Farrelly, Lorraine

Mesher, Lynne

Mitchell, Belinda

Wallbridge, Tina

Portsmouth University Research Portal (Pure)

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INAUGURAL INTERIOR EDUCATORS CONFERENCE 2011 
,17(5,25)8785(6¶  
Northumbria University, School of Design, 3 - 4 March 2011 
 
T H E µ35$&7,&(¶ O F IN T E RI O R E DU C A T I O N 
 
ABSTRACT  
The interior courses at the Portsmouth School of Architecture have been developing 
approaches to teaching and learning which have involved using live projects as a way to 
engage students with interior design. These projects have become a key part of the 
courses at both undergraduate and post graduate level of study. The design briefs have 
encouraged a collaborative approach to design and also ensured that students start to 
engage with real problems for design projects. The collaboration is happening between 
undergraduates and Masters students, and across Architecture and Interior Design 
courses. Real problem solving includes; understanding the clients needs, developing a 
brieI DQG µUHDGLQJ¶ D VLWH, also understanding how to initiate a response to a given 
context. At Masters level, the students have the possibility to respond to the problem in 
pragmatic and abstract ways. The µlive¶ project also has unpredictable challenges and 
opportunities and as a teaching tool offers possibilities for students to learn about 
important aspects of communication and also the notion of project management, dealing 
with a problem and responding to a set of sometimes emerging conditions.   
 
$ µOLYH¶ SURMHFW EULQJV FHUWDLQ FKDOOHQJHV WR D WHDFKLQJ SURJUDPPH LQ SDUWLFXODU WKH
WLPLQJ RI DVVHVVPHQW DQG WKH SURMHFW¶V VFKHGXOH $OVR HQVXULQJ WKDW WKH Clients 
expectations of the project are clear from the start. From the outset, there needs to be 
some flexibility to ensure that the students experience can be reactive, whilst also giving 
them the excitement of a real project with a range of unpredictable conditions and 
possibilities . 
 
 
 
L Far relly 1 L . M esher 2 T . Wallbridge3  B . M itchell 4 
1,2,3,4University of Portsmouth, School of Architecture 
Keywords: Interior Education, Studio Culture, Interior/creative Practice, Collaboration 
 
1 CONTEXT OF THE LIVE PROJECT 
 
One of the approaches at Portsmouth to teaching, learning and research is to connect the 
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to provide our students with an experience which is interdisciplinary, allowing them to 
work within the design studio on a project brief informed by a range of other 
professional skills. The live design project relates and connects to a range of teaching 
experiences internationally. In the US Rural Studio,part of Auburn University since 
1993, have been working with the community; building homes for the local community. 
In the UK the AA have worked on a range of live projects, some as installation pieces as 
part of the end of year exhibition in Bedford square. As students are becoming more 
interested in the application of skills, this is an aspect of education that is developing its 
own momentum. There is a Live Projects event at Queens University 25th March 2011 
,QWHULRU)XWXUHVµ 2 
as part of a collaboration with CEBE to discuss the practice of the Live Project within 
the University context. Many Schools of Architecture have created offices to facilitate 
the delivery and management of these projects. At London Metropolitan there is the 
ASD Projects office and at Sheffield University the BDR Bureau of Design and 
Research. 
 
This approach has been applied to both Undergraduate and the new Masters course in 
interior design. The School of Architecture opened a Project Office in late 2008 which 
has facilitated the delivery of maQ\ VXFK µOLYH¶ SURMHFWV ,W LV D FKDUWHUHG DUFKLWHFW¶s 
practice, but allows our students and staff to work on projects with real clients. Acting 
as the interface between the staff students and client, facilitating delivery and 
management of projects. The important issue for any project run within the project 
office is that it has a strong connection for our students understanding of the practice of 
both architecture and interior design. 
 
