SERC Students with Designs on Interiors.
An Interior Design Lecturer at South Eastern Regional College (SERC) has led a team of students in their first commercial interiors project for Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council.
Sharon Castles, originally from Lisburn and now settled in Bangor, jumped at the opportunity to present ideas for the planned refurbishment of the second floor of The Lagan Valley Island including five large meeting and function rooms as well as the rotunda, hallways and reception area.
Sharon said: “This was a huge project, but I had every confidence that a team of hand-picked, recently qualified students from the OCN Level 3 Interior Design, Nicola Bunting, Shauneen Dornan, Julie Handley and Karen Lincoln, and myself could come up with the best design solutions which would meet the brief and budget allocated to update the interior.”
A BA in Printed Textiles and Design from Ulster University, Sharon was one of the top students in her year. She said: “As part of my degree course I was chosen to show in London and ended up staying in England.
“I worked in publishing, marketing, and PR for several years and then moved home to start my family. Having worked for a few local PR companies, I decided to set up my own design, PR and event management company and worked with many of the large transport and shipping companies
“I have been teaching at SERC for the past 10 years both, OCN NI Level 2 and 3 Interior Design so students can progress. I also teach a leisure class on Antiques and Collectables which complements the interiors.
“I am lucky to have seen some of Northern Ireland’s best talent develop at the College into new and exciting interior designers, including Eamon McAuley, who has shops in Ballynahinch and Newtownabbey. I am still very close to them all.
She added: “I teach interiors for homes, so it was a challenge for myself and the students to plan for a commercial interior but, once we fully understood the brief, really, the principles are largely the same.
“We have been working on the project for several months and were able to involve other schools of study within the college such as photography and print for producing wall graphics before we presented our ideas for the new design scheme including flooring, furniture, paint and graphic accessories to the Chief Executive and the Directors in February.
“They were very impressed with the mood boards, plans and elevations and overall concept including the aesthetic and environmental concerns which delivered a modern yet timeless scheme.
“Following that, we spent several weeks obtaining quotations and costings for Council approval. Nicola, Shauneen, Julie, Karen, and myself worked very hard on the project and I am so proud of all that we have achieved.
“It sits perfectly with the very ethos of everything we do at SERC in that students are encouraged and given opportunities to equip themselves with skills and experience, so they are work ready even before they walk out the door.
“The design work was free, but the experience has proved invaluable, both for me as a lecturer who can take the commercial experience back to the class, and for the students involved who can add this to their CV.
David Burns, Chief Executive of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council said “In the competitive world of conferencing facilities, we recognised it was necessary to modernise our own offering at our civic headquarters.
“With a SERC campus located on our doorstep in Lisburn, this presented an ideal opportunity for the council to support local learning while receiving interior design proposals for our popular conference centre.
“The quality design proposals received from our local students will play a significant part in the council’s investment into its conference facilities. I am also confident that the experience will assist these students to progress their career path both in the residential and commercial sectors.”
As for the next step? Sharon added: “I think we have certainly raised the bar for the Interiors course at SERC. This has been project-based learning at its best, so we are planning to set up SERC student enterprise which will specialise on interior design for the commercial sector. I think you could say the writing is on the wall for this one.”
Apply now for courses commencing September 2020. For more information visit www.serc.ac.uk
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