ABH431 Interior Design: Inclusion
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | ABH431 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | ABB331 and (ABH332 or DTB305) |
| Equivalent(s): | DTH702 |
| Credit points: | 24 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $2,384 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $9,408 |
| International unit fee | $10,872 |
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2026, Gardens Point, Internal
| Unit code: | ABH431 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 24 |
| Pre-requisite: | ABB331 and (ABH332 or DTB305) |
| Equivalent: | DTH702 |
| Coordinator: | Francisca Rodriguez Leonard | f3.rodriguez@qut.edu.au |
Overview
ABH431 and ABH432 are two units that form the capstone design project for the Bachelor of Built Environment (Honours) Interior Design. These two units build on knowledge gained in the first six semesters while introducing methods that support your transition into professional practice.
ABH431 Interior Design: Inclusion introduces research-led briefing and spatial planning methodologies. You will extend your process knowledge by independently developing skills in feasibility study, stakeholder, site, and brief analysis, and early spatial strategy development. You will also establish advanced conceptual design directions informed by a range of precedents to guide your spatial work. You will formulate and test multiple schematic options that respond to site conditions, regulations, and programmatic needs. Industry engagement through guest lectures and curated content will provide insights into the ethical and interdisciplinary nature of interior design practice.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Apply theoretical and research methodologies to critically analyse contextual, regulatory, and programmatic conditions that inform early spatial strategies to a mastered level.
- Evaluate stakeholder needs and perspectives to a mastered level to determine socially-responsive and care-centered design approaches.
- Select and apply advanced communication strategies to convey schematic design proposals with clarity, creativity, and professional purpose.
- Synthesise and apply advanced technical knowledge to test, evaluate, and refine early-stage interior strategies in an ethical, inclusive, and professional manner.
- Engage to a mastered level with iterative design processes that draw on critical feedback, in-class collaboration, and reflective practice.
Content
The content of the unit is delivered through the capstone design project, supported by lectures, guest speakers, and studio-based activities.
Content addresses the ways people interact in the design and inhabitation of environments that foreground Care in its broadest sense, the theories that inform our understanding of these interactions, and the conceptual, technical, and technological dimensions of interior environments within wider social, cultural, and physical contexts.
Students will apply these understandings through feasibility studies, stakeholder and brief analysis, and site evaluation to inform advanced design conceptualisation, early spatial strategies, and by testing schematic design options that respond to site conditions, regulations, and programmatic needs.
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn by engaging in approaches that emphasise project-based and experiential learning, supported by digital resources and real-world industry engagement. These approaches will help you manage complex and sometimes conflicting design challenges, while preparing you to achieve the unit learning outcomes and build the foundation for further integration and resolution of your design in ABH432.
You will take part in:
- Studio-based and project-based learning, where you ideate, represent, and test design ideas with a focus on process;
- Lectures, guest lectures, and studio activities that connect theory with professional practice;
- Small group discussions and critiques, where you prepare work for review, learn from peers, and respond to feedback;
- Independent preparation and research, including site and stakeholder analysis to inform feasibility studies and schematic design strategies; and
- Canvas unit site for asynchronous opportunities to discuss with peers and staff and access to curated content relevant to your studies.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
In this unit, you will gain feedback through weekly studio consultations, where academic staff, peers, and industry practitioners will provide formative feedback on the strengths of your work and areas for further development. Your active participation in these sessions is expected, as peer feedback and engagement are an integral part of the capstone design project experience.
For each assessment, you will receive feedback aligned to the published criteria and standards. This feedback is designed to help you strengthen your current project and to prepare you for further integration and resolution of your design in ABH432.
Assessment
Overview
Assessment in this unit is based on an authentic design project that foregrounds the theme of Care. You will undertake site and user analysis to inform feasibility, gain insights into stakeholder perspectives, and explore schematic design strategies to test and compare early spatial approaches. Assessment is staged, with both formative and summative feedback provided to support the progressive development of your design strategies. Work completed in this unit provides the foundation for design integration and resolution in ABH432 Interior Design: Integration.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Concept-Led Feasibility Study
This assessment involves the development of a concept-led feasibility study that critically engages with the theme of Care in contemporary interior design practice. You will undertake a comprehensive research and analysis process, including comparative building and/or site analysis, user and stakeholder profiling, brief and occupancy requirements, and relevant regulatory and contextual considerations.
The feasibility study requires you to justify the selection of a building or site and to propose a clear conceptual direction informed by environmental, social, cultural, and programmatic factors. You will communicate early spatial intentions through diagrams, drawings, and written analysis, demonstrating how research findings inform design decision-making.
This assessment establishes the analytical and conceptual foundation for Assessment 2, supporting the development of schematic design strategies and spatial planning.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment, in accordance with guidance provided on Canvas.
This assessment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Schematic Design (Applied)
Building on the feasibility study completed in Assessment 1, this assessment requires you to generate, test, and evaluate multiple schematic design options for your selected building or site. These options should explore alternative approaches to spatial organisation, zoning, circulation, and user experience, and demonstrate a clear response to environmental, social, technological, programmatic, and regulatory conditions.