2 THE LIVE PROJECT AT UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL 
The UROHRIµ/LYH3URMHFWV¶ZLWKLQWKH,QWHULRU'HVLJQFXUULFXOXPWKURXJKRXWWKHVHFRQG
and third year undergraduate program at the University of Portsmouth is an emerging 
characteristic of the course. These projects range from product to interior scale and 
explore the relationship between design education and creative practice, whilst 
providing an environment for experiential learning through the simulation of a real 
design situation1. These projects often encapsulate contentious, local issues dealing with 
both social and ethical debate. Some of our more recent projects include µUH-imagining 
WKH &KXUFK¶ with Portsmouth Diocese, which examines the changing use of church 
EXLOGLQJVZLWKGLPLQLVKLQJFRQJUHJDWLRQV WKH µUHJHQHUDWLRQRI+LOVHD/LGR¶, which in 
its day was a focus of local leisure activity and has been greatly affected by its changing 
urban landscape and lack of funding, and the µ,VOHRI:LJKW=RR%LJ&DW6DQFWXDU\¶, 
which sits inside the walls of a Napoleonic Fort on the coast of Sandown and is 
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HQWHUWDLQPHQW¶,QDOOFDVHVWKHVHSURMHFWVDUHFROODERUDWLRQVZLWK$UFKLWHFWXUH'LSORPD
students, the School of Architecture Project Office, and with considerable input from 
the Client.  
Through discussion around the exemplar case study of the Isle of Wight Zoo, a project 
run as the opening design project for the third year Interior design students and Diploma 
GHVLJQSURMHFWWKHµOLYHSURMHFW¶DFWVDVDGHYLFHIRUDFROODERUDWLYHcross-disciplinary 
approach to practice whilst enriching the educational experience in a vocational subject. 
The Interior Design students have concentrated on the regeneration of an existing 
fortification, which encapsulates the zoo within its boundary whilst the Diploma Studio 
focussed on WKH µ0DVWHUSODQ¶ DW XUEDQ VFDOH including animal enclosures and a new 
visitor centre, with Diploma students mentoring third years and participating in 
workshops and design charrettes LQWHQVLYHµLGHDV¶GD\V. Through the project, students 
investigate philosophical approaches to conservation through examining key theoretical 
WH[WV VXFK DV µ2Q $OWHULQJ $UFKLWHFWXUH¶ by Fred Scott and case studies such as the 
Castellvecchio Museum by Carlo Scarpa, as well as a lecture from a historical 
                                                          
1 Kvan, T. & Yunyan, J. (2005), 6WXGHQWV¶ OHDUQLQJ VW\OHV DQG WKHLU FRUUHODWLRQ ZLWK SHUIRUPDQFH LQ
architectural design studio, Design  Studies  26,  Elsevier Ltd  P.  19-­34.  
,QWHULRU)XWXUHVµ 3 
conservation specialist2; the relationship between the fort and its surrounding 
community as well as its proximity to the sea in an area ripe for regeneration with the 
zoo at its core.  
 
The project opened with a series of workshops, which explored conceptual processes 
and their relationship to site, alongside students carrying out research to support their 
learning. The Isle of Wight Zoo project was not confined to just the usual collaborators, 
but also included working with Eccleston George, a collaborative Artist¶V Practice that 
combines Zoology with interdisciplinary Arts and has direct experience of constructing 
habitats at the zoo. Within the first workshop, Nigel George, of Eccleston George, 
alongside artist and basket maker, Tim Johnson, gave a talk about their interest in the 
FRQVWUXFWLRQ RI QDWXUDO KDELWDWV SDUWLFXODUO\ ELUGV¶ QHVWV DQG LQVHFW KLYHV LQ WKH ZLOG
followed by enabling direct student experience with form-making using willow and 
SODVWHU DOORZLQJ H[SHULPHQWDWLRQ DQG µSOD\¶with three dimensional form, as well as 
engaging students in appropriate investigation through arts practice3. This process of 
making and having hands-on experience with these materials enabled students to 
quickly engage with considering animal behaviour, habitats and the role these might 
take in conceptualising the re-design of a zoo. The second workshop examined 
µXQGHUVWDQGLQJ FRQWH[W¶ DQG FKDOOHQJHG WKH FRQFHSW RI VLWH DQDO\VLV DV D NLQG RI
µJHRJUDSK\KRPHZRUN¶, isolated from design thinking, but rather proposed that not only 
matters of site location, scale and environment needed to be researched but also material 
TXDOLW\ RI HQYLURQPHQW VHQVRU\ DQG DUWLVWLF H[DPLQDWLRQ RI µSODFH¶ DORQJVLGH WKH
development of a cultural narrative to describe the history and cultural context of both 
fort and zoo. 
 
