Dezeen School Shows: a community space that welcomes both people and wildlife is among the projects from students at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar.
Also featured is a wellness centre designed for female collegiate athletes and a modernised brewery, restaurant and community hub in Richmond, USA.
Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts
School: Department of Interior Design
Course: Thesis Studios
Tutors: Laura Battaglia, Seung-Ho Lee, Kristin Carleton and Roberto Ventura
School statement:
"These studios are the culmination of a year-long independent, issue-based design exploration.
"Students completing their final undergraduate and graduate years in the Department of Interior Design at VCUarts are challenged to explore how design can engage an issue or idea that has three tiers of relevance.
"First: the project must have relevance to the student to sustain the passion required for a year-long investigation.
"Second: the project must engage with an issue or need in the local community where the project is based – the vast majority of projects are situated in or near Richmond, Virginia, where the university is located.
"Third: the project should invite interest from the larger interior design community.
"Students develop research projects that include primary investigations of their own authorship, programming and site documentation in the fall semester.
"This backbone sets the foundation for developing a design response to the student inquiries in the spring.
"Ultimately, these projects demonstrate the values driving the pursuits of these students and the power and potential they have as emerging designers to transform not only interior spaces but our communities overall.
"We do not know how our students will engage with design after graduation, but we do know that they will all be citizens of our communities who will have the opportunity to build them for the better.
"Our hope is they put their passions and skills to use with interior space as their medium."
Within the Ruin: A Modern Brewery Rebirth by Karim Asarzadeh
"This project reimagines the historic ruins of the James River Steam Brewery in Richmond, Virginia, as a modern brewery and community hub.
"The project introduces a second-floor restaurant and public gathering spaces while preserving the historic masonry ruins.
"It takes a holistic approach by connecting the building to the surrounding landscape and urban context while integrating architecture, interiors and furniture.
"The new intervention is designed to be simple and respectful, using clean modern forms and materials that contrast with the historic structure while allowing the character of the ruins to remain the main focus of the space."
Student: Karim Asarzadeh
Course: IDES 699: Creative Project – Thesis
Tutors: Roberto Ventura and Kristin Carleton
Email: ka.asarzadeh[at]gmail.com
Returning – Reclaiming the Silos by Ashley Nicole Pike
"This project is a response to ecological injustice and a reclaiming of interiority. Rooted in the belief that healing and belonging are inseparable, the chosen location rests on an industrial farming site that has been forgotten since its loss of operation.
"In inspiration to reignite the relationship between nature and people within an urban setting, the new function of the silos provides cooling design solutions, community-centred gardens and a flourishing market where nature guides mindful practices.
"Creating space for both gathering and solitude, Returning serves as a living reminder that renewal is possible."
Student: Ashley Nicole Pike
Course: IDES 401: Senior Interior Design Studio II
Tutor: Laura Battaglia
Email: anp022001[at]gmail.com
A Return to Earth by Lily Aun Corbin
"A Return to Earth designs an outdoor space for healing and processing grief by reconnecting users to the earth and its cyclical nature.
"It is intended to mirror the idea of grief as a circular staircase, showcasing the beauty in death, grieving, and remembering.
"The project itself draws on global grief practices to delineate grieving and remembering as healing methods, while green and blue elements blur the line between them.
"With that being said, A Return to Earth seeks to understand the innate subjectivity of grief while embodying the idea that, although winter is here, spring will always come."
Student: Lily Aun Corbin
Course: IDES 401: Senior Interior Design Studio II
Tutor: Laura Battaglia
Email: lilycorbin03[at]gmail.com
A Familiar Place by Diana Zagorodna
"I am drawn to spaces that exist in contradiction, both comforting and uncomfortable at once.
"A place is never experienced in a single way. It is shaped by memory, emotion and perception.
"Through image, I construct how a space is felt rather than how it appears, allowing the familiar to shift between recognition and uncertainty.
"This work explores how an internal understanding of a place can be translated into something that can be physically experienced.
"The viewer is asked to navigate this experience, forming their own understanding as perception shifts."
Student: Diana Zagorodna
Course: IDES 401: Senior Interior Design Studio II
Tutor: Seung-Ho Lee
Email: zagorodnadj[at]gmail.com
Wooden Lung by Elena Grace Curtusan
"Wooden Lung reveals how the essence of space emerges from the interplay of material and maker.
"In each piece, the maker's spirit and the material's character merge, giving rise to forms that carry traces of both. Each stands on its own, yet simultaneously as a collective product of connection.
"As these works fill a room, they radiate the essence of their origins – material and maker intertwined – creating a tangible atmosphere where their story can be seen, felt and experienced.
"The interior is shaped not just by physical boundaries, but by the lingering presence of the ongoing dialogue between the two beings."
Student: Elena Grace Curtusan
Course: IDES 401: Senior Interior Design Studio II
Tutor: Seung-Ho Lee
Email: elena.curtusang[at]gmail.com
Quiet Between by Sarah Marsh
"Architecture carries an emotional weight that those who are in recovery feel more deeply.
"The unseen currents of space, their ability to shift thought, invoke feeling and guide the inner being of those who enter deeply inspire my process.
"Continuously, I return to the idea of calm, not as emptiness but as something alive and present. I turn to nature as my guide, its forms softening and shifting, reminding us of what it means to be whole.
"In the exploration of these thresholds, design becomes less about what is seen and more about what is felt."
Student: Sarah Marsh
Course: IDES 401: Senior Interior Design Studio II
Tutor: Seung-Ho Lee
Email: smarsh2004[at]icloud.com
Within the Flow by Marley J Owens
"Within the Flow explores beauty as a journey rather than a destination. It begins with an investigation into the forms that emerge on my painting palette.
"These moments are often overshadowed by the pursuit of a finished painting. Here, the focus is shifted to become a connection to the subtleties of the world, forming a space that blends into the flow state itself.
"Conceptualised to exist within alleyway sites, these pieces act as quiet interventions, allowing the viewer to immerse themselves in the boring.
"This project invites people to slow down, take pause and reflect on the beauty within the mundane."
Student: Marley J Owens
Course: IDES 401: Senior Interior Design Studio II
Tutor: Seung-Ho Lee
Email: owensmj3413[at]gmail.com
Vitality: Wellness for Female Collegiate Athletes by Kristin Beach
"Vitality is a wellness centre designed to support the holistic wellbeing of female collegiate athletes. Inspired by the concept of ebb and flow, the design draws from the natural rhythm of waves to create a balance between movement and restoration.
"Through thoughtful spatial transitions, users are guided through moments of activity, recovery and reflection.
"The centre provides an inclusive environment where women within the VCU athletics community can prioritise their physical, mental and social well-being.
"Spaces include physical therapy, academic support, movement studios, private therapy rooms, gathering lounges, locker facilities and healthy grab-and-go food options.
"Rooted in sustainability, equity and wellness, Vitality demonstrates how interior design can enhance athlete well-being."
Student: Kristin Beach
Course: IDES 699: Creative Project – Thesis
Tutors: Roberto Ventura and Kristin Carleton
Email: kristinfb13[at]gmail.com
Between Thresholds by Nishchay Patel
"This thesis explores how architecture can shape movement and perception through a choreographed sequence of thresholds.
"Located within two historic hangars at Naval Air Station Alameda, the project transforms circulation into an experiential journey organised through compression, emergence, pause, contemplation, release and recalibration.
"Through strategic interventions of light, material, scale and enclosure, the design guides users through a progression of spatial conditions that heighten awareness and engagement.
"Rather than treating thresholds as simple boundaries, the project positions them as occupiable and experiential spaces that become the primary drivers of architectural experience."
Student: Nishchay Patel
Course: IDES 401: Senior Interior Design Studio II
Tutor: Laura Battaglia
Email: nischchaypatel[at]gmail.com
Now, Far Now by Yelenna Angeles
"I design for the quiet places within people – for moments when a space feels both familiar and unplaceable, suspended between presence and memory.
"This thesis treats interior design as a vessel: collecting us as we arrive, guiding what we carry, converting it into something newly recognised and releasing us changed.
"The project operates as a responsive system shaped by water – tides, seasons and river ecology continually rewrite the interior.
"As conditions shift, so do the spaces, their uses and their audiences – welcoming both people and wildlife. Rather than dictating meaning, the spaces amplify what already exists within the visitor."
Student: Yelenna Angeles
Course: IDES 401: Senior Interior Design Studio II
Tutor: Laura Battaglia
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.