Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Interior Architecture: Workplace Design (ARQUIA)
Other languages of instruction: English, Spanish
Teaching staff
Office hours will be arranged with the professors via email.
Introduction
The course will consist of a competition for architecture students to design an actual office acquired by ARQUIA in a way that reflects the company’s brand values, as it is recognized for the architectural merit of its office designs.
From among the proposals submitted, a first prize, a second prize, and an honorable mention (optional) will be selected. The prize money will be announced by ARQUIA during the course presentation, along with details of the other prizes.
All contest participants will receive a package of ARQUIA publications.
Pre-course requirements
Have passed all Design Studio courses up to and including Design Studio 4.
Objectives
The objective of the course is to prepare students for interior design, specifically for financial offices open to the public.
The purpose of the competition is to select conceptual proposals for architecture and interior design for the renovation and modernization of an existing bank branch in the city of Barcelona, owned by the institution.
The competition is exclusively conceptual in nature, non-binding, and does not imply a professional commission or the execution of construction work.
Learning outcomes of the subject
Students who successfully complete this course will have learned to:
- Examine the functional program of an office and its implementation in a real-world setting.
- Examine design solutions for floors, ceilings, walls, office furniture, customer service areas, and storefronts with direct street access, as well as their integration into the urban context, etc.
- Align technical and compositional solutions with a developer’s brand values.
- Discover the added value of architectural design in the configuration of an interior space.
Syllabus
Presentation of ARQUIA and its corporate values incorporated into the design of its offices.
Site analysis
Analysis of the office’s functional program.
Graphic representations of the preliminary studies and the main elements that shaped the proposal.
The facade and its relationship to the urban context.
Materials and construction solutions for vertical and horizontal cladding, including ceilings and floors.
Office and customer service furniture.
Integration of the various aspects into the interior design project.
Graphic representation of the interior design project.
Oral presentation of the interior design project.
Teaching and learning activities
In person
The methodology consists of weekly reviews of projects completed in pairs, accompanied by a series of classes based on case studies of notable interior design projects, taught by both the course instructors and internationally renowned architects invited by ARQUIA.
The course includes visits to material showrooms and the presentation of projects to a jury.
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
The final grade will be based on the jury’s evaluation of the final proposal, which will consist of two vertical DIN A1 panels and a conceptual report of no more than 1,500 words.
Both the submitted documentation and the oral presentation will be evaluated.
Bibliography and resources
In addition to the texts and reference works presented by the professors throughout the course, there is also material on interior design from the Arquia Foundation’s publications.