Ravensbourne College

of Design and Communication

PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
FOR THE

BA (HONS) INTERIOR DESIGN ENVIRONMENT ARCHITECTURES

Enrolment from September 2001

Validated by the University of Sussex
 CONTENTS

OVERALL AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME........................................................3

PROGRAMME OUTCOMES.............................................................................5

Knowledge and Understanding.............................................................5

Intellectual Skills.....................................................................................6

Professional/Practical Skills..................................................................7

Personal Transferable Skills..................................................................8

PRINCIPLES OF DELIVERY............................................................................9

PROGRAMME STRUCTURES, UNITS, CREDITS AND AWARDS...............11

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Programme Specification
OVERALL AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME

The BA (Hons) Interior Design Environment Architectures programme aims to

provide graduates with the necessary skills and knowledge to work in the design and
related industries as skilled producers of and interventionists in the built environment.

Employment opportunites for graduates can be found in design consultancies,

architectural practices, in-house design teams or self employment, covering a range of
projects from architecture, office interiors and systems to virtual environments for the
entertainment industry. Related careers include, design management and planning,
forecasting and future studies, academic and theoretical design studies, and computer
modelmaking and animation.

Specifically the course aims to develop and equip these graduates with the necessary
interest in and knowledge in three primary areas of study:

Firstly the existing built environment. Design and intervention in this area is
concerned with the re-habilitation of existing spaces. This demands from the students
an explicit knowledge of historical and cultural contexts and building technologies,
along with a creative sense of how spaces can be reinterpreted and developed to suit
new patterns of use, behaviour and technologies.

The second primary area of study is the creation of new build environments,
including, public, retail, office, entertainment, and production space. Here students
must draw on a knowledge and appreciation of architectural language and style and
both historical and new, at the same time exploiting the potential offered by new
technologies available for construction, control and maintenance of buildings.

The third main area of activity is the design of environments for representation,
exhibitions, theatre, film and television, and the exploitation of new digital
technologies to create virtual environments for the entertainment and communication
industries. Such virtual spaces are studied and created both in their own right and as
products for investigation and exploration.

The programme is concerned not only with existing and new human habitation in the
critical present but also with the understanding of developing contexts.
The exploration of the potential offered by digital technology, and the new thinking
that is created by an appreciation of this potential and application is central to the aim
of this course. The digital context allows for the development of new ways of thinking
about form and structure, for the generation of new structures and the means by which
these are used and accessed. Such new structures may be physical or increasingly they
may remain as virtual artefacts and be used as such, combining architectural and
information structures. In the future such architectural and information structures may
well form the basis of the physical environment as well, with the offer of a seamless
transition between the physical and the virtual.

The programme structure is woven in with those of two other programmes at

Ravesnbourne; Product and Furniture Design and Computer Visualisation And
Animation, giving the student immediate access to the attitudes and skills in a number
of related areas. Further the programme philosophy is to encourage students to see

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Programme Specification
beyond specific labels and to develop a learning experience tailored to their individual
aims and intentions. In addition students are expected to seek out opportunites to work
with students studying other discipline areas in design and broadcasting at
Ravensbourne and the course contains both formal and informal structures where such
collaborations can exist.

The course aims to enable graduates to move into employment, or higher studies, and
to maintain and develop their professional practice in different career modes. Strong
emphasis is placed on the acquisition and development of skills relating to the use
and application of digital technology and the maintance of these skills in a rapidly
developing technological and employment environment.

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PROGRAMME OUTCOMES

Knowledge and Understanding

The realms of knowledge and understanding encapsulated within the programme can
be defined as falling within five main realms of knowledge; the creative, the human,
the technological and the social and business. Students are encouraged to see these
realms of knowledge as overlapping and complementary to each other.

The students are encouraged to these realms as a series of systems of knowledge and
information that impact on the way they work as designers and on the spaces and
artefacts they are creating. It is the specific acquisition of understanding about the
nature of these systems and the subsequent articulation of this understanding through
project work that forms the basis for the course.

The creative realm relates to that area of knowledge that enables the student to
understand the nature of creative activity and process through which creativity forms
the design process.
The human realm covers areas such as ergonomic and usability issues and is
specifically related to the study of the human form and its abilities.
The technological realm covers the technologies that will impact on the creation of
architecture, spaces and artefacts, from manufacturing processes to materials to the
technologies needed to make architecture function. This realm also includes those
technologies, particularly those of a digital nature that impact on the performance of
the designer.
The fourth realm, the social, covers a wide range of issues and systems that are often
subjective in their application, such and social, political, environmental, historical and
cultural issues, but which have an strong but often invisible influence on the outcome
of design activities.
The business realm covers both the nature of the creative industries in which students
will find employment and the nature of business that is involved in the origination,
construction, and use of architecture.