A site visit followed, where students met with the client and were able to question the 
intentions of the brief. This meeting enabled students to gain a greater understanding of 
WKH=RR¶VHWKRVDQGWRH[SORUHWKH ethical merits of the existence of a zoo. The visit was 
an opportunity to investigate the building and its context, and to develop a sensory 
UHVSRQVH WKURXJK D µZDONLQJ ERRN¶4. The synthesis of research, site investigation and 
conceptual experimentation were brought together in a critique in order to consolidate 
thinking before beginning the design process. 
 
The design process itself began with a charrette, where students worked in groups to 
discuss design ideas and produce a series of drawings that could become solid 
proposals. The end of the charrette marked the beginning of an intensive period of 
design where studio sessions moved from playful to professional and Interior Design 
students worked alongside Diploma students on development drawings from site 
through to detail, building up to the final review. The final review was displayed as an 
exhibition with the Client and Eccleston George invited to participate and comment. 
The students reviewed one another, giving written feedback and individually plotting 
their strengths and weaknesses around the specified requirements of the project brief. 
                                                          
2 Chalmers, L. & Close, S. (2007) But is it Interior Design? Considering the intervention of theory in Interior 
design education. In: Proceedings of conference Thinking Inside the Box, Interiors Forum Scotland   
 
3 Dwyer, J.  (2007), Across/Between: Art into Design. In: Proceedings of conference Thinking Inside the Box, 
Interiors Forum Scotland  
4 A reflective journal, which records the sensory experience and narrative of a place through drawing, 
collecting artefacts and photographic record. 
,QWHULRU)XWXUHVµ 4 
 
Following the final review, a third workshop was held which allowed an investigation 
of presentation techniques, drawing into CAD generated images and experimenting with 
artistic materials and techniques alongside a photography and model-making workshop. 
 
Interestingly, the work of the Interior Design student and the diploma students 
overlapped considerably with interior students suggesting architectural interventions 
and diploma students considering the existing interior spaces in the fort. The pedagogic 
approach to cross-disciplinary working enabled exciting crossovers to occur, but was 
transparent in identifying students strengths based on their educational background5.  
 
The outcome of the whole SURMHFWLVWRH[SORUHDQGGHPRQVWUDWHWKH]RR¶VSRWHQWLDODVD
way of scoping for funding, in order to implement a new design scheme to enhance both 
the experience of the visitor, the Centre as a place of research excellence and an 
outstanding education facility, providing a platform for students to experience first 
hand, the intricacies of design development and the relationship to its stakeholders. This 
will be done through the collaboration of both Interior Design and Diploma students to 
consolidate a cohesive design from the Clients preferred schemes and to present this in 
the form of an exhibition at both the School of Architecture and for an event at the Zoo, 
which will be viewed by the local community, the Local Authority, Press and general 
public to instigate discussion on the regeneration of Sandown with the Zoo at its core. 
 
 
3 THE LIVE PROJECT IN THE MASTERS COURSE 
 
The Live Project is also a developing feature of the new Masters course in Interior 
Design. This course is part of a suite of interconnected Masters in Urban design, 
Historic Building Conservation and Sustainable design that share units of study and 
require collaboration of students across all these courses. For our Masters collaborative 
project Mottisfont Abbey in Romsey was used as a case study.  
    
The brief was to explore the idea of practice through an investigation of a particular site.  
The cohort for this unit will be formed of interior designers, sustainable architects and 
historic building conservation students.  All three groups will be invited to exhibit their 
work in Mottisfont Abbey at the end of the teaching year, alongside students in Diploma 
in Architecture exploring narratives through the landscape. 
 
The Case 
Mottisfont Abbey comprises an early 13th century priory, on the banks of the River Test 
near to the Norman, Winchester to Salisbury Road, converted into a house in Tudor 
times and then further adopted and extended primarily in the 18th century but also in 
later centuries.  It includes a room painted by the celebrated painter Rex Whistler during 
the Second World War. It is listed as a Grade I building. The House sits in a designed 
park and garden. The stables block is listed Grade II, and there are many Grade II 
structures within the estate. 
 
