Interior Architecture Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)

Interior Architecture is about transforming existing buildings into places that support and reflect contemporary life. At a time defined by climate urgency, rapid technological change, and evolving patterns of living and working, the question is no longer simply what we build, but how we rethink and repurpose the existing. Interior Architecture engages directly with that challenge, positioning the interior as a critical site where environmental performance, human experience, and spatial design converge.

You will study a discipline that sits deliberately between architecture and interior design, with a clear and distinctive focus on the transformation of existing buildings. From the outset, you will work with real spaces, learning how to read and interpret existing conditions and translate them into design proposals that are imaginative, technically credible, and responsive to contemporary social and environmental needs. Interior Architecture here is not merely about surface or styling; it is about reshaping space, structure, and systems to create meaningful, imaginative, and performative environments.

A defining feature of the programme is its commitment to adaptive reuse as a central design approach. As the built environment sector shifts toward retrofit, conservation, and resource-conscious development, the ability to work creatively with existing building stock has become one of the most valuable and future-facing skills in design practice. You will explore how to extend the life of buildings, reduce environmental impact, and respond to changing uses through inventive yet grounded design strategies.

The course is structured around the integration of creative design, progressive technologies, and environmental intelligence. You will develop ideas through drawing, physical making, digital modelling, environmental simulation, and advancing techniques of capture and fabrication. These are not treated as separate skills, but as interconnected design tools that enable you to test, refine, and communicate your work and be ready for work. This integrated approach ensures that your projects are visually compelling, informed, buildable, and relevant to contemporary practice.

Equally, the programme places strong emphasis on people and experience. You will consider how spaces are inhabited, how they support diverse occupations, and how design shapes comfort, accessibility, and inclusion. Social, cultural, and professional contexts are embedded throughout, and encourage you to think critically about the wider impact of design decisions and your role in shaping more equitable and sustainable environments.

As you progress, you will build confidence, developing fully resolved proposals, and get comfortable moving from concept to detailed design, including material specification, spatial assembly, and technical resolution. Studio-based learning is supported by lectures, seminars, and collaborative projects, creating a structured pathway from foundational skills to independent thinking. In the final year, you will define your own design position through a dissertation and a major project that brings together the full range of your skills and interests.

Graduates are ready for professional practice and equipped for careers across interior architecture, spatial design, and the wider built environment sector, particularly in areas connected to retrofit, regeneration, and sustainable development. You will learn vital and in demand professional skills, like how to work with existing buildings, integrate technical and environmental knowledge, and communicate ideas clearly to different audiences.

Studying Interior Architecture at Plymouth offers the opportunity to engage with one of the most pressing and exciting areas of design today. If you want to shape the future of the built environment through intelligent transformation, this programme provides a challenging and forward-looking route into professional practice.