In addition to the systems outlined in the realms above, the architecture and spaces
that are created by project work within the programme are also to be seen and
articulated within systems of their own and it is the appreciation and exploitation of
this knowledge that creates creative and innovative outcomes to design activities.

The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate

knowledge and understanding of:

1. The design process in general and specifically in the built environment

disciplines
2. The cultural and historical contexts for the production of environments.
3. Spatial sequence and hierarchy, structure, materials and construction.
4. Systematic proportional and volumetric three dimensional precedent..
5. Computation in architecture and its application.
6. The analysis of function.
7. The nature of three dimensional form and the processes that determine and
govern the development and creation of form.

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 8. The nature of space and form and the representation of these in two and three
dimensions.
9. The nature of materials and processes used in the creation of artefacts.
10. Technology and manufacturing processes and the relationship of these to the
design process and resulting artefacts.
11. The nature of human form, thought processes, its needs and responses in given
situations. More specifically relating to the usability of designed artefacts.
12. The creative potential of digital technologies.
13. How creative professional practice is located within historical, social and
cultural contexts.
14. Of the nature of change in the technological, business and social realms.
15. Of key business processes necessary to underpin graduate employment in the
creative industries.

Intellectual Skills

The intellectual skills developed through the programme are those that enable the
students to exploit their own creative potential. Principally the intellectual skills that
students need to develop are those that enable them to ‘see’ the nature of the issues
involved in the work they are undertaking, ‘resolve’ those issues and ‘articulate’ the
results of that resolution. At the end of this process the student should be able to
‘reflect’ on their performance and feed the results of this refection back into the
learning and creative process.

These intellectual skills can also be divided into those that are related to the nature of
the educational experience and the quality of learning and those that relate to the
nature of the discipline. Students are encouraged to acquire a range of learning skills
that will enable them to get the best results from their course of study.

The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate

Intellectual skills in the following areas:

The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate their
ability to;

1. Be analytical, reflective and articulate,

2. Analyse, interpret and synthesise the nature of the issues being addressed and
present this in an informative and productive manner.
3. Analyse and simulate materials and constructions within a scaled two and
three dimensional and virtual environment.
4. Work within a design process and to contribute to this.
5. Solve problems and issues in the generation of their work.
6. Analyse and interpret the nature of forms and space and their depiction and
construction in two and three dimensional media and digital form.
7. Demonstrate independence and creative and critical thinking.
8. Delineate the similarities and differences between the interrelated disciplines
of three dimensional design, and form an understanding of their interaction.
9. Form a personal creative critique
10. Critique cultural and contextual propositions
11. Think creatively whilst still satisfying the needs of the project.

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Programme Specification
Professional/Practical Skills

The programme seeks to develop for each student a range of skills that are related to
the aims and intentions of that student. There is a basic range of skills necessary for
the successful demonstration of creative thinking, professionalism, critical thinking,
communication, ability, and attitude. Additionally there are is a wider range of skills
that students will find useful in pursuit of their studies and their professional lives on
graduation. Many of these are more specific within the discipline and reflect the
intentions of the individual student. For the programme there is often an overlap
between those skills seen as practical and those seen as intellectual, students are
encouraged to ‘think while doing’ and ‘do while thinking’.
Of particular and increasing importance are those skills that are based in, or
influenced by, the use and application of digital technology. This technology impacts
on the work of the student in three main ways; one, the tools used in the production of
the work are increasingly digital, second, many of the projects the students will
contribute to either at college or later professionally will be influenced by
developments in the nature and application of digital technology, and third, such
technology is having an impact on societies, and these societies in turn form the
context in which the work of the designer takes place.
The ability to work in teams or groups and the development of self awareness and
management capabilities in such situations is seen to be of fundamental importance.
Throughout the programme students are expected to learn and develop skills in
working with others in teams or groups, sometimes informal or more often formal, at
various levels of activity, whether related to project work, skill acquisition or learning
support.

The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate their
ability to;

1. Select and interpret information from a variety of sources.

2. Understand the main materials, manufacturing and building processes used in
the construction of architectural spaces and other spatial artefacts.
3. Research and experiment with new materials and technologies.
4. Interpret and analyse three dimensional form and materials and to simulate and
interpret these through the use of a range of two and three dimensional media.
5. The creative use of digital technologies.
6. The ability to set up and use computer hardware and a range of differing input
and output devices.
7. The ability to demonstrate effective use of a variety of software programmes,
for both two and three dimensional design and animation.
8. To be reasonably knowledgeable in at least one major platform and software
package and have a working knowledge of others in common usage.
9. Communicate ideas, concepts, thinking, creativity, and project outcomes.
10. The ability to generate scheduled solutions in relation to legislation and
regulatory imperatives.
11. The ability to work in a team or group and to have some knowledge of the
dynamics of such activities, their own potential and the management of teams
and groups.