Through a comparative design process, you will critically assess the strengths and limitations of each option and refine a preferred schematic direction. Your work should demonstrate advanced spatial reasoning, professional judgement, and effective communication of design intent appropriate to an honours-level capstone project.
This assessment includes in-person presentations and progress checkpoints conducted during scheduled studio and team meetings, which together serve as the Verified Identity Assessment (VIA) component. These interactions enable verification of authorship, design process, and understanding through live discussion and feedback.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment, in accordance with guidance provided on Canvas.
This assessment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Requirements to Study
Costs
Costs for this unit relate to the normal costs incurred in the generation and presentation of a student design project.
Resources
- Drawing, making, and presenting materials and equipment.
- A list of recommended and required readings will be advised in class at the beginning of the semester and available on the Canvas unit site.
Risk Assessment Statement
All students and staff are required to complete the FoE General Health and Safety Induction course for access to campus buildings and facilities. This must be completed online.
There are no extraordinary workplace health and safety issues associated with this unit.
Depending on the nature of the project, students in this unit may be required to undertake lecturer-led and/or self-directed site visits to building sites and/or partake in a field trip. These may be supervised and/or self-guided in nature. A risk assessment for such trips has been identified as of a low impact risk. You will be required to obey all safety guidelines and directions while attending such visits or trips. You should advise staff if you consider you will be at risk.
This unit may involve visits to construction sites for which you are required to attend a construction safety induction session and obtain a safety induction card. This safety induction session introduces students to the relevant workplace health and safety requirements of Queensland construction sites. A safety induction course is provided by the school in the first week of the first semester. This induction is mandatory.
You may be required to undertake practical sessions in the workshop under the supervision of the technical staff. The Faculty's occupational health and safety policies and procedures will apply to these sessions and you will be required to undergo a health and safety induction in order to be issued with a safety induction card. Students who do not have a safety induction card will be denied access to the workshops.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.AB01 Bachelor of Built Environment (Honours)
- Apply theoretical, practical and cultural knowledge and skills across a range of disciplines and specialist knowledge and skills in one built environment area.
Relates to: Concept-Led Feasibility Study, Schematic Design (Applied) - Design and critically evaluate sustainable and creative solutions to social, economic, technological and environmental challenges.
Relates to: Concept-Led Feasibility Study, Schematic Design (Applied) - Communicate knowledge, ideas and creative solutions in diverse modes, for a range of contexts and diverse audiences.
Relates to: Schematic Design (Applied) - Plan, develop and complete research and other projects.
Relates to: Concept-Led Feasibility Study, Schematic Design (Applied) - Strategically collaborate with diverse stakeholders and communities, including First Nations peoples.
Relates to: Concept-Led Feasibility Study
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2026, Gardens Point, Internal
| Unit code: | ABH431 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 24 |
| Pre-requisite: | ABB331 and (ABH332 or DTB305) |
| Equivalent: | DTH702 |
Overview
ABH431 and ABH432 are two units that form the capstone design project for the Bachelor of Built Environment (Honours) Interior Design. These two units build on knowledge gained in the first six semesters while introducing methods that support your transition into professional practice.
ABH431 Interior Design: Inclusion introduces research-led briefing and spatial planning methodologies. You will extend your process knowledge by independently developing skills in feasibility study, stakeholder, site, and brief analysis, and early spatial strategy development. You will also establish advanced conceptual design directions informed by a range of precedents to guide your spatial work. You will formulate and test multiple schematic options that respond to site conditions, regulations, and programmatic needs. Industry engagement through guest lectures and curated content will provide insights into the ethical and interdisciplinary nature of interior design practice.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Apply theoretical and research methodologies to critically analyse contextual, regulatory, and programmatic conditions that inform early spatial strategies to a mastered level.
- Evaluate stakeholder needs and perspectives to a mastered level to determine socially-responsive and care-centered design approaches.
- Select and apply advanced communication strategies to convey schematic design proposals with clarity, creativity, and professional purpose.
- Synthesise and apply advanced technical knowledge to test, evaluate, and refine early-stage interior strategies in an ethical, inclusive, and professional manner.
- Engage to a mastered level with iterative design processes that draw on critical feedback, in-class collaboration, and reflective practice.
Content
The content of the unit is delivered through the capstone design project, supported by lectures, guest speakers, and studio-based activities.
Content addresses the ways people interact in the design and inhabitation of environments that foreground Care in its broadest sense, the theories that inform our understanding of these interactions, and the conceptual, technical, and technological dimensions of interior environments within wider social, cultural, and physical contexts.
Students will apply these understandings through feasibility studies, stakeholder and brief analysis, and site evaluation to inform advanced design conceptualisation, early spatial strategies, and by testing schematic design options that respond to site conditions, regulations, and programmatic needs.
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn by engaging in approaches that emphasise project-based and experiential learning, supported by digital resources and real-world industry engagement. These approaches will help you manage complex and sometimes conflicting design challenges, while preparing you to achieve the unit learning outcomes and build the foundation for further integration and resolution of your design in ABH432.
