Architecture & Interior Design
Right: Gabriel Peck, UCA Canterbury
Cover: Jordan Whitewood-Neal, UCA Canterbury
Architecture & Interior Design
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Introduction
Our School of Architecture was founded in 1952 and is constantly working to be at the cutting edge of the exciting, dynamic world of spatial design. Students who study with us have learned from professionals who practice regularly in industry, and have progressed to enjoy challenging, enjoyable and influential roles once they graduate. Equipped with technical skill, creativity and the expertise to succeed, a degree in architecture and interior design can take you to rewarding projects across a variety of sectors – from retail, leisure, exhibitions, events, graphic and online design, to public buildings, theatres, shopping centres, offices and conferences, cruise ships, transportation and more. We offer a range of great spatial design courses, including our BA (Hons) Architecture course that has been validated by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for more than 60 years. Our Interiors courses are recognised by the Society of British Interior Design. Whichever degree you choose to study with us, you’ll undertake exciting projects that will develop your skills and knowledge. You’ll have the opportunity to produce a diverse range of work using technical resources, including modelling, prototyping, casting, printmaking, drawing, film and animation. Your efforts at UCA are individually focused and owned, not following a formula or recipe, so no two projects look the same.
Our supportive environment for learning enables you to make use of our dedicated design studios and outstanding workshops, plus you’ll be able to exhibit your work in our galleries and public spaces on campus. We’ll encourage you to develop your skills working with a range of communities and organisations. In fact, our teaching staff see themselves as implicated collaborators in your work, providing opportunities through their own networks to develop models of live projects locally, regionally and internationally. Our activities expose you to the dynamics of the modern profession of architecture, associated construction and development industries, and the arts and culture sector. Employers often comment on the breadth of skills that UCA graduates possess – our aim is to allow you to develop a great balance of rigour and skill with optimism and imagination, giving you the ability to critically evaluate and learn the secret to great architecture, interior and theatre design.
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Lih Yiing Chin, UCA Canterbury
“ I never thought that one day I would dream of becoming an Architect, but after exploring so many aspects of the profession within our studies and getting so excited by the physical application of creative arts, it’s my absolute goal. “ To be honest, I really love every part. It’s great to be able to flick between physical models and 3D drawings to creating 2D visuals which represent your concepts. I love that we all get so absorbed with our projects and what we’re doing that between peers and visiting tutors, we all end up having really interesting discussions about some pretty obscure things.”
Connie Latham BA (Hons) Architecture, UCA Canterbury Graduated 2017
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Find the right course for you
BA (Hons) Architecture UCA Canterbury
John Stone, UCA Canterbury
Studying Architecture at UCA is a lively, progressive and creative experience that is validated by the Architects Registration Board (ARB) prescribed and Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). In the first year, you’ll be introduced to the fundamental issues, processes, skills and tools that will be relevant in your studies in architecture, focusing on design. Alongside this, you’ll learn communication techniques and the beginnings of the technical software required. In the second year, you’ll focus on the ways in which architecture can establish social, political, physical and environmental dialogues relative to different conditions. You’ll explore building materials, methods of construction and issues of sustainability and learn to experiment through physical making and testing on a variety of scales of projects. In your final year, you’ll gain the depth of knowledge to put together a complex design. You’ll learn to be highly self-driven and self-directed, presenting and writing in detail about your specialist knowledge and viewpoints and developing a sophisticated appreciation of how architecture can significantly improve the worlds of today and tomorrow. Twitter: @cantarch
Duration: 3 years full-time UCAS code: C93/K100/C UCAS tariff points: 128
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BSc (Hons) Creative Computing
BSc (Hons) Industrial Design*
UCA Canterbury
UCA Canterbury
Maki Uesaka, UCA Canterbury
Maxwell Shoroye, UCA Farnham
Our Creative Computing course will enable you to create and shape the world around you in a collaborative and inspiring enviromnent.
Sitting within the School of Architecture, this course is for students with the desire to design and shape the products and artefacts of our everyday use and need. The primary focus is on the manufacturing process, a key factor in overall product development and viability within the competitive marketplace.
In your first year as part of the Creative Thinking unit, you’ll learn to communicate through sketching, drawing and making workshops designed to enhance your conceptualisation and presentation skills – essential skills for a successful creative coder. You’ll continue to develop these skills in a practical way as you learn the context and history of computing and design throughout each year, expanding your coding skills in a range of industrystandard programming languages. You’ll also explore the use of key electronic tools and equipment to develop physical computing based interactive experiences. Combining rapid prototyping through 3D printing, CNC and Laser Cutting, with autonomous or networked embedded code applications, you’ll experiment widely in the first two years, building towards your strongest work for your final project in the third year.