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 12. Understand the commercial constraints acting on design process and refine
their own processes to accommodate these.
13. The ability to generate particular solutions in response to defined need.
14. The ability to generate creative work in response to the needs of a project
within a time framework.
15. Understanding of the context of work in the creative industries
16. Understanding of the nature of the business and commercial worlds.
17. Practical experience of the world of work.

Personal Transferable Skills

The area of study encompassed by this programme demands that students develop a
wide range of skills that relate directly to their potential development as designers.
Such skills, creative thinking, analytical ability, understanding of systems and
interrelationships, problem identification and solving, project and time management,
team and group working and management are applicable and useful in a wide range of
situations and professions. Throughout the programme there are opportunities for
students to identify and enhance these skills and to appreciate that they are learning
such skills and that they have a value in all areas of their lives and will be useful
throughout their working lives.
The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate
personal and transferable skills in the following areas:

1. self-management, and project-management in unclear or changing

circumstances,
2. plan and manage personal development,
3. be constructively self critical and able to transfer techniques and solutions,
4. work effectively and collaboratively within a team and across discipline
boundaries,
5. communication of ideas and intentions with effect either visually, orally or
using written material.
6. select and use appropriate resources in the solution of a particular problem or
issue.
7. assess and interpret the relevance and importance of the ideas of others.
8. apply literacy, numeracy and IT Skills to creative professional practice.

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Programme Specification
PRINCIPLES OF DELIVERY

The aims of the programme outlined above demand that the student becomes
independent and knowledgeable on graduation, that they have a range of skills and the
ability to apply these in any number of situations. The structure of the course is
designed to give the student good opportunities for developing such skills.
The programme activities take place within a college wide learning framework, the
emphasis of study at Ravensbourne is the acquisition of learning skills by students,
these are seen to be of importance not only in the educational environment but also
beyond into professional life, enabling the student to continue to learn and acquire
skills and knowledge. In an age that is seeing an increasingly rapid degree of change
such flexibility will be vital.
Although there are many areas in the programme that encourage independent learning
this is never seen as unsupported, and students at all levels of the course have access
to tutorial support on a regular basis.

Computer and IT skills and knowledge are built up in two ways, firstly a number of
introductory units that lay out a basic framework of use and skill and then by paced
acquisition of more specific skills throughout the course, This is designed to enable
students to acquire such skills at their own pace and inline with their project work.
Many of the programmes used in this subject area are complicated and require intense
study, Students can choose to either acquire such skills relatively quickly or spread
such activities across the three years of the programme. Learning in this area is
through graded formal workshops and through student learning teams, working at a
similar pace, who support and encourage through the mutual sharing of problems and
skills.

In level one of the programme skills and attitudes formed here will form the basis for
the students progress through the rest of the programme. A considerable proportion of
the learning at level 1 is structured into formal teaching situations.
This level takes the students through a range of units designed to increase basic skill
levels and begin the process of building a critical and practical understanding of the
discipline. Students are required to work through specific bodies of knowledge;
historical and contextual, technological, communication and representation, and
business, with the intention of giving them a thorough grounding from which to build
personal skills in interpretation, critical and creative thinking, research and
investigation, communication and presentation, and team and group working.
Acquisition of such skills is through set coursework and participation in a studio
environment that includes at various stages, lectures, group seminars, and small group
tutorials, supplemented when required by individual tutorials. There is an emphasis on
group discussion and mutual learning. Acquisition of practical skills, whether
workshop, computer or studio based is through participation in staged workshops
some of which are compulsory others are by selection based on the individual
intentions of students. Workshops are supplemented by lectures, and technical
demonstrations. At the same time students are expected and encouraged to be
proactive in the independent acquisition of skills and to using independent learning
material and the opportunities provided to form mutual learning groups.

In level two most programme activities take place in either team or group work
situations building on some of the skills acquired in level one. Students are required to

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take increasing responsibility for their learning and decision making. Much emphasis
in the project work is on the understanding the commercial and social world in which
the designer’s work takes place. Most of the projects are collaborative with outside
agencies, and demand that the students engage in a communication with a wide range
of groups.

