Key information
Develop an understanding of the creative design process to create functional and sustainable interior environments.
- Programme code
- W252
- Level
- Undergraduate
- Delivery type
- Full Time
- Degree qualification
- BA (Hons)
- Mode of delivery
- On-Campus
- Duration
- 4 years
- Location
- Scottish Borders
- Start date
- September
Our Interior Architecture & Design programme offers a creative blend of design skills to equip you for industry. You'll apply conceptual methods to imaginatively adapt or re-use interior environments. Key areas that you will study include sustainability, human-centred design, hand and digital making skills, materials, drawing, furniture and detailing, technology and digital communication.
You’ll learn about innovative new technology that can help you bring your interior design ideas to life. You’ll work on real projects for industry. Our students have worked with brands such as Adidas, Herman Miller and Accor Hotel Group.
You'll have the opportunity to work with many external partners, organisations, and businesses. You’ll be encouraged to challenge yourself, make connections, and develop skills that will be useful after graduation, while also building your identity as a designer.
Many of our graduates go on to work in creative roles in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and beyond, for companies such as AECOM, Area, and IKEA . You could follow in their footsteps.
Your student experience
Your learning will be informed by the expertise of our chartered architects, interior and environmental designers, and research-active academics in the fields of sustainable building design and architectural conservation. You’ll benefit from their extensive real-world experience in architecture and interior design.
Teaching and Assessment
Taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, and workshops, you’ll get to know and build relationships with the teaching staff, academics, and technicians. You’ll be assessed by coursework, and your final year project, and will receive support and feedback throughout the programme.
Go Global
With Go Global, Heriot-Watt's global student programme, you can carry your studies to new places and experience new cultures, expanding your horizons on the way. You'll discover what it means to be a true global citizen and emerge prepared for wherever your career journey will take you.
Inter-Campus Transfer: Dubai
Course content
September Intake
Year 1
Mandatory September
- Rethinking Design 1: Discover and Define
- Rethinking Design 2: Develop and Deliver
Mandatory January
- Introduction to Materials
- Heritage and Vernacular Sustainability
- Visual Communication For Design
Year 2
Mandatory September
- Construction for Interior Architecture
- Design Studio 1 Residential Design
- CAD for Design 1 AutoCAD
Mandatory January
- CAD for Design 2
- Lighting and Acoustics for Interior Architecture
- Design Studio 2 Workspace Design
Year 3
Mandatory September
- Design Studio 3 Service Industry Design
- CAD for Design 3 Revit
Mandatory January
- Design Studio 4 Institution Design
- External Collaborative Design
Year 4
Mandatory September
- Final Major Project Part 1
Mandatory January
- Advanced Practice and Evaluation
- Final Major Project Part 2
Optional September
- Marketing Strategy for Design
- Enterprise and Innovation for Creative Industries
Programme Video
Interior Architecture & Design at Heriot-Watt
Heriot-Watt students and academics explore why the world needs Interior Architecture and Design. Watch our video to understand how smart interiors, robotics, virtual and augmented realities are becoming central to creative environments. Experience what studying Virtual and Creative Environments at Heriot-Watt can offer you.
Interior Architecture and Design shapes the creative innovators and design professionals of the future. The programme celebrates a globally connected curriculum, routed within industry and community stakeholders, and offers students genuine learning experiences and employment opportunities. Through an imaginative use of technology and design, the discipline shapes students who shape the living environment of tomorrow, addressing our global human and environmental challenges. The learning experience is purposeful, exciting and routed into the future.
Fees and funding
| Status | Fee |
|---|---|
| Scotland | Paid by SAAS |
| England / Wales / N Ireland / Rep of Ireland | £9,535 |
| International | £19,456 |
- Status: Your residency status is usually defined as the country where you have been ordinarily resident for the three years before the start of your course.
- International: 'International' includes applicants from European Union countries who do not hold Pre-Settled or Settled status in UK. (This does not include students from the Republic of Ireland - see above).
Scholarships and bursaries
Bursaries for students from England, Northern Ireland or Wales
In addition to government loans and grants towards the costs of fees and living costs, we are offering generous financial support to attract and support eligible undergraduate students from England, Northern Ireland or Wales:
- Heriot-Watt University Bursary (up to £3,100 per year)
Entry requirements
We have standard entry requirements for all of our courses that you will have to meet.
Year 1
Standard entry requirements
- Highers BBBB (over two sittings)
- A-Levels BCC - BBB
- International Baccalaureate 29 points
- BTEC Extended Diploma DMM
- HNC C in graded unit
- HND CC in graded units
- Please check that you meet our University-wide National 5/GCSE (or equivalent) English and Maths requirements.
- This programme requires all applicants to submit a Digital Portfolio. Please see "Additional Information" for further details.
Minimum entry requirements *
- Highers BBBC (over two sittings)
- A-Levels BCC
- International Baccalaureate 29 points
- BTEC Extended Diploma DMM
- HNC C in graded unit
- HND CC in graded units
* Minimum: under our Fair Access Policy, we will relax our standard entry requirements for some Scottish and Rest of UK status students depending on their circumstances. Our minimum requirements will apply if you:
- live in an area within the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation lowest 20% (SIMD20) or POLAR4 Quintile 1 regions (RUK)
- or are care experienced.
We can also make exceptions for some Scottish students with grades above minimum but below standard. Read more about our Minimum and standard entry requirements.
Year 2
- Advanced Highers BB (plus BBBB at Higher)
- A-Levels ABB
- International Baccalaureate 30 points.
- BTEC Extended Diploma DMM in a relevant subject
- HNC B in graded unit with 120 SCQF credit points in a relevant subject
- HND BB in graded units in a relevant subject
- This programme requires all applicants to submit a Digital Portfolio. Please see "Additional Information" for further details.
Year 3
- HND BB in graded units in a relevant subject. E.g. 3D Design or Interior Design.
- This programme requires all applicants to submit a Digital Portfolio. Please see "Additional Information" for further details
Additional information
- For all years, applications are welcomed from holders of non-school qualifications, mature candidates and overseas students.
- If you do not see your qualifications here please contact us at studywithus@hw.ac.uk
- For applicants studying HNC, HND or BTEC qualifications, when submitting your application please ensure you list in full all the units you are currently studying, as specific units may be required.
The digital portfolio
Selection is by application and submission of a portfolio, which will demonstrate your aptitude to textiles through use of colour, texture, rhythmic pattern-making and a logical design process. The ability to produce observational work in the form of both controlled and gestural drawing, painting and relief work should also be shown.
Applicants are invited to submit a digital portfolio by Friday 21 February 2025. Late submissions may be accepted, please contact portfolios@hw.ac.uk for more information. If upon review of a portfolio it is deemed appropriate we will contact an applicant for interview.
Online portfolio feedback sessions with an academic will be offered following your submission.
What to include in your digital portfolio
Your application must include a portfolio of 10 to 15 carefully curated pages in PDF format. Please ensure that the images used in your submission are high resolution and of good quality. These images should include examples of past work and must include evidence of the following:
Research and investigation
To show the level of your engagement in visual investigation and research and how well you apply and integrate it within a design project. This could be through the medium of notetaking, sketches, photographs, painting, collages and so on.
Design development
To show your ability to explore and develop ideas in a creative and critical way; and your level of skill and ability in the use of different visual methods and techniques to express development. We want you to show a strong evolution of your work and ideas.
Visual communication and presentation
To clearly communicate and visually express a few of your most successful design projects from start to finish in a professional way.
English language requirements
If your first language is not English, we'll need to see evidence of your English language ability.
The minimum English language requirement for entry to this programme is IELTS 6.0 (or equivalent) with no score lower than 5.5.
If you do not have IELTS 6.0, we offer a range of English language courses to help you meet the English language requirement for this programme prior to commencing your studies.
Please see our detailed English language requirements.
Why Heriot-Watt
We're the top university in Scotland for graduate outcomes which means that more of our graduates are employed or in postgraduate education than any other institution in the country and we ranked 5th in the UK.
We're also rated number one in the UK for CEO or MD roles, meaning more of our graduates go on to become CEOs or MDs than any other university in the whole of the UK. On top of that, we have beautiful campuses, across the globe, so you'll get a truly international education. Our Edinburgh Campus is home to Oriam, Scotland's National Sports Performance Centre combined with plenty of wellbeing resources, prioritising fitness and mental health for all students. Our Global Research Institutes look at solving real world issues such as climate change and saving our oceans as well as working on the next medical technological breakthrough and the future of AI and robots.
Student life
Explore facilities, and chat to staff and students
Discover Uni course data
Discover Uni provides data on each university's degree courses across a range of measures including student satisfaction, graduate jobs and salaries.