DE7029 - Adaptive Environmental Design

The school operates a philosophy of an extended Studio (X Studio) environment which provides you with flexible and structured learning support while on and off campus. In the DE7029 Adaptive Environmental Design module (40 credits) and accompanying Personal and Professional Development Journal, you will learn through a combination of physical studio and online learning structured through tutorials, seminars, tutor-guided and student-guided independent learning. Through different levels of support, you will form a critical research question that will define your ongoing scholarship and creative project. You will be expected to take responsibility for your own scholarship, creative development and learning for this self-directed project. You will be supported with formative feedforward and feedback throughout the module, with self and peer evaluation and reflection that enriches your progress prior to and following submission.

You will collate a masterly portfolio of environmental/ spatial design work that evidences the analysis of existing spaces, materials, processes, experiments, products and current innovations within your selected field of self-directed research. This will articulate and integrate new dynamic interfaces between your selected project, creative methodology and different transdisciplinary methods of creative practice. This will include a series of progressive design development processes, creative abstracts that evidence advanced design thinking and culminating in a summative proposal, manifesto, feasibility and design brief which outlines your self-directed project proposal for your DE7030 Spatial Futures module (40 credits) in the following teaching block.

To achieve these aims you will be asked to research topics, lead seminars and take an active role in workshops. Interactive weekly sessions will help you define design spatial problems, explore 3-dimensional concepts and initiate new experimental materials and processes that will drive innovative solutions for future spatial design thinking and concepts. You will apply your learning from your research to create a design proposal that manipulates space, generates new thinking and builds experiential concepts and knowledge for the spatial, environmental and Interior disciplines. You will be supported in your research by engaging in discussion with an active research community of peers, academic and technical staff.

You will use an ongoing Personal and Professional Development Journal (PDJ) to record and reflect on what you have done and to plan what you want to achieve, enabling you to recognise an area that needs to be developed and identify your personal contribution to the design sector. The DE7031 Research Through Design module (20 credits) will aid your research activities and help develop your experience, design processes and concepts that will form the grounding of your DE7030 Spatial Futures (40 credits) and DE 7003 Project Thesis (60 credits).

You will be supported by academic experts who will facilitate discussion in one-to-one tutorials and group critiques around your chosen subject of inquiry in scheduled timetabled sessions and directed study. These formal conversations are opportunities to receive immediate feedforward reflection enabling positive direction to the project and the design process. You will keep a record of this feedback to progress your work enhance your skills and intellectual understanding and develop your spatial, environment and interior proposal. You will be part of a community of postgraduate practice across the school and will be integrated into cross-organisational collaboration and peer discussion.

You will be involved in reflective practice, which is inherent to the practice of the School. The Masters programme curriculum has been developed to capitalise and channel the research areas of the school into the programme and will be supported and delivered by Professors and specialist academics and includes utilising specialist technical staff. The programme will also actively utilise professional designers and interior agencies weaving professional practice strategies into the curriculum. Additionally, and where appropriate, you will be supported in developing relationships with specialists who will support your brief and help innovate your environmental proposal.

Further formal academic support is provided via information posted on E-Learning Portal. Where appropriate, students may also be directed to engage with Study Skills +, or other resources offered through the University Student Support Services such as Dyslexia Support. The Library is open 24 hours a day and E-Learning Portal houses all your module documents including your timetable. These services can be accessed on a range of devices

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need

Knowledge & Understanding:
2. Demonstrate self-direction by and keeping an ongoing Personal and Professional Development Journal and applying it into practice
3. Articulate and apply to practice an understanding of the process through which knowledge is created within your discipline

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
4. Present a portfolio of professional practice capabilities and articulate the focus and detail of environmental design value in a variety of situations to both specialist and non-specialist audiences

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
1. Work constructively, ethically and sensitively in multicultural environments and teams
2. Be able to demonstrate curiosity and innovation in your own work and be able to nurture creativity in others 4. Operate as a reflective practitioner

Summative Assessment 100%


The portfolio of work that actively presents and interrogates the Spatial and Environmental Design discourse and process. It will evidence and critically analyse spatial and design adaptive case studies relevant to the brief and should include evidence of materials, products, processes, modelling, 3D products and current innovation in the chosen area of research including written critical evaluation. The portfolio will include an Environmental Design Proposal (4000w) (includes a research question, an outline manifesto statement, a feasibility abstract and a design brief) that evidences the intended project that will be developed further in the following DE7030 Module.


A reflective Personal and Professional Development Journal will accompany this portfolio of work that records the knowledge, skills and understanding you have attained from undertaking this learning.


Formative assessment will be given throughout the semester through peer and tutor feedback in seminars and tutorial support.

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The DE7029 Adaptive Environmental Design module (40 credits) gives you an opportunity to explore an individually initiated project and investigate creative and environmental approaches to a specific topic of spatial design enquiry. This module provides focus and disciplinary expertise that explores adaptive environmental design concepts that have been developed through collaborative design practices and multidisciplinary working. This module promotes a dedicated multidisciplinary approach which uses spatial design practice as a change agent for experiential spaces that are adaptable and responsive to the changing world. You will build your design project direction and philosophy upon the skills and knowledge gained in this module, the supporting research module DE7031 Research Through Design (Semester one, 20 credits) and also from your previous experience. You will analytically examine and discuss strategic internal and external environmental thinking and its application to the exploration and realization of space. You will conduct masterly approaches to research, the investigation and evaluation of traditional and experimental forms of space that shape environmental psychologies, experiences, materials and processes relevant to your concept.