You’ll combine creative flair and vision with sound practical knowledge and experience of industry. You’ll have the opportunity to undertake an industrial work placement between Years 2 and 3 to gain invaluable industry insight into the relationship between design research, development and production. The course runs in parallel with the BSc (Hons) Creative Computing course, sharing a core interest in coding and technology. You’ll also have access to our extensive workshop facilities to develop and prototype your designs. *Course subject to validation.
Twitter: @UCAcomputing
Duration: 3 years full-time UCAS code: C93/W290/C UCAS tariff points: 112
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Duration: 3 years full-time UCAS code: C93/W245/C UCAS tariff points: 112
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BA (Hons) Interior Architecture & Design
BA (Hons) Interior Architecture & Design
UCA Canterbury
UCA Farnham
Phang Fei Mun, UCA Canterbury
Zara Zaidi, UCA Farnham
This course encourages you to embrace more traditional means of designing alongside emerging technologies, creating versatile, innovative and entrepreneurial graduates.
This course, one of the most established in the country, investigates the potential that interiors have to affect our everyday lives - from the home to the workplace, and the spaces enjoyed in between.
Year 1 is designed to challenge your understanding of Interior Architecture and Design. Projects introduce ways of understanding the relationships between the human body and the built environment, considering how your work impacts upon people and beginning to understand your social responsibilities as a designer.
The course has a unique industry partnership with brand and experience design agency, Household, where students get the opportunity to work with their design directors in their Shoreditch office.
Year 2 focuses on your understanding of the processes around the fabrication of elements by taking part in live projects. You’ll develop your knowledge and understanding of materials and fabrication processes through the design, representation and construction of an element in a site-specific location. You’ll also develop your own design brief around issues of conservation.
In your third year you’ll conclude your programme by completing a dissertation, a strategic portfolio of work and a capstone personal design project. The capstone project reflects a culmination of each student’s learning on the course and is the single most significant expression of personal position.
Year 3 offers you the opportunity to undertake a self-initiated design project that lasts the entire year. During this time, you’ll set your own agenda, conducting in-depth contextual research within a shared research theme.
Instagram:@uca_interiors_farnham
Duration: 3 years full-time UCAS code: C93/W252/C UCAS tariff points: 112
Duration: 3 years full-time UCAS code: C93/W251/F UCAS tariff points: 112
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The levels of the course are structured to deliver the principles of interior architecture and design in Year 1, the processes of interior design in Year 2 and the practice of interior design in Year 3.
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UCA Rochester
Jessica Solway, UCA Rochester
On each year of this course, you’ll learn design skills; practical making skills needed to develop concept and interpretation through to modelled form; how to design and make scaled scenic elements, props, and costume; and learn about the various approaches to staging performance. Supported by our experienced and knowledgeable staff, you’ll be encouraged to experiment with the visual and material when designing and making. Alongside these essential tools, you’ll also develop a thorough theoretical understanding of culture through the units Cultural Contexts and Practice in Context, examining, reflecting and writing about aspects of design, both historical and contemporary. You can explore an exciting range of opportunities to put what you’ve learned into practice via commissioned projects and work placement within the latter part of Year 2. As you progress through to your final year you’ll have the option to choose a specialism, encouraging the development of your personal interests within design for theatrical performance.
“ I enjoy everything about the course – the creative freedom, the studio life, the intensity, the reviews, the midnight candles. The course is a very rewarding experience because of the confidence you gain from it at the end. The course pushes you throughout the three years and there is an empowering feeling about being able to say I completed a degree in architecture.
Find the right course for you
BA (Hons) Theatre Design
“ The facilities, resources and the support you get when using them is great. The virtual reality studio, photography studio, wood workshop, plaster studio and the library were my frequent destinations of mine during my time here. The studio culture imbues a certain work ethic which is visible across each year group.”
Ayo Rosanwo BA (Hons) Architecture, UCA Canterbury Graduated 2017
Duration: 3 years full-time UCAS code: C93/W440/R UCAS tariff points: 112
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Find the right course for you
Your career
The UK’s creative industries are growing faster than at any other time in history, generating nearly £92 billion a year in revenue for the UK economy¹. At UCA, we have a proud tradition of supporting students and equipping them with everything they need to thrive in the workplace. 96.9% of our students find employment or go on to further study within the first six months after graduating. A degree in Architecture or Interior Design could lead you to a variety of careers. Here is a taste of just some of the roles that you could explore after you graduate…
Urban Designer or Planner As an urban designer, you would work to shape the places where we live, which involves the design of buildings, groups of buildings, spaces between them and landscapes. You’ll need to have a broad interest in people and environments and how they interact, a creative flair to be able to think imaginatively about how we will live in the future, and be adaptable to change.
