Leading interior designer heads new UCOL programme

Leading interior designer heads new UCOL programme

Award-winning interior designer Leah Burns will lead a new UCOL programme in Interior Design.

The UCOL Diploma in Interior Design, which starts later this month, is the first programme of its kind to be offered in the Central North Island.

It has strong support from Palmerston North businesses, including Resene Paints and King and Teppett Interior Design: An information evening will be held at King and Teppett’s this coming Monday..

Programme Coordinator Leah says the programme aims to increase professionalism and the recognition of trained interior designers. “It is ideal for those wanting to enter the industry, or those already working in it but who do not have a formal qualification.

“I love the fact that the diploma will give people with a natural flare who are operating, or want to operate, in the industry the opportunity to study for a genuine qualification. I think all interior designers now need to be qualified, especially with the new building licensing laws coming into effect in 2009,” she says.

“It’s important that designers recognise their limits of expertise when designing and also that the public can be confident of employing a professional with a genuine qualification.”

As a member of the Council of the Designers Institute of New Zealand, Leah has been working on developing professional standards for the industry.

She is a well established and award winning local designer, and owner operator of Leah M Burns Interior Design and Studio 67, and works in residential and commercial interior design. She was involved in setting up the first year of the new diploma, and will be one of a team of three industry-experienced lecturers.

Leah will continue to operate her existing business part time and says this will bring real world experience and current industry knowledge to her teaching role.

“It’s important for the students to be in touch with current trends, products, building and regulatory guidelines and practices. Technologies and fashions can change very fast, so it will be invaluable for our students to have that contact with the industry,” Leah says.

Karen Warman of Resene Paints, says Resene welcomes the new qualification. “The way homes and workplaces feel affects how those living and working in the space feel. As people come to understand this, interior design is becoming more important.

“The new Diploma in Interior Design gives residents in the lower North Island access to professional training in all aspects of interior decoration,” she says.”

UCOL Head of School for Photography, Arts and Design Chris Hubbard says the programme is “an exciting new initiative with a solid academic background that we have wanted to offer for some time. There has been a lot of public interest, and I am confident people who enrol will be impressed with the professional industry experienced staff that we have brought on board.”

He says the programme has a strong focus on the practical aspects of interior design, as well as the history and context of art and architecture, and business and design skills.

The diploma can be undertaken on either a full time one year basis, or on a part time basis (one paper per semester). It will start on 23 February 2009 at UCOL Palmerston North.

Students will study western architecture and interiors, residential housing, NZ art and artists, design theory, ergonomic principles, kitchen and bathroom design, colour principles, paint systems, residential interior design, professional design practice, building technology and services, regulatory requirements and building practices, materials and finishes, lighting, textiles design, soft furnishings, visual communication, manual drafting and C.A.D.

More information is available at an Information and Enrolment Evening, on Monday, 9 February at the King and Teppett Design store on Main Street.

ENDS

© Scoop Media