design not knowing what I wanted to do with my life and I have never looked back since!
I now work for one of the most successful commercial interior companies in the UK as a project designer. I am designing buildings, creating space plans, proposals, meeting clients as well as creating stunning visualisations and even models in my day to day life. Without studying at BNU i would never be where i am today.
I would certainly recommend the course to anyone remotely interested in design and to help you find out what your future is in how to apply it to many different fields to help you to get the best career possible! It was amazing and I would do it again if I could!
