Interior Architecture Studio Sustainability v1

Studio Sustainability v1 explores how sustainability principles and ecologically sustainable design (ESD) inform interior architectural thinking and making. Interior architecture is not only concerned with spatial experience and material expression; it actively mediates relationships between people, resources, climate, and ecological systems. This unit introduces students to sustainability scholarship and equips them to translate environmental principles into design decisions that shape responsible interior environments.

The third year interior architecture studio is structured around two interconnected project phases: a Research Phase and a Design Phase. Across the semester, students move from building foundational knowledge of sustainability and ESD, toward applying this knowledge in the design of an interior architectural project that responds to site, climate, materials, and resource use.

In Project A, students investigate sustainability and ESD as design drivers. The project asks: How can sustainability scholarship be interpreted and transformed into project-specific design opportunities? During this six weeks, students learn to:

• interpret and document sustainability and ESD scholarship relevant to their chosen site and brief,
• conduct site investigations considering climate, solar geometry, orientation, and shading,
• analyse passive design strategies including thermal mass, glazing, and passive solar principles,
• explore material systems and sustainable construction approaches, including ceramic and thermal mass elements, and
• communicate research findings visually and verbally through diagrams, drawings, and presentations.

Project A culminates in a research submission that establishes a clear sustainability agenda to inform the subsequent design phase.In Project B, students translate their research into an interior architectural design proposal. The project asks: How can sustainability principles be embedded within spatial organisation, material choice, and environmental performance? In the final six weeks, students develop a coherent museum design proposal that:

• responds to site and climate through passive solar strategies,
• integrates sustainable energy, water, and HVAC considerations,
• demonstrates awareness of construction and material impacts, and
• articulates how sustainability influences spatial experience and everyday use.

Students communicate both process and outcome through drawings, diagrams, and presentations, demonstrating how sustainability operates as a generative design framework rather than an add-on.

• keywords: sustainable interior architecture; environmental design strategies; passive design; material systems
• with: Astrid Huwald
• year: March 2026 — June 2026

Subject details

In this subject, students learn design methods for developing environmentally responsible interior architecture through the application of sustainability and ecologically sustainable design principles. Students use site and climatic analysis, material investigations, and environmental systems knowledge to inform spatial design, while communicating ideas through drawings, diagrams, physical modelling, and digital techniques. The unit builds foundational understanding of passive design, resource-conscious strategies, and construction considerations within an interior architectural context.

• for: Swinburne University of Technology, Bachelor of Design (Interior Architecture)(Honours)
• subject: Interior Architecture Studio 4: Sustainability