Architect In this profession, you’d be responsible for planning, designing and overseeing the construction of buildings. You need a good eye for design, the ability to work well within a team and excellent communication skills to be able to hold effective discussions with clients and builders. Our Architecture degree will give you all the technical skills to flourish in this environment.
Event and Interaction Designer If you decided to follow this path, you’d be directing the overall design and production of an event or experience, ranging from anything such as exhibitions to conferences, festivals and public art installations. You’d need excellent organisation and time-management skills, be a great communicator and have the ability to learn quickly about how technologies, materials and spaces can be coordinated to create great experiences for people.
Interior Architect or Designer You’d be responsible for planning and organising the design of commercial and domestic interiors. Creativity is key to this role and you need to be a good organiser, a strong communicator and have an understanding of all design processes, as well as understanding how materials, objects and furniture, lighting and acoustics work together to create great spaces for people.
Specialist Consultant From your initial training in architecture and interiors you may well go on to develop a niche specialism, which can contribute to design projects in a number of different ways. Specialisations include: lighting design, sound design, fabrication, environmental and sustainable design, heritage and conservation, visualisation specialist, model-maker, project management, and planning consultancy. ¹ Source: DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates 2016: Gross Value Added, Gov.uk
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Find the right course for you
Portfolio advice
What is a portfolio? A portfolio is a collection of your work that demonstrates your range of skills and creative talent. It’s your opportunity to showcase your individuality, creativity, inspirations and artistic abilities, and a useful way for us to evaluate your suitability for the course you’ve applied to. It might contain design work, drawings, art projects, photographs, films, sound work, music composition, or examples of creative writing or essays. Think of your portfolio as a statement about your work – it should exhibit your creative journey, thought processes and influences. Don’t be afraid to be bold and appeal to a viewer, keeping their attention and leaving them feeling excited about your creative potential.
What should my portfolio include? Your portfolio should feature examples of your research and show the development of your ideas and projects – this should be highly presentable and well organised. It may be useful to arrange your work into themes, styles or chronological order, demonstrating good organisational skills and your own artistic awareness. Make sure you show your passion for the subject – look into your favourite architects, building designers and developers and the other things they make. Show us some ideas you’ve had for designs, shapes and builds. Your portfolio should exhibit your creative journey, thinking processes and individual personality, so we can assess your potential. It’s important to show both your inspirations and aspirations, as your portfolio says a lot about you and your creative identity. Documenting the development of your ideas in a sketchbook is a great way to show us how you approached the task of creating your work, giving us insight into your creative thinking and how you approach your subject. Make sure your portfolio is well presented. Our tutors only have a short amount of time to look through each portfolio, so you need to organise your work intelligently. We recommend that you include between 10 and 25 pieces of work, neatly mounted on white or off-white paper in either landscape or portrait format (not a mixture of both).
Find out more The course pages at uca.ac.uk provide clear guidance on what we’d like to see in your portfolio for each of our courses. We’ve also put together a set of videos talking you through the process: uca.ac.uk/study/portfolio-advice
Put some of your most attention-grabbing and interesting work at the front and lead us through your journey, showcasing a variety of skills, materials, techniques and influences – it could include paintings, drawings, photography, digital pieces, storyboards, animation images or written work. If you include moving image work, we recommend a maximum of two minutes’ running time. Highlight your favourite pieces too, and indicate what or who inspires you. 13
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Charmaine Stafford, UCA Rochester
Portfolio advice
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“ Work experience is such a great thing about this course - it gives you the chance to work in industry. During second year, you can take 10 weeks to do whatever you want to do and if you use your summers too, by the time you graduate you have a huge amount of experience - which should stand us in good stead. “ My favourite part was definitely the workshops, I’m really loath to leave them, that’s the bit that’s really hard to say goodbye to. The technicians here are amazing, they have carried us through this course and everything down to the machinery they have is brilliant.”
