Interior & Environmental Design

Interior and environmental design is the discipline concerned with creating internal and spatial environments that are functional, beautiful, sustainable, and responsive to the needs of the people who inhabit them. Where interior design focuses on the aesthetic and functional arrangement of interior spaces, environmental design broadens the frame to consider how buildings and their surroundings interact, how spatial design shapes human behaviour and wellbeing, and how designers can contribute to more sustainable, equitable, and humane built environments. The field sits between architecture, product design, and urban planning, drawing on all three while maintaining a distinctive focus on the human experience of space.

At the University of Dundee, this four-year full-time degree includes a foundation year and a year abroad, making it both accessible and internationally expansive. The foundation year provides a supported entry route for students who would benefit from additional preparation before the main degree, while the year abroad gives you direct experience of different design cultures, spatial traditions, and built environments internationally. You will develop skills in spatial design, drawing, model-making, digital visualisation, materials selection, and the sustainable principles that are reshaping design practice.

Studio work is at the core of the programme, with projects developing your ability to move from conceptual thinking to resolved spatial proposals. You will also engage with the history and theory of design, developing critical awareness of how spaces acquire meaning and how design choices reflect and reinforce values.

Graduates work as interior designers, spatial designers, exhibition designers, set designers, environmental designers, and in related roles within architectural practices, design consultancies, retail and hospitality businesses, and cultural institutions. Further study options include postgraduate degrees in interior design, architectural design, sustainable design, and related spatial disciplines.