My Interior Design work placement at NPS

Amy Charter completed a work placement with NPS designing a children’s hospice for EACH.

Third year BA (Hons) Interior Design student Amy Charter recently completed a work placement with NPS Property Consultants,  where she worked on the design of a £10m new build Children’s Hospice in Norfolk.

Amy and the NPS team spent 10 weeks developing their vision for the main interior spaces, bringing them to life and designing them in a way that all staff and visitors using the building wold feel welcome and at ease. The goal was to make it feel inclusive, promote wellbeing and provide a positive benefit to anyone visiting the centre. Amy focused most of her time over the 10 week period on developing the designs. Here, she reviews how valuable the work placement was to her studies.

How do you think taking on this work placement has helped you in your studies?

Working at NPS, I got the opportunity to see the on-goings of not just an interior design-based practice, but a glimpse into the role of the interior designer working with a team of people from all areas of the field. From a first-hand view I was able to witness how such a workplace works, as well as experience a variety of activities an interior designer takes part in.

I was given the opportunity to work with clients, meet the manufacturers, and begin to lay a foundation of knowledge that I otherwise wouldn’t have had the chance to. Working at NPS gave me an opportunity to work in a large team of people who each held a wealth of knowledge to create and coordinate designs that work to the users needs.

How did your course prepare you for a work placement?

The course at NUA has given me invaluable first-hand knowledge of software that I was able to adapt and utilise in practice. It also gave me plenty of insights into developing my own design ethos.

If you could give another student advice for a work placement, what would it be?

To make full use of the opportunity given by seeing it as a chance to explore new ideas and ways of working.