Taking on the World with Interior Design
AOD's BA in Interior Design, combining both Interior Design & Interior Architecture continues to deliver Interior Designers for Sri Lanka, featuring AOD alumni Chamika Wickremasinghe, founder Canvas Interior Design Studio
AOD Alumni Chamika Wickremasinghe is one such Interior Designer making waves in the Sri Lankan industry contributing to the space of corporate & retail interiors to residential, hospitality & the leisure sector. She started her career in Design by completing her education at AOD with the BA (Hons) First Class Degree in Interior Design, offered via a powerful partnership with the prestigious Northumbria University UK, rated one of Europe’s top Design Schools. Chamika, past pupil of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo took an unconventional path to get to her true passion of design. Today, having founded Canvas Interior Design Studio, Chamika is following her true passion for interior design and architecture and she now works with a multi disciplinary team to bring unique concepts to life while completing projects both in Sri Lanka as well as overseas.
In addition to interior design, her keen interest in contemporary design and architecture is reflected in each of the innovative designs created by her. She believes that no matter what the budget, with a little planning and a lot of style, bespoke designs that are suited to each individual need can be achieved with ease. She applies her sense of style and technical expertise to both residential and commercial properties with equal integrity.
The Interior Design Program at AOD fully focuses on delivering on design Excellence, critical thinking, collaboration, research and the professional expectations to create interior architects and designers such as the likes of Chamika. Students at AOD study interior spaces in a comprehensive manner; their functions, finish materials and furnishings, colour and lighting, furniture design, building systems and health and safety, function etc. In addition to this, the program is taught by a multi cultural faculty from around the world and nurtures a culturally diverse and international learning experience that underscores innovation and collaboration in global contexts right here in Sri Lanka. Enriched by study tours from around the country, tours to Asia like Singapore and Hong Kong to ones in New York, it trains an international eye in each student. The Interior Design Department currently headed by Spanish Interior Architect Kike Macias described the program’s vision as one that is truly international which delivers a true international design education to students right at their door step. AOD Principal Karen McLeod speaking about the program stated that it is “a program which gives in-depth knowledge and harnesses the skills essential to a future Interior Designer. AOD’s powerful industry connections give students the necessary exposure as designers now need to work in a global environment and have to be able to cater to the needs of an ever-changing industry. This is one of the main advantages of having a qualification which is on-par with the rest of the world”.
Interior design is perfect for those who love to be creative and work with others creating amazing designs for places where people live and work. Every type of building requires interior design including public spaces, corporate offices, museums, airport terminals, theatres, retail spaces, health clubs, restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals and private residences. Interior designers are responsible for the look, function and safety of interior spaces. Professional interior designers have a solid understanding of construction and building systems because they make decisions that impact structural components as well as mechanical and electrical systems. They also have knowledge of environmental psychology, building codes and regulations, technical properties of materials, historic precedents and the business of design. Upon graduation, students are able to skillfully apply the design process and illustrate their design concepts with computer and manually-generated two- and three-dimensional architectural drawings and models. To realize the designs they envision for clients they often collaborate with engineers, other designers (lighting, graphic, landscape), contractors, manufacturers of interior products (furniture, lighting, fabrics), artists and craftsmen (furniture makers, upholsterers). For that reason, our interior design students are encouraged to develop good collaboration and communication skills that will enable them to work effectively in the multi-disciplinary environment of a professional interior design office & these are taught throughout their education at AOD.
Interior designers lead design teams from the early stages of a design project through to its installation as a finished interior space, and many students, after gaining work experience, will open their own design firms. Students are given opportunities to develop leadership abilities throughout their studies at AOD including an internship, as well as entrepreneurial, communication and organizational skills before they graduate; and our support systems continue for them as alumni.
AOD is visionary institute that pioneered the professional design sector in Sri Lanka, trusted by industry for professionalizing the design talent in the country in partnership with Northumbria University UK, recognized by the University Grants Commission Sri Lanka. AOD presents complete UK design degrees with Northumbria University in Fashion, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Fashion Marketing as well as Motion Graphics and Animation Design as 100% internal Degrees that can be fully completed in Sri Lanka or giving the student an option to transfer in second or third year, including options for attending convocation here or in the UK.
