Master of Interior Architecture - Adaptive Reuse
Hasselt, Belgium
Master degree
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
EUR 1,181 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
* Non-EEA Applicants - March 15 EEA Applicants - August 15 | Students holding a Belgian academic Bachelor in Interior Architecture are granted direct admission and may register until September 14.
** 1181.40 EUR (EEA) / 3900 EUR (non-EEA)
Key Summary
About: This international Master of Interior Architecture – Adaptive Reuse at Hasselt University (UHasselt) studies adaptive reuse, transformation and adaptation of existing buildings, treating the interior as a Public Interior with artistic and ethical dimensions. UHasselt (campuses in Hasselt and Diepenbeek) has 7,752 students (15% international). The programme offers a design studio, two research seminars, study visits, workshops and links to Trace in the Arck research group.
Career Outcomes: Graduates work in architecture and interior practices, heritage conservation, urban design, research centres, universities, government and NGOs; roles include adaptive reuse architect, conservation specialist and design researcher. Career opportunities include practice, research.
The international Master of Interior Architecture at Hasselt University is a one-year academic master’s programme for students who want to explore contemporary challenges in interior architecture through design, research and theory.
The programme challenges students to look beyond the conventional understanding of the interior as a purely spatial category. Instead, interior architecture is approached in relation to people, places and the changing social, cultural, economic and environmental contexts in which they exist.
Students choose between two distinctive tracks: Adaptive Reuse and Responsible Retail Design. Each track has its own design focus and research context, while sharing the programme’s emphasis on critical thinking, research-informed design and engagement with real-world challenges.
Specialisations
Choose one of two tracks to focus your studies
The Master of Interior Architecture offers two distinctive tracks: Adaptive Reuse and Responsible Retail Design. Both combine design, research, and theory, but approach contemporary challenges in interior architecture from different perspectives.
Choose the track that best matches your interests and the type of environments and design challenges you want to explore.
Adaptive Reuse
Exploring spatial potentialities & the poetics of the existing
Adaptive Reuse focuses on the transformation and adaptation of existing buildings and sites. Demographic, economic and ecological challenges are redefining the role of architecture, making transition and reuse increasingly central to architectural practice.
Rather than approaching preservation only through conservation or restoration, the track takes a designerly approach to the existing built environment. Students explore the beauty, memory, atmosphere, and hidden potential of buildings and sites, and investigate how these qualities can serve as the starting point for new uses and spatial interventions.
The faculty is ideally positioned in a region with a rich variety of historical sites and identities. These surroundings provide a living laboratory in which students can examine existing environments as layered places and develop new design strategies through research and experimentation.
The track is strongly embedded in the ongoing research on adaptive reuse by TRACE, part of the research group ArcK at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts
Responsible Retail Design
Creating meaningful retail experiences for a changing world
The Responsible Retail Design track focuses on the analysis, design and transformation of contemporary retail environments. Students work on real-world challenges ranging from stores and flagship concepts to hybrid environments that combine retail with hospitality, services, culture and community functions.
Research and theory courses introduce students to observation, mapping, behavioural analysis and context research, while exploring contemporary developments in retail through literature, research and international case studies. Professional practice, study visits and an international retail safari connect these perspectives to real-world challenges and broaden students’ professional frame of reference.
The track concludes with a master’s project and thesis in which students develop an original retail design proposal supported by independent research, potentially in collaboration with external stakeholders or within their own local context.
The track is strongly embedded in the ongoing research on retail design by the Retail Design Lab, part of the research group ArcK at the Faculty of Architecture and Arts
Course outline
Adaptive Reuse
The Adaptive Reuse track combines design studio, research and theory, study visits and a master’s project and thesis.
The design studio focuses on the study, transformation and adaptation of existing buildings and sites. Students explore their spatial, material, atmospheric and heritage qualities and investigate how these can support new uses and interventions.
Research seminars such as Tactics and Genius Loci introduce different ways of reading and understanding existing spaces, while the theory module provides a broader historical, philosophical and artistic framework for adaptive reuse. Study visits to cities and exemplary reuse projects further connect theory, research and design practice.
The track concludes with a master’s project and thesis, in which students develop an original design proposal for an existing building and its surroundings, supported by research.
Responsible Retail Design
The Responsible Retail Design track combines design studio, research and theory, professional practice, study visits and a master’s project and thesis.
The design studio focuses on the analysis, design and transformation of contemporary retail environments, from individual stores to hybrid and mixed-use concepts. Students explore themes such as user experience, consumer behaviour, brand identity, sustainability and commercial viability, supported by research and evidence-based design methods.
Research seminars introduce methods such as observation, mapping, behavioural analysis and context research, while exploring emerging developments in retail. Professional practice, interdisciplinary projects and study visits connect this knowledge to real-world challenges and international retail environments.
The track concludes with a master’s project and thesis, in which students develop an original retail design proposal supported by independent research, potentially in collaboration with external stakeholders.
Master Mind scholarship is a scholarship programme by the Flemish Government.
Only international students with a high standard of academic performance can apply for this scholarship.
The Master Mind Scholarship includes:
- Grant of €9,600.
- Tuition fee waiver per academic year of 60 ECTS.
For eligible Master Mind Scholarship applicants, there is an additional step in the application process:
At the level of the International Office of UHasselt (DIOS), you will need to
- Complete the Master Mind Application Form
Our graduates have found interesting jobs in the area of architecture and interior architecture, and in locations all over the globe.
Many of them have gone on to work for universities and research centres, as well as governmental and non-governmental organisations.
- An international master's programme in interior architecture with two distinctive tracks: adaptive reuse and responsible retail design.
- Combine design, research and theory to explore contemporary challenges in interior architecture.
- Work on real-world spatial challenges and develop research-informed design solutions.
- Study in an international and interdisciplinary environment, with study visits, research seminars, workshops and collaboration with external partners.
- Ideally positioned in a region full of historical sites with various identities.
- Strongly embedded in the ongoing research on adaptive reuse by Trace, and retail environments by the Retail Design Lab
Let your creativity flow while studying at the historic Beguinage in the centre of Hasselt, in the heart of Europe.