Level three provides opportunities for student to demonstrate the range of skills and
abilities they have built up through previous levels, the focus is on the student to fulfil
individual aims and intentions, and many of the projects are negotiated and part
written by the student. Students take responsibility for their learning supported by a
team of other students and personal tutors. Much of the teaching at this level takes
place in the form of conversations between tutors and small groups of students and
focuses mainly on the issues and ideas arising from their work. The ability to make
informed decisions is seen as a vital skill and students are encouraged and offered
support to make their own decisions about the quality and destination of their work.

Personal and transferable skills are acquired and developed principally through
participation in coursework and the studio environment. Students carry out regular
audits of their performance in unit work and these highlight and encourage the
acquisition of personal skills. Through audit activities students can assess their rate of
progress and take responsibility for their own pace of learning.

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Programme Specification
PROGRAMME STRUCTURES, UNITS, CREDITS AND AWARDS
The programme is divided into three levels of learning each containing a number of
units of learning with attached credit values. The credit values of a unit relate to the
minimal learning time needed to complete the work for that unit. Each credit is
equivalent to 10 learning hours. Taught hours within units vary, dependent on the
nature of the activity being undertaken and the level of study. Units have credit values
of either 5, 10, 15 or 20 credits. Students need to study for 120 credits per level,
needing 360 in total for the award of the degree.
The college handbook describes in more detail the relationship between units, credits,
and assessment of the final award, including the contribution of level 2 units as a
proportion of the final award.

The units forming the structure of the programme each contain a project, or in some
cases a number of projects, these define the work to be completed to fulfil the
required learning outcomes. Students will see the programme as a series of projects.
Each project while fulfilling the specific unit outcomes will encompass a range of
programme outcomes from the four categories defined above; Knowledge and
understanding, Intellectual skills, Professional/practical skills and Personal
transferable skills.

Level 1 of the course contains 13 units, level 2; 11 units, Level 3; 9 units

The following outlines show the units offered at each level of the course, the pacing
of the course is important and the outlines show the relative positions of units within a
level by term but are not to be seen as an exact timetable. The outlines are followed
by detailed descriptions of each of the units offered at each level.

STUDENT PROFILE

We positively welcome applications from those who may not possess formal entry
qualifications, mature students, those with work experience or with qualifications
other than those listed.

Where appropriate the College’s procedures for Accreditation of Prior (or

Experiential) Learning (AP(E)L) will be used to assess applicants at interview. The
key criterion for entry is evidence of commitment and motivation to study in the
subject area.

Relevant academic qualifications might include:

We are looking for students who can express, both through their portfolio and
interview, that they have a strong interest in studying three dimensional design. In
addition to the normal entry requirements we would expect to see strong evidence of
practical work in this area, along with visual and verbal communication skills.
Evidence of drawing skills and the manipulation and exploitation of three dimensional
materials and processes in fundamental. We are looking for highly motivated students
who are capable of being independent and rigorous in pursuit of their studies.

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Programme Specification
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

1 Foundation in Art and Design, Edexcel ND of GNVQ Advanced in a relevant

subject + 1 A level +
5 GCSEs, English essential

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Programme Specification
Programme structures, units, credits and awards

Code UNIT CREDIT LEVEL

IDA 102 Communication and Representation 01 10 1
IDA 112 Design Culture 01 10 1
IDA 104 Specialist Study 01 15 1
IDA 108 Computer Technologies 5 1
IDA 105 Communication and Representation 02 10 1
IDA 109 Design Culture 02 10 1
IDA 107 Specialist Study 02 15 1
IDA 106 Computation 01 5 1
IDA 111 Precedent Study 5 1
IDA 110 Elective 01 10 1
IDA 115 Specialist Study 03 15 1
IDA 114 Professional Studies 5 1
IDA 113 Computation 02 5 1
120
IDA 201 Urban Environments 20 2
IDA 203 Elective 02 10 2
IDA 204 Design Culture 03 5 2
IDA 205 Computation 03 5 2
IDA 207 Market Factors 20 2
IDA 208 Elective 03 10 2
IDA 206 Professional Studies 02 10 2
Managing Change in the Creative
Industries
IDA 209 Specialist Study 04 20 2
IDA 211 Elective 04 10 2
IDA 210 Research Preparation 5 2
IDA 202 Professional Studies 03 5 2
120
IDA 302 Advanced Research 02 20 3
IDA 303 Negotiated Brief 15 3
IDA 301 Vocational Case Study 5 3
IDA 304 Major Project 01 20 3
IDA 305 Focus 03 10 3
IDA 306 Professional Studies 04 10 3
IDA 307 Major Project 02 20 3
IDA 308 Focus 04 10 3
IDA 309 Major Project Report 10 3
120
360

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Programme Specification