You will take part in:
- Studio-based and project-based learning, where you ideate, represent, and test design ideas with a focus on process;
- Lectures, guest lectures, and studio activities that connect theory with professional practice;
- Small group discussions and critiques, where you prepare work for review, learn from peers, and respond to feedback;
- Independent preparation and research, including site and stakeholder analysis to inform feasibility studies and schematic design strategies; and
- Canvas unit site for asynchronous opportunities to discuss with peers and staff and access to curated content relevant to your studies.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
In this unit, you will gain feedback through weekly studio consultations, where academic staff, peers, and industry practitioners will provide formative feedback on the strengths of your work and areas for further development. Your active participation in these sessions is expected, as peer feedback and engagement are an integral part of the capstone design project experience.
For each assessment, you will receive feedback aligned to the published criteria and standards. This feedback is designed to help you strengthen your current project and to prepare you for further integration and resolution of your design in ABH432.
Assessment
Overview
Assessment in this unit is based on an authentic design project that foregrounds the theme of Care. You will undertake site and user analysis to inform feasibility, gain insights into stakeholder perspectives, and explore schematic design strategies to test and compare early spatial approaches. Assessment is staged, with both formative and summative feedback provided to support the progressive development of your design strategies. Work completed in this unit provides the foundation for design integration and resolution in ABH432 Interior Design: Integration.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Concept-Led Feasibility Study
This assessment involves the development of a concept-led feasibility study that critically engages with the theme of Care in contemporary interior design practice. You will undertake a comprehensive research and analysis process, including comparative building and/or site analysis, user and stakeholder profiling, brief and occupancy requirements, and relevant regulatory and contextual considerations.
The feasibility study requires you to justify the selection of a building or site and to propose a clear conceptual direction informed by environmental, social, cultural, and programmatic factors. You will communicate early spatial intentions through diagrams, drawings, and written analysis, demonstrating how research findings inform design decision-making.
This assessment establishes the analytical and conceptual foundation for Assessment 2, supporting the development of schematic design strategies and spatial planning.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment, in accordance with guidance provided on Canvas.
This assessment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Schematic Design (Applied)
Building on the feasibility study completed in Assessment 1, this assessment requires you to generate, test, and evaluate multiple schematic design options for your selected building or site. These options should explore alternative approaches to spatial organisation, zoning, circulation, and user experience, and demonstrate a clear response to environmental, social, technological, programmatic, and regulatory conditions.
Through a comparative design process, you will critically assess the strengths and limitations of each option and refine a preferred schematic direction. Your work should demonstrate advanced spatial reasoning, professional judgement, and effective communication of design intent appropriate to an honours-level capstone project.
This assessment includes in-person presentations and progress checkpoints conducted during scheduled studio and team meetings, which together serve as the Verified Identity Assessment (VIA) component. These interactions enable verification of authorship, design process, and understanding through live discussion and feedback.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment, in accordance with guidance provided on Canvas.
This assessment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Requirements to Study
Costs
Costs for this unit relate to the normal costs incurred in the generation and presentation of a student design project.
Resources
- Drawing, making, and presenting materials and equipment.
- A list of recommended and required readings will be advised in class at the beginning of the semester and available on the Canvas unit site.
Risk Assessment Statement
All students and staff are required to complete the FoE General Health and Safety Induction course for access to campus buildings and facilities. This must be completed online.
There are no extraordinary workplace health and safety issues associated with this unit.
Depending on the nature of the project, students in this unit may be required to undertake lecturer-led and/or self-directed site visits to building sites and/or partake in a field trip. These may be supervised and/or self-guided in nature. A risk assessment for such trips has been identified as of a low impact risk. You will be required to obey all safety guidelines and directions while attending such visits or trips. You should advise staff if you consider you will be at risk.
This unit may involve visits to construction sites for which you are required to attend a construction safety induction session and obtain a safety induction card. This safety induction session introduces students to the relevant workplace health and safety requirements of Queensland construction sites. A safety induction course is provided by the school in the first week of the first semester. This induction is mandatory.
You may be required to undertake practical sessions in the workshop under the supervision of the technical staff. The Faculty's occupational health and safety policies and procedures will apply to these sessions and you will be required to undergo a health and safety induction in order to be issued with a safety induction card. Students who do not have a safety induction card will be denied access to the workshops.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.AB01 Bachelor of Built Environment (Honours)
- Apply theoretical, practical and cultural knowledge and skills across a range of disciplines and specialist knowledge and skills in one built environment area.
Relates to: Concept-Led Feasibility Study, Schematic Design (Applied) - Design and critically evaluate sustainable and creative solutions to social, economic, technological and environmental challenges.
Relates to: Concept-Led Feasibility Study, Schematic Design (Applied) - Communicate knowledge, ideas and creative solutions in diverse modes, for a range of contexts and diverse audiences.
Relates to: Schematic Design (Applied) - Plan, develop and complete research and other projects.
Relates to: Concept-Led Feasibility Study, Schematic Design (Applied) - Strategically collaborate with diverse stakeholders and communities, including First Nations peoples.
Relates to: Concept-Led Feasibility Study