Interior Design

Interior design is the discipline concerned with the design of interior spaces for human use, addressing how light, material, form, colour, proportion and circulation come together to create environments that are functional, beautiful and meaningful. Interior designers work across a wide range of contexts, from domestic interiors and retail environments to hospitality, healthcare, workplace and cultural spaces, each presenting different challenges and requiring different kinds of knowledge and sensitivity. The field sits at the intersection of architecture, product design, psychology and the arts, demanding both creative vision and practical competence.

At Manchester Metropolitan University, this three-year programme explores the dynamic interplay between human experience and the built environment, as the university describes it. You will challenge and interpret the spaces people occupy through creative and research-informed approaches, developing skills in spatial design, drawing, model-making, digital visualisation, material specification and project management. The programme includes a sandwich year, giving you time in a professional design environment before your final year, and also offers work placement opportunities, ensuring your studio development is grounded in real practice.

You will develop a body of work through studio projects that address genuine design challenges, building a professional portfolio and the creative confidence that characterises practising interior designers.

The degree develops both your creative imagination and your technical communication skills, the ability to generate ideas, test them through drawing and making, and present them persuasively to clients and stakeholders.

Graduates go on to work as interior designers, spatial designers, set designers, retail environment designers, exhibition designers and designers within architecture practices. Others move into furniture and product design, visual merchandising or events and hospitality design. Further study at masters level in interior design, architecture or a specialist design area is also available for those who want to develop their practice toward more senior or specialist roles.