Education
The student experience is about more than academic achievement — it’s about how students feel, interact, and belong. The spaces they use and rely on every day have a huge influence on that.
From student unions and cafes to study areas and social spaces, good design helps create a sense of connection and community. It supports wellbeing, encourages interaction, and shapes how students experience life on campus.
When universities and student organisations invest in thoughtful design, it shows. Spaces feel more alive and inclusive, helping attract new students and enrich the experience for those already there.
Retail Experience Design
We work with universities to reimagine and repurpose student environments — turning underused areas into vibrant, purposeful spaces that bring people together.
Our approach is centred on understanding how students use a space, what they need from it, and how design can make that experience better. Whether it’s a flexible study zone, a welcoming café, or a multifunctional social hub, every design decision is made with people in mind.
It’s about creating spaces that work on every level — supporting wellbeing, fostering connection, and delivering long-term value for the university.
How we can help you:
We help universities and student organisations create spaces that feel relevant, welcoming, and connected — environments that reflect the needs of today’s students.
Our designs combine creativity and practicality, ensuring every element contributes to the experