The Interior Design Program provides four years of full-time study (September - April), to students wishing to pursue a professional career related to built environments.
The Program is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (formerly FIDER - the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research) at the first professional degree level. The Council for Interior Design Accreditation is an international agency whose mission is to "lead the interior design profession to excellence by setting standards and accrediting academic programs."
The program works closely with the professional design community and responds to the needs and advice of that community through the following aims:
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Provide an education that includes all facets of interior design with emphasis on experience and skills in theory, research, critical analysis, problem-solving, design concepts, working drawings and specifications, technology, presentation media techniques, professional business practices and procedures, and awareness of human needs in built environments
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Prepare students for work in interior design and/or architectural offices
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Provide a practical and theoretical knowledge base that conforms to the definition and practice of interior design as described by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) and as endorsed in the North American definition of an Interior Designer
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Provide design education, using specific reference to interior design, which will allow students to develop career readiness for an interdisciplinary design environment
The mission of the program is “educating leaders for the profession of interior design”. For more information you may view our department web site at: www.kwantlen.ca/applied-design.
Definition of Interior Design
Our program supports this definition (below) of interior design established by official interior design accrediting bodies:
Interior design is a multi-faceted profession in which creative and technical solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built interior environment. These solutions are functional, enhance the quality of life and culture of the occupants, and are aesthetically attractive. Designs are created in response to and coordinated with the building shell, and acknowledge the physical location and social context of the project. Designs must adhere to code and regulatory requirements, and encourage the principles of environmental sustainability. The interior design process follows a systematic and coordinated methodology, including research, analysis and integration of knowledge into the creative process, whereby the needs and resources of the client are satisfied to produce an interior space that fulfills the project goals.
Note
This definition is endorsed by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation, NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification), major interior design associations of North America, and professional design practitioners.
Interior design includes a scope of services performed by a professional design practitioner, qualified by means of education, experience and examination, to protect and enhance the life, health, safety and welfare of the public. These services may include any or all of the following tasks:
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Research and analysis of the client’s goals and requirements; and development of documents, drawings and diagrams that outline those needs
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Formulation of preliminary space plans and two and three dimensional design concept studies and sketches that integrate the client’s program needs and are based on knowledge of the principles of interior design and theories of human behavior
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Confirmation that preliminary space plans and design concepts are safe, functional, aesthetically appropriate, and meet all public health, safety and welfare requirements, including code, accessibility, environmental, and sustainability guidelines
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Selection of colours, materials and finishes to appropriately convey the design concept, and to meet socio-psychological, functional, maintenance, life-cycle performance, environmental, and safety requirements
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Selection and specification of furniture, fixtures, equipment and millwork, including layout drawings and detailed product description; and provision of contract documentation to facilitate pricing, procurement and installation of furniture
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Provision of project management services, including preparation of project budgets and schedules
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Preparation of construction documents, consisting of plans, elevations, details and specifications, to illustrate non-structural and/or non-seismic partition layouts; power and communications locations; reflected ceiling plans and lighting designs; materials and finishes; and furniture layouts
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Preparation of construction documents to adhere to regional building and fire codes, municipal codes, and any other jurisdictional statutes, regulations and guidelines applicable to the interior space
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Coordination and collaboration with other allied design professionals who may be retained to provide consulting services, including but not limited to architects; structural, mechanical and electrical engineers, and various specialty consultants
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Confirmation that construction documents for nonstructural and/or non-seismic construction are signed and sealed by the responsible interior designer, as applicable to jurisdictional requirements for filing with code enforcement officials
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Administration of contract documents, bids and negotiations as the client’s agent
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Observation and reporting on the implementation of projects while in progress and upon completion, as a representative of and on behalf of the client; and conducting post-occupancy evaluation reports
Graduates have the potential to work in commercial, residential, and architectural firms as designers where they may gain experience to work toward registration as professionals. With suitable experience, graduates may eventually develop their own firms. Other work is available in wholesale resource firms, with manufacturers’ agents, or in other design-related fields.
Many applicants are mature students who are making a career change while others are recent high school graduates. The most suitable candidates are those who have an awareness of three-dimensional design application and who are familiar with interior design as a professional practice (i.e. have done research about Interior Design). Accepted students will have high levels of social skill, such as teamwork and communication. They will have attended an information session at Kwantlen University College and will have demonstrated a clear enthusiasm for study in this field. Interior Design is a demanding profession and we work hard to simulate that environment in the classroom. By placing high expectations on the students in regard to the quantity and quality of assignments, we hope to prepare them for the challenges of the design profession. To be successful in the Interior Design Program, students must be committed to developing working skills and knowledge through self-motivated hard work. Interior designers often work under pressure to meet deadlines; students will find that multitasking and organizational skills are vital for keeping up with class work. Students need to be prepared to spend at least as much time (if not more) outside class as time spent in class.
