Education: with Unitec
Unitec’s Albany campus
opens doors to future interior designers
Students from the North Shore who are considering tertiary study in interior design need not travel far to get a practically orientated qualification that can fast-track their way into the industry.
Unitec will start offering the Diploma in Applied Interior Design at its Northern Campus in Albany beginning March 2012, says Sandra Arnet, lecturer in the Department of Design & Visual Arts.
“The new campus gives local residents throughout Rodney and the North Shore access to vocational training not provided for by either Massey University or AUT. Massey University’s decision to consolidate its Visual Arts & Design Programmes back to Wellington has opened up a great opportunity for us to fill this gap. I believe in future it will become less and less sustainable for people to travel long distances for work or study, so it makes sense to offer quality education close to home,” says Mrs Arnet.
The two-year Diploma in Applied Interior Design has been running at Unitec’s Mt Albert Campus since 2008 but will now be transferred to the Northern Campus as the first full-programme offering from the Department of Design & Visual Arts.
The programme, which covers both residential and commercial interior design, has been popular with working people who are eager to acquire new skills and change careers. As well as the full and part-time study options towards the qualification, it will be possible to enrol in courses of interest separately. This is being introduced to support practising designers wishing to update their skills in the latest technologies and digital software programmes.
Design-inclined school leavers from the major colleges on the North Shore
will also find the Diploma in Applied Interior Design an ideal pathway to get a
head start in the industry or to staircase into a Bachelor of Design and Visual
Arts degree.
With the diploma’s emphasis on applied “real world learning,” the last two years have seen final-year students undertake collaborative team projects with Brown Day Group Architects to design the fit-outs of two major commercial projects.
The first in 2009 was a boutique New Zealand Concept Hotel to be built in conjunction with a Western Front Military Musuem in Le Quesnoy, northern France. In 2010, students worked on the interior fit-out for a Gold Discovery Centre Tourist Complex to be built alongside the Martha Goldmine in Waihi. Construction of this project is due to start soon and will be completed by January 2013.
Already, Unitec’s Diploma of Interior Design graduates are starting to make a name for themselves in the design world.
Rachael Lovelace of Lovelace & Co recently won a silver award in the Hospitality/Spatial category of the prestigious Designer’s Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards. Despite her being a recent graduate, she won this award for her design of the Mama Loco bar in Albany against stiff competition from other renowned design practices. In 2010 she also won silver in the Student category for the Ginger Minx Bar in Mt Eden.
“The Unitec Diploma in Design is a well rounded immersion in the world of interiors. There are many aspects within the interior design world which a designer must understand, I left with an understanding of the many disciplines, a master of few and respect for the remaining! Also critically was an understanding of what I was yet to learn. I would highly recommend this course for people looking to launch a career as an interior designer.” says Ms Lovelace.
Diploma graduate Kylie Willett, now works full-time at Bonham Interiors in Mairangi Bay.
“The practical skills and knowledge gained from the programme have enabled me to progress with my career. We live in a utilitarian world, with budgets, deadlines and real clients and without the ability obtained from the diploma, I wouldn’t be able to carry out the tasks required of me on a daily basis,” she says.
Laura Sharp, is currently employed as a design assistant for Gretel Lucas, an established residential interior designer.
“The Diploma in Interior Design provided me with a broad range of practical skills relating to residential and commercial design. This sound skill base has enabled me to secure design work both independently and as a contract employee within a design practice.”
Mrs Arnet says that in the near future the intention is to further enhance the programme with a greater emphasis on environmentally sustainable design. Unitec is presently in discussion with the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) over a potential partnership arrangement for the co-delivery of the NZGBC Greenstar ™ training courses.
More information about the programme will soon be available in brochures and on our website: www.unitec.ac.nz. For enquiries, please contact Student Central by phone: 0800 10 95 10 or +64 9 815 2945 or email: study@unitec.ac.nz
Education: Kristin School