Kathleen Bell BA (Hons) Theatre Design, UCA Rochester Graduated 2017
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Course leaders
Course leaders
Mark Gower
JJ Brophy
Course Leader for BA (Hons) Interior Architecture & Design
Course Leader for BSc (Hons) Creative Computing
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UCA Canterbury
UCA Farnham Mark graduated from the Royal College of Art (RCA) in 1999 with an MA in Architecture and Interiors and formerly attended Kingston University, where he achieved a BA (Hons) in Interior Design with First Class Honours. While at the RCA, Mark received a commendation for his dissertation entitled ‘Football’s Hidden Architecture’. Mark is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and before joining UCA was Principal Lecturer and Head of the Fashion and Design programmes at Regent’s University London, where he practised in the field of design. Mark has worked with various design companies, including Imagination Ltd. and Studio db, on projects ranging from the recent redevelopment of Fenwick on Bond Street, to designing a European tour stage set for a pop band. Mark has been responsible for leading design teams for major clients in the UK and worldwide including Hong Kong and India. His clients have included Aquascutum, B&Q, Land Rover and Eureka! The Museum for Children.
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JJ Brophy is a digital media academic and technologist. A graduate of the University of Huddersfield, JJ completed his undergraduate degree in Virtual Reality Design in 2003, followed by his MA in 3D Digital Design in 2004, for which he received a distinction, as well as the COEDD (Centre of Excellence in Digital Design) Technology Award. In 2006 he co-founded Alchemation Studios, a multi-disciplinary media arts and digital design practice based in the South East of England, delivering projects for the likes of Channel 4, Ten Alps Media, and Canterbury Anifest. JJ holds both a PGCE and HEA fellowship, and has over 12 years of teaching experience in Higher Education. As Course Leader for Creative Computing at UCA and founder of the CSA Digital Futures Lab, JJ’s research and teaching interests include interaction design, coding, LIDAR scanning and digital fabrication, specifically how these technologies affect the way we design and perceive our environments.
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Sam McElhinney
Rob Nice
Course Leader for BA (Hons) Architecture
Course Leader for BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design
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Sam is a UK registered Architect and the founder of MUD Architecture, a practice based in Canterbury. From 2005–2012 Sam was a member of Surface Architects, being Project Architect for Surface’s highest-profile built project, a series of wayfinding structures in the 2012 Olympic Park. After Surface, Sam acted as Design Manager at Jason Bruges Studio, running the design and construction of the ‘WWF Experience’ installation.
Rob has been an educator since 1995 and has contributed to Canterbury School of Architecture’s development and success for over ten years. He has established a research-intensive learning environment, encouraging students to explore the social, cultural and political context of designing within the built environment.
Sam studied architecture at the University of Cambridge and The Bartlett, University College London. His thesis, ‘Labyrinths, Mazes and the Spaces In Between’, won the Best Paper Award at the European Meeting of Cybernetics and Systems Research (2010) in Vienna. He has guest lectured at University College London, the University of Texas in Austin, the University of Porto, the University of Cambridge, the University of Innsbruck and the MAXXI Centre, Rome. Sam’s ongoing research, based at isovists.org, involves developing real-time models for visibility analysis and spatial cognition.
UCA Canterbury
Alongside teaching, Rob has worked on Arts Council funded research projects through Urban-lab, which he co-founded in Brighton in 1999. It brings together artists, designers, architects and educators to explore the social, cultural and political layers that construct the built environment through a mix of installations, performance and photography. Rob’s own practice-led research stems from a conscious effort to explore and respond to the mundane, the banal and the habitual; the parts of everyday life that go unnoticed. He makes use of various disciplines to enable everyday users of cities to establish alternative ways of seeing, doing and thinking, through even the smallest of gestures. In 2013, Rob gained professional recognition for his teaching, becoming a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
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Course leaders
Gary Thorne Course Leader for BA (Hons) Theatre Design — UCA Rochester Gary studied fine art with Byam Shaw School in London, later acquiring his MA in Public Art (Art in Architecture) through UEL. He studied in London with Motley Theatre Design (1983–84) under Margaret “Percy” Harris and Elizabeth Montgomery whose creative period embraced 1923–2000. Gary’s professional work since 1984 ranges from touring, repertory theatre in the UK and across Canada, opera, public art commissions and fine art group exhibitions in London. Gary has written three educational books on design: ‘Stage Design’, ‘Designing Stage Costumes’, and ‘Technical Drawing for the Stage’. Before joining UCA, Gary was RADA’s Head of Theatre Design (2004–2016), responsible for the two-year postgraduate course in Set & Costume Design, and tutor for Stage Design and Costume for Stage and Screen (1997–2016) with Central Saint Martins. Gary has supported over 100 students annually in preparing a design portfolio for applications to programmes in Theatre Design. Many of his graduates work professionally across theatre, film, television, opera, and dance. 19
“ I have learned so many new skills, I don’t even know where to begin. All the design elements, drawings and illustrations, the technical drawings that go with them, model boxes – making things to scale, whether it’s furniture, buildings or people. You get a range of the practical things, like using silicone moulds and resin, or wood in the workshop. We’ve had a couple of scenic workshops with someone from the Royal Opera House which has been amazing, there’s a whole range of things to choose from. “ Work experience has definitely been one of the best things we’ve done. You get to meet industry contacts, have the opportunity to learn so many new things about materials and techniques, and then bring your new knowledge and skills back with you and build on them for your final year. You get to just go and have fun with all these cool people and see what they do. “ To start in the real world with work experience means that you have a whole range of contacts already to go back to and work from, and from there they can give you other people to go and work for. The course gives you the basic skills in everything, it’s not just designing, it’s prop making, painting, as well as technical drawings and the computer side of things. It means you’ve got all this breadth of knowledge to go ‘okay, I know how to make this, let’s do it.’