                                                          
5 Lawson, G and Franz, J and Adkins, B (2005) Rhetoric of landscape architecture and interior design 
discourses: preparation for cross- disciplinary practice. IDEA Journal: pp. 41-49. 
,QWHULRU)XWXUHVµ 5 
Initially students were asked to survey and describe the context. This surveying exercise 
provided the Sustainable Masters students with a great opportunity to develop their 
surveying and CAD modelling skills, but mainly to collect the information needed to 
implement a future environmental study. In Semester 2 the output of this exercise would 
be used to develop a 3D model for assessing the visual and thermal properties of the 
building.   For Interior Masters students, the surveying exercise provided a chance to 
develop drawing and surveying skills and to investigate the different histories of 
0RWWLVIRQW7KLVDQDO\VLVLVSDUWRIWKHµVWULSSLQJEDFN¶SURFHVVDVGHILQHG by Fred Scott 
in, µ2Q$OWHULQJ$UFKLWHFWXUH¶.  The information will be used in semester two to inform 
and develop design proposals for the site. 
The material produced in this unit will form the background to design 
interventions/proposals and an environmental study in semester 2.  It should evidence 
visual analysis, a bibliography, and reflection on findings across the site.  In addition, 
students will produce an illustrated essay: this document critically examines an aspect of 
the building or method of practice to investigate in more depth as a visual essay.  
 
The National Trust is currently in the process of reinventing the site of Mottisfont 
Abbey through building on its heritage.  Their vision is: 
 
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a 1000 year old estaWH¶ 
 
The arts programme aims to increase the profile of Mottisfont in the Test Valley, to 
contribute to the contemporary arts, and to develop new audiences.  The project aims to 
build on existing works within Mottisfont, the Derek Hill Collection, The Whistler 
5RRPDQG0DXGH5XVVHOO¶VFRQWULEXWLRQWRWKHVLWH7KHQHZGHYHORSPHQWZLOODOORZ
for amateur artists and contemporary practitioners to exhibit on the site.  It will 
rationalise the existing buildings and provide new visitor facilities, studios for artists, 
and engage with new and diverse partnerships.  The new arts programme will provide 
residencies and site specific commissions, indoor and outdoor exhibitions, installations 
and events, workshops and seminars, artists networking and CPD, and projects with 
schools and higher education. 
 
The Project 
Based on the aspirations of the National Trust the site of Mottisfont is used for 
investigations to re-invent the site.  To work at an range of scales, to look at the overall 
arrangement of the estate, or look at the sustainability of the site, either as a whole, or 
through thermal or lighting analysis of the building. Also, there is a possibility to 
propose design interventions into the site, temporary exhibitions or more permanent 
interventions. These could be small scale or large scale reconfigurations of the building. 
 
Students who have worked on Mottisfont will present their work to the group; these 
readings of the building will form the basis of a site analysis.  Through discussion and 
tutorials they are asked to respond to the given papers and to develop a brief to explore a 
space or spaces.   The chosen site could be a gallery, shop, urban space or room. The 
intervention could be small, on the top of a light switch, or it could be the design of a 
gallery, or to reconfigure the site. 
 
,QWHULRU)XWXUHVµ 6 
This paper, whilst placing the project in both its educational and physical context, has 
discussed the processes by which design projects integrate Studio teaching principles 
with practice at both postgraduate and undergraduate levels. This method challenges the 
OLIH F\FOH RI D µVWXGLR SURMHFW¶ and attempts to incorporate a range of teaching 
PHWKRGRORJLHV LQFOXGLQJ µWKH VKRUW SURMHFW¶ RU µZRUNVKRS¶ whilst transferring 
knowledge between a wide range of participants. This teaching approach has many 
challenges, particularly the timing of the project and the goodwill of the Client. The 
benefits however, are clear for the staff and the students. The relationships with the 
Client are developing and we intend to build on these connections as the courses 
develop within the School. 
 
 
3.1.1.1 R E F E R E N C ES 
[1] Scott, F . µOn altering Architecture¶Routledge. 2008. ISBN 0-203-59059-7 
 
3.1.1.2      Web-links 
[1] www.cadc.auburn.edu/rural-studio/ 
[2] www.londonmet.ac.uk/architecture/faculty/asd-projects/ 
[3] www.bdr.group.shef.ac.uk 
[4]    Portsmouth Project office 
         www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/architecture/projectoffice/ 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
,QWHULRU)XWXUHVµ 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Image: Eccleston George mould making demonstration 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Image: Student workshop- working with willow and paper mache moulds 
 
 
 
 
 
 
,QWHULRU)XWXUHVµ 8 
 
Image: Zoo facade design by Rebecca Skeels 
 
 
 
 
 
Image: Fort interior design by Karolina Skowronska 
 


The practice of interior education

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The practice of interior education

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