A BA (Hons) Interior Architecture degree is concerned with the reworking of existing buildings: how a structure can be adapted, subdivided, extended or repurposed, and what the building fabric will and will not allow. It is the more technical and structural of the two interiors disciplines, and it sits close to architecture without being it.
Adaptive reuse has become central to the field. Retrofitting existing buildings rather than demolishing and rebuilding is now a significant part of how the construction sector addresses carbon, and graduates who understand how to make old buildings work for new uses are in demand.
What you study
Three years, four with a placement. Studio based, with substantial technical drawing and construction content.
- Year one: spatial design principles, technical drawing and CAD, building construction and structure, materials, and architectural history and theory.
- Year two: adaptive reuse and conservation, environmental design and building services, structural principles for interiors, regulations and accessibility, and BIM and advanced visualisation.
- Year three: a major building conversion project, professional practice, and portfolio and exhibition preparation.
Entry requirements from Nepal
The figures below are what most of our partner universities ask for. They are not fixed, and individual universities set their own thresholds each intake, so treat this as a guide and let us confirm the exact position for the courses you shortlist.
- Academic: +2, A-Levels or IB at roughly 60 per cent and above, with a portfolio. Mathematics or physics at +2 is useful given the technical content, though rarely mandatory.
- English: IELTS 6.0 overall with no band below 5.5 is typical. Many of our partner universities also accept PTE Academic, Duolingo, or a Medium of Instruction letter from Tribhuvan, Pokhara or Kathmandu University. See our IELTS score comparison and the routes that do not require IELTS.
- Portfolio: this is the requirement students from Nepal most often miss. Creative courses assess a portfolio alongside your grades, usually submitted digitally and sometimes followed by a short online interview. Fifteen to twenty pieces that show your thinking, including rough work and development, count for more than a small number of finished images. Start assembling it months before you apply and we will review it with you before it goes anywhere.
- Technical evidence: for interior architecture, include measured drawings, sections, plans or models where you can. Tutors are looking for structural and spatial reasoning as well as visual sense.
- Study gap: most universities accept a gap, commonly up to five years and sometimes up to ten, as long as you can account for the time.
- Finance: the student visa requires evidence of your first year tuition plus living costs, currently 1,529 pounds a month for London and 1,171 pounds a month elsewhere, held for nine months. Our page on UK university fees for international students sets out the detail.
Where the degree leads
- Architectural practices, on interiors and conversion projects
- Adaptive reuse, retrofit and heritage conversion
- Commercial fit-out and workplace design
- Hospitality and retail architecture
- Exhibition and museum design
- Construction and project coordination
- Postgraduate study, including some routes towards architectural qualification
Important: this is not the route to becoming an architect
We state this plainly because it causes real disappointment when discovered late. Becoming a registered architect in the UK requires a specific sequence of accredited qualifications and recorded professional experience regulated by the Architects Registration Board. An interior architecture degree is not part of that accredited sequence, though some graduates do subsequently convert with additional study.
If registration as an architect is your goal, tell us at the counselling stage and we will look for accredited architecture courses instead. If your interest is genuinely in interiors and building reuse, this is an excellent and more accessible degree. See also interior design, which is the less technical of the pair.
Get a straight answer on your chances
Since 2003 we have guided Nepalese students through UK admissions, and the useful conversation is always the specific one. Show us your marks and we will tell you which universities are likely to make you an offer for interior architecture, where the deadlines fall, and what you need to have in the bank before the visa stage.
Counselling is free and there is no obligation. Our offices are in Kathmandu, Chitwan, Pokhara, Butwal and Bhairahawa, with our head office in London. Get in touch when you are ready, start an application, or look through the full course list.