Catherine Barron BA (Hons) Theatre Design, UCA Rochester Graduated 2018
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Our facilities
Our facilities
Canterbury
Farnham
UCA Canterbury provides purpose-built studios, workshops and lecture theatres for nearly 1,000 students studying fine art, graphics, illustration and animation, architecture and interiors.
UCA Farnham has extensive facilities for over 2,000 students learning on a wide range of creative arts subject areas including film, animation, graphics, illustration, fine art, photography, textiles, journalism and advertising.
We promote a culture of creativity across all our courses and facilities include: –– Dedicated, professionally equipped studio spaces –– F ree and Open Access Fabrication Lab equipped with laser cutting, 3D printing and CNC routing –– Digital Visualisation and Simulation Lab –– D igital Media rooms equipped with PCs and Macs and a range of industry standard specialist 2D and 3D CAD and animation software –– T wo specialist shops on campus for art supplies, materials and equipment hire
Facilities include: –– Fully equipped metal, wood and plastics workshops, laser cutting, rapid prototyping and 3D printing –– F ully-equipped photographic studios with darkrooms, digital processing and finishing facilities and full industry-standard lighting rigs –– M edia Resource Centre for printing, publishing and scanning, as well as hire of digital equipment.
–– W ood, metal, casting and printmaking workshops and a photography studio, and darkrooms to support the widest possible range of making. 21
Please note, access to each campus and its resources can sometimes depend on the campus you choose to study at. For example, you may be using the facilities at the campus where your course is based but not always at others – this depends on your course.
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Rachael Aylward-Jones, UCA Canterbury
Our facilities
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Tinuke Hypolite BA (Hons) Theatre Design, UCA Rochester Graduated 2018
“ I’ve learned a bit of everything while I’ve been on the course. Often people come to uni with an idea of what they want to do – I originally wanted to work on props, but then you try costumes, pattern making, digital work, model making, filming, editing, and do a bit of everything that’s out there in the creative industry. It’s not just one job, it’s getting prepared for all of them, because you never know when you’re going to have to do something else when you need to. “ The course has prepared me to get ready for the outside world because originally I did want to do props, but now I want to focus more on sets. I wouldn’t have gotten that opportunity if I had only focused on one thing, and I wouldn’t have been able to try the different aspects that led me to wanting to create the whole world and let my imagination run wild rather than just focusing on the little bits.” 24
Lillie Cannings, UCA Farnham
Our facilities
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Next steps
How to apply The course you choose determines how you apply – this could be through UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) or directly to UCA. Find out more uca.ac.uk/study/how-to-apply ucas.com/apply Contact us If you’ve got any queries regarding the admissions process or your application, please contact the relevant admissions team: UK/EU admissions T: +44 (0)1252 892 960 E: admissions@uca.ac.uk International admissions T: +44 (0)1252 892 785 E: internationaladmissions@uca.ac.uk Connect with us @UniCreativeArts facebook.com/ucreativearts @unicreativearts @unicreativearts youtube.com/unicreativearts #WeCreate blog.uca.ac.uk social.uca.ac.uk Join us at #UCAlive We run live Q&A sessions where you can ask us anything you like about what it’s like to live and study here at UCA. Visit uca.ac.uk/live to find out about our next #UCAlive session.
Disclaimer The information in this brochure is believed to be correct at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to introduce changes to the information given including the addition, withdrawal, relocation or restructuring of any programmes. The information in this brochure is subject to change and does not form part of any contract between UCA and the student and his/her sponsor. For up-to-date and more detailed information on any of our courses and studying at UCA, please visit uca.ac.uk 1035-0318