MA Interior Architecture and Design

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This MA programme is designed for art, architecture, and design graduates who wish to specialise in creative approaches to the making of the interior. The programme works contextually and aims to provide an adaptive response to under-utilised built heritage at risk.

The design studio is the vehicle for the delivery of a teaching and learning strategy which is largely project-based. This allows for the presentation of the studio as a simulated interior architecture and design consultancy. Students act as design associates in a firm with an established ethos, knowledge base, culture, documentation standards, and design approach under the direction of a team of managers.

It is foreseen that this approach will produce an enabling and encouraging work environment, which respects individual well-being, sets realistic expectations, and allows for personal development and growth.

The programme offers two pathways: Treatise by Practice and Treatise by Research; both pathways are designed to provide a platform to progress to further employment in interior consultancies or to advanced study at the doctoral level.

The programme also features an optional Work Placement Year, which aims to give students a continuous experience of full-time work in an interiors practice, augmenting the simulated practice which is followed in the programme. More information is available in the Work Placement Year section.

Features

The design process utilised in the course is based on the imaginal strategy defined by Konigk (2015) and Scott’s (2008) process of altering architecture.

The programme is focused on the critical response to cultural heritage: students produce contemporary and progressive interior outputs. All modes of alteration (installation, insertion, intervention) and additions are possible, but preservation and new build are prohibited. The emphasis is on change of use adaptive-reuse (which distinguishes interior architecture and design from conservation and architecture).

Prioritising Face-to-Face Teaching

At the University of Lincoln, we strive to ensure our students’ experience is engaging, supportive, and academically challenging. Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, we have adapted to Government guidance to keep our students, staff, and community safe. All remaining Covid-19 legal restrictions in England were lifted in February 2022 under the Government’s Plan for Living with Covid-19, and we have embraced a safe return to in-person teaching on campus. Where appropriate, face-to-face teaching is enhanced by the use of digital tools and technology and may be complemented by online opportunities where these support learning outcomes.

We are fully prepared to adapt our plans if changes in Government guidance make this necessary, and we will endeavour to keep current and prospective students informed.

"This information was correct at the time of publishing (July 2023)"

• Interior Design Process 4.1: Preparation (Core)
• Interior Design Process 4.2: Definition (Core)
• Interior Design Process 4.3: Interior Treatise (Core)
• Interior Research Process 4.1: Design-research Methods (Core)
• Interior Research Process 4.2: Direction (Core)
• Practice and Collaboration 4.1 (Core)
• Practice and Collaboration 4.2 (Core)
• Interior Work Placement Year (Option)†

Research Areas and Topics

The course is supported by the research endeavour of the Critical Heritage and Place Consumption Research Group.

Students develop their own projects, within set parameters. Projects are conceptualised as the critical response to existing built heritage (this includes contemporary and historic buildings which can be considered as heritage at risk or as underutilised resources).

Studio production incorporates knowledge-based practices, is inquiry-based, and can be described as research-engaged design. In this, the course fully embraces ‘Student as Producer’ as an organising principle.

How You Study

MA Interior Architecture and Design is a full-time course with two intakes: in October and in February.

All students enrolled on the Master’s programme. You may then elect to take a stage qualification or pursue the full programme. The full programme comprises four compulsory modules. There are no elective modules.

The programme offers two pathways: Treatise by Practice and Treatise by Research; both pathways are designed to provide a platform to progress to further employment in interior consultancies or to advanced study at the doctoral level. In both pathways, students will partake in research and design activities.

The postgraduate level study involves a significant proportion of independent study, exploring the material covered in the studio, lectures, and seminars. As a general guide, for every hour spent in class, students are expected to spend at least three hours in an independent study. This is a full-time programme and students are expected to dedicate 40 hours per week to the course. For more detailed information, please contact the Programme Leader.

Delivery:

Contact Sessions (25%)

• Seminar: a classroom session focussing on a particular topic or project; typically a tutor-led group discussion.
• Tutorial: a meeting involving one-to-one supervision, with feedback or detailed discussion. Students must be prepared and bring discussion points/agenda items and project management documentation.
• Supervised work: students work independently but under supervision in a studio.
• Peer-to-peer: students explain their ideas to each other and participate in shared learning/working activities.
• Charrettes: students participate in directed design activities/exercises under supervision.

Self-directed learning (75%)

• Fieldwork: practical work conducted at an external site; such as building surveys, accessing archival information (physical and digital), and other forms of data collection.
• Projects: students plan and execute their own projects.
• Library: students conduct independent reviews of subject literature in the library.
• E-learning: students complete prescribed online learning activities in their own time.

Studio meetings take place on Mondays, and studio work on Fridays. Research seminars are presented on a Monday for the first six weeks in Terms 1 and 2. These are supported by theory seminars for the first six weeks in Terms 1 and 2. Fieldwork and self-directed study are scheduled for the remainder.

Work Placement Year

The University has a strong commitment to providing academic programmes with high vocational relevance, which is maintained through working links with local, national, and international organisations and through student work placements. The Interior Work Placement Year aims to give students a continuous experience of full-time work in an interiors practice, augmenting the simulated practice which is followed in the programme.

The Interior Work Placement Year constitutes a minimum of 48 weeks of work placement during an academic year (including appropriate holiday allowance), funded by full-time paid employment, during the second year of study. All students on the Interior Work Placement Year as part of their full-time postgraduate taught study will remain enrolled with the University during the period of placement and receive support from staff.

How You Are Assessed

Formative assessment occurs regularly throughout the programme by means of student critiques, draft written assignments, and progress reviews. Summative assessment is via project presentation supported by written project documentation.

Assessment Feedback

The University of Lincoln's policy on assessment feedback aims to ensure that academics will return in-course assessments to you promptly – usually within 15 working days after the submission date.

The programme offers two pathways: Treatise by Practice and Treatise by Research. Both pathways are designed to provide a platform to progress to further employment in interior consultancies or to advanced study at the doctoral level.

The treatise that is prepared as the result of the practice route displays the characteristics of a ‘professional master’s degree’ as defined by the QAA (2015:5): it aims to enable graduates to qualify for entry into the profession of interior design (this may be subject to the requirements of the profession in various jurisdictions) and to provide development opportunities related to advanced employment in interior design.

The treatise that is prepared as the result of the research route displays the characteristics of an ‘advanced study master’s degree’ as defined by the QAA (2015:4): it aims to prepare graduates to advance their careers through further academic or professional study or for entering the employment of a different kind in interior design.