A Language Proficiency Index (LPI) essay score of 30 (level 5) must be submitted with your application (Current grade 12 students must submit their LPI results on or before March 31). Applicants transferring from other applied design programs, and/ or other institutions, must also comply with LPI requirements and submit results to the Enrolment and Registrar Services office.
Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible after November 1.
Applicants should visit www.kwantlen.ca or www.kwantlen.ca/applied-design for detailed information about Interior Design. The information on these websites will assist applicants in their preparation.
Interview and Portfolio Review
Faculty interviewers will review the eligibility of candidates based on the contents of the portfolio and results of the interview (including prior learning assessments) at the conclusion of all interviews. Applicants who are not admitted into the program for September may still take the liberal education courses required by the program (e.g. ENGL 1100). They are required to re-apply to the program the following May.
Applicants must ensure Enrolment and Registrar Services has their current address. It is the candidate’s responsibility to contact Enrolment and Registrar Services if mailed communications are not received.
- Qualified applicants (i.e. have met Kwantlen’s admission requirements and LPI requirement) will receive an Interior Design questionnaire that must be submitted by a specified deadline.
- Qualified applicants will also receive an invitation to attend an Orientation. Interview sign-up will occur at the Orientation and will be limited to those applicants who have complied with the requirements above. Attendance at an orientation is essential in order to sign up for an interview and portfolio review.
- Portfolio reviews and personal interviews are conducted in small groups.
- Orientation:
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A comprehensive information session is held to explain the program, curriculum content, expectations of the students, and to answer questions.
- Interview:
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A small group of applicants and two or more interior design faculty meet for a group interview during which the applicants will display and discuss their portfolio. The faculty will make notes and assess the work of the applicant including course work from previous schools or work experiences.
- Orientation for Fall 2008 intake:
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First week of May - all applicants attend
Specific date to be confirmed with Enrolment and Registrar Services
- Portfolio Review and Personal Interviews for Fall 2007 intake:
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First week of May - by appointment for applicants from outside Greater Vancouver
Second week in May - all other applicants
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Alternative interview arrangements may be possible for students who live outside the Greater Vancouver region and who cannot attend an interview in person. It is, however, in the best interest of applicants to make every effort to attend the orientation and interview in person.
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Specific date to be confirmed with Enrolment and Registrar Services
The interior design program simulates a professional design environment. This “virtual design studio” offers integrated courses and curriculum, and emphasizes learning outcomes and employability skills throughout. These include: leadership skills, entrepreneurial skills, problem solving and creative thinking skills, teamwork, personal management, writing/oral/visual and interpersonal skills, reading and research skills, visual literacy, mathematical and technological skills, citizenship, and an ability to view issues through a global perspective.
The interior design curriculum is organized into streams, which are integrated within each year and over the four years of the program. Although the program is comprised of individual courses, the effect is more aptly described as a studio project, supported and surrounded by the necessary theory, practical experience and skills development.
The following are streams into which all courses are organized:
This is the heart of the curriculum. The studio is a place to define, search for and produce solutions to the problems of interior design through research and critical thinking. It is the place where experimentation - search and discovery - takes place. In the studio the learning process is learning by doing. Studio projects form a foundation of building blocks, which are expanded, elaborated upon, and reinforced throughout the four years of curriculum.
This stream enables the students to acquire technical skills, vocabulary, and a body of technical knowledge specific to the profession of Interior Design and built environments, which allows students to formulate, validate and communicate design intentions. Ultimately a design is intended to give or make form and become part of a built environment.
In this stream students will explore, discuss and acquire a critical awareness and understanding of the theoretical body of knowledge (old theories, new theories, and yet to be discovered theories, methodologies, etc.) specific to the profession of Interior Design and built environments. They will study and analyze the evolution of design (applied history). This stream will provide opportunities for students to discover and test their own design processes.
Ultimately this creates the nature of design - the search for what was, what is, and what could be.
Seeing, thinking and drawing are intimately interrelated. In the study of making both large and small-scale interiors, students should understand that the drawing process is inextricably connected with design process.
