DE5034 - Tactics and Strategies for Interior Design

What will I learn on this module?

This level 5 block 1 module is designed to further develop your understanding of interior space and form by encouraging you to be more radical with your interventions.

The module allows you to build upon the skills and knowledge gained in previous design project modules and will allow you to develop an individual analytical approach to your design practice. Through a sequence of set design briefs you will learn to develop strategies combining interior design tactics that are both spatial and human-centred, synthesising contextual factors with user-research to create several alternative design concepts.

Practical design projects will challenge you to combine a thorough understanding of purpose, whilst dealing with increasingly complex technical and commercial realities. Allowing you to define your own boundary-pushing approach to design through the experience of site, scale, manipulation of space, strategic re-use of existing buildings, building technology, remodelling, lighting, branding, virtual environments, ergonomics, materiality and construction detailing.

Design projects will be set in the context of adaptive re-use of existing buildings and will ask you to engage with the exciting spatial challenges that interior design poses. Projects typically focus on commercial sectors of retail, leisure, hospitality and exhibition, through the tactics of architectural insertion, installation, and/or intervention in response to the interplay of site and users.

During this module you grow your readiness for professional practice through an introduction to industry level Computer Aided Design (CAD) 2D drawing. Building on your understanding of orthographic drawings, you will now be able enhance your design communication and technical abilities with the increased sophistication afforded by CAD software packages.

This module is intended to be fast-paced and highly interactive, taking your newly familiar studio-based working practices to the next level. You will be expected to work both collaboratively and independently, whilst extending the range of physical and virtual design development and communication techniques that you now have at your disposal.

Topics: Building re-use and re-interpretation / Human centred design and user research / Service design as part of a full interior design proposal / Building exteriors and facades / Embedding design principles through design practice / Detailing packages / Sustainability / Architectural technologies.

How will I learn on this module?

Tactics & Strategies for Interior Design is a project-based experiential learning module. You will learn in design studios, CAD labs and, where appropriate, workshops in order to create a professional design-studio approach. The aim is to encourage the interaction of the student body, through collaborative working and peer learning, which is regarded as a critically important factor in the learning process. The module is structured around rapid learning cycles, led by multiple project briefs that shift focus across a variety of topics, activities and stages of the design process. Learning will be facilitated through staff-led group tutorials, staff supervised open-studio sessions and design-stage reviews.



We refer to this studio approach as follows;

Project brief(s) will be introduced through one or more briefing sessions where the brief will be fully explained and you will have the opportunity to ask questions. The module is delivered via a combination of studio teaching, seminars and interactive activities, tutor guided independent learning and student-led independent learning.

Formative studio-based feedback will support and guide your learning and the progress of your design work. Where appropriate, external site visits will support design briefs and your understanding of the interior design process and site enquiry. This approach will allow you to develop an understanding at both a theoretical and practical level prior to summative assessment.

You will take part in a final review presentation of your design project work where you will receive final feedback from staff, which you will be required to document and process to advance future design projects and define your own learning. Summative assessment is through the submission of a design portfolio, which will enable you to learn through an enquiry-based/problem-solving learning methodologies approach and reflect the accumulation and integration of knowledge accrued over the module.

How will I be supported academically on this module?

Support and feedback will be provided by a variety of methods throughout design projects, starting at the briefing and concluding upon submission of each design project. Support includes;



Staff Contact

Module tutors who provide academic support.

Individual staff-student tutorials inform design project direction.

Group tutorials enable staff to interact with students and encourage peer learning and support.

Project briefs are normally introduced via a briefing session, where the brief is fully explained and explored by both staff and students.

The eLearning Portal will be utilised to communicate all relevant module information.



Studio Contact Time

Modules are delivered through a combination of lecture supported group tutorials and studio activity, practical demonstrations, studio teaching, guided and independent learning new skills are delivered through workshop activities.

Studio feedback takes place to facilitate students’ development in the areas being studied, to allow formative feedback and the identification of examples of good practice and development areas to be considered.

Independent study hours will be utilised to continue the development and progression of studio activity.



Peer and Independent Support

Students are encouraged and expected to maintain a personal development plan (PDP) and are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning.

Studio based activity also supports the development of appreciation and evaluation of peers’ work.

What will I be expected to read on this module?

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

What will I be expected to achieve?

Knowledge & Understanding:



Analyse and debate contemporary design and contextual issues from economic, environmental, ethical, historical, political and social perspectives. (CONTEXTUAL)



Articulate, justify and share research and development using established methods and processes, through bound design development packs. (R&D)



Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:



Experiment and develop communication skills through sketching, modelling and software packages in the communication of interior design concepts and schemes. (COMMUNICATION)



Create concepts, proposals or solutions that appropriately respond to clearly identified needs or issues. (CONCEPT)



Create a range of experimental interior design proposals through an understanding of the functional and aesthetic requirements of design in response to a given brief. (DESIGN)



Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):



Participate in collaborative team working activities or projects to tackle problems that benefit from a multi-perspective approach. (COLLABORATION)

How will I be assessed?

A series of design projects will be carried out sequentially. At the end of the module grades will be collated to provide a final mark for the module, based on a design project portfolio comprising two components weighted at 50% each, incorporating 2D and 3D design work.



The assessment and feedback strategy is:



a. Formative Assessment

Project tutorials and staged reviews with tutors and peers will provide an opportunity for critique and formative direction. This will allow students to reflect upon their own work and act upon feedback prior to final submission. Verbal feedback is designed to help students to identify areas of success and/or further development to be considered.



b. Summative assessment

The project brief/s driving the module will identify the assessment criteria and submission requirements (deliverables) appropriate to the topic of the project. The assessable elements will consist of a project portfolio, which will enable students to demonstrate the process and technical skills developed throughout the module. In addition studio contact, observations and presentations will ensure tutors are able to assess the learners’ overall performance holistically against the learning outcomes for the module. A single grade will then be aligned to the submission based upon multiple deliverables.



c. Feedback strategy

Feedback will be delivered verbally at the point of each tutorial, where discussion will clarify future direction. Upon receiving summative assessment students will receive a grade reflecting achievement against the learning outcomes of the module. Students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning by recording verbal feedback in order to reflect upon it as they engage in subsequent learning.

Pre-requisite(s)

Level 4 (or equivalent experience)

Co-requisite(s)

N/A

Module abstract

Tactics & Strategies in Interior Design challenges you to be radical in how you intervene in existing buildings to dramatically re-imagine, re-interpret and re-shape interior spaces. The module will introduce you to the spatial strategies of insertion, installation and intervention, to encourage you to define your own boundary-pushing approach.

Project briefs will engage your developing spatial design skills in designing for adaptive reuse of carefully chosen existing buidings that inspire creativity and present their own unique challenges. You will be supported to adopting human centred design tactics in combination with a multi-faceted consideration of site, scale, manipulation of space, technology, lighting, virtual environments, ergonomics, materiality and detailing.

Continuing to both contribute to- and benefit from- the studio-based learning environment, you will be expected to work collaboratively and independently. Additionally, this module will help you grow your readiness for professional practice through an introduction to industry level Computer Aided Design (CAD) 2D drawing.

Course info

UCAS Code W252

Credits 40

Level of Study Undergraduate

Mode of Study 3 years Full Time or 4 years with a placement (sandwich)/study abroad

Department Northumbria School of Design, Arts and Creative Industries, Northumbria School of Design

Location City Campus, Northumbria University

City Newcastle

Start September 2025

Fee Information

Module Information

All information is accurate at the time of sharing. 

Full time Courses are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but could include elements of online learning. Most courses run as planned and as promoted on our website and via our marketing materials, but if there are any substantial changes (as determined by the Competition and Markets Authority) to a course or there is the potential that course may be withdrawn, we will notify all affected applicants as soon as possible with advice and guidance regarding their options. It is also important to be aware that optional modules listed on course pages may be subject to change depending on uptake numbers each year.  

Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with possible restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors if this is deemed necessary in future.

 

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