Hello, I’m Sam, a Programme Tutor on the Interior Design Degree Course. Alongside my work as an educator in the fields of Interior Design and Architecture, I am co-founder of an architecture, design and art studio called Estudio ESSE.
My formal design education began when I enrolled as a mature student at the University of Huddersfield to study Architecture. By this point I had long been passionate about design and had built an informal portfolio of sketch designs for houses, interior proposals for the uninspiring office in which I worked at the time, sport stadiums, and even a pair of wicket keeping gloves that I still have plans to make one day. While the step from quietly working on my own ideas at home to studying within a degree course structure and sharing my work with others was incredibly scary and a huge challenge, it pushed me to develop a rounded and comprehensive set of skills that gave me confidence to grow as a designer. I have since worked with Architects, designers and artists in London, Ljubljana, Bucharest, Málaga, Rotterdam and Berlin, and gained a Masters Degree in Architecture from the Chair of Interiors Buildings Cities at TU Delft in the Netherlands.
Parallel to my studies and work in various offices I developed an interest in the communication of design, especially in relation to how design ideas are communicated with a wider public. This led to my involvement in establishing the ‘500 Words of Design’ fanzine with fellow students in Huddersfield and ‘Bnieuws’, the periodical of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at TU Delft where we promoted discussions about design and the built environment via written publications, interactive installations and live events. I remain passionate about the role of communication in all its forms in making design more transparent, accessible and equitable.
I co-founded Estudio ESSE with the aim of creating an alternative and experimental working practice that combined wide ranging interests from hands-on making and experimentation through design to first-hand research and teaching. With Estudio ESSE I have worked on a variety of projects which, while different in their scale, output, location, character and scope, share a careful and precise response to their various contexts.
In both my professional design practice and my teaching I am always enthusiastic to learn about and share new ideas and sources of inspiration. Studying design as a hobby at first, then as a full-time student, and then having the privilege to see my ideas materialise in the ‘real world’ has challenged me, allowed me to grow and brought me joy. I believe strongly that design should be fun, enjoyable, and accessible to as many people as possible. I am therefore enormously excited to become part of the Interior Design team at OCA where I hope to build on my experience of teaching on both the undergraduate and postgraduate Architecture courses at the University of Central Lancashire.