Design ideas that are not externalized remain thoughts only. Design is a visual and physical activity; design ideas must be made visible - understandably visible.
Students are individuals with unique learning, thinking, and doing styles, and will develop their own design process naturally.
This stream provides for students’ “in situ” observation and presentations by non-faculty, the profession, projects in process and completed, and resources pertaining to the profession of interior design.
In a variety of work experiences, over several semesters, students have opportunities to experience first-hand working environments of interior design and other built-environment professions.
These provide opportunities for observation and application of previously studied theories and methodologies, and assist graduates with the transition from school to workplace.
Many graduates find employment with one of their work experience placements.
Business/General Education
Interior design projects are commercial ventures requiring knowledge and application of office procedures and financial management, and client and public relations applied to the organization of a design Project.
This component of the degree entails the following learning outcomes:
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Students become culturally literate
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Students be prepared to make better informed and more carefully considered decisions in their future lives
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Students acquire the ability to see things in context
Applicants who have completed courses or hold a bachelor and / or masters degree from a recognized post-secondary institution and wish to use those courses to satisfy the Liberal Education requirements, must submit a sealed official transcript and a Request for Transfer Credit form (available at all Enrolment and Registrar Services offices) to ensure that the transcript is evaluated.
All work submitted for course requirements in the Interior Design program automatically becomes the property of the Interior Design Department and may be retained for exhibition or other purposes at any time and for an indefinite period. The Interior Design Department undertakes to exercise reasonable care of any work so retained and to return it to the author when it is no longer required. Students are encouraged to record their work in various digital or other formats as it is created for portfolio purposes.
Note
The program makes periodic curricular adjustments, so these courses are subject to change.
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YEAR 1 - Interior Design
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Fall - Semester
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Spring - Semester
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YEAR 2 - Interior Design
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Fall - Semester
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Spring - Semester
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YEAR 3 - Interior Design
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Fall - Semester
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Spring - Semester
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IDSN 3600 Studio VI
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IDSN 3631 Theories IV
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IDSN 3645 Representation III
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IDSN 3651 Site Tutorial III
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IDSN 3681 Interior Design Business I
- IDSN 3690 Major Site Tutorial (5-9 days during semester)*
- Approved Liberal Education Elective (3 credits)**
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YEAR 4 - Interior Design
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Fall - Semester
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IDSN 4700 Thesis Programming
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IDSN 4721 Documentation
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IDSN 4761 Work Experience IV (1 week/40 hours)*
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IDSN 4765 Mentorship I
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IDSN 4781 Interior Design Business II
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Approved Liberal Education Elective (3 credits)**
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Spring - Semester
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IDSN 4800 Thesis Synthesis
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IDSN 4865 Mentorship II
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IDSN 4880 Interior Design Business III
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An approved Liberal Education Electives (3 credits each)**
* Students will be off campus for one week mid semester which may conflict with liberal education courses.
** For a list of approved Liberal Education Electives visit the Liberal Education web site. Advancement from one year to a subsequent year of this program is dependent on passing grades in all courses of that year (passing rate for all Studio courses, including the final semester, is 68% or B-).
The third year of the program includes a major Site Tutorial (IDSN 3690) as part of curriculum requirements, the cost of which is borne by the student (approximately $1,800-2,500). This provides students with an opportunity to assimilate design theory and knowledge with respect to the context of site, culture, climate and geography.
An initiative integrating Kwantlen’s Course Websites with laptop computers commenced in Fall 2004. Students need to include “fee for service” costs of the laptop and requisite course software for the duration of the 4 year degree program (approximately $1,200 each year). Students are advised not to purchase a laptop computer as all required equipment, software and services will be supplied by Kwantlen on the “fee for service” basis.
Interior Design information sessions are scheduled once in the Fall and once Spring semesters to answer questions from prospective students and to allow applicants to review portfolios of current students. These sessions have been of great benefit to those people interested in entering the program. Please call the Enrolment and Registrar Services Office at the Richmond campus, 604.599.2512 to confirm dates, times and location.
Upon successful completion of this program, students are awarded a Bachelor of Applied Design in Interior Design. This Bachelor degree, followed by two cumulative years of work experience in the profession, qualifies graduates to write the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) examination. This in turn, allows professional membership in the Interior Designers’ Institute of British Columbia (IDIBC), the Interior Designers of Canada (IDC), and International Interior Design Association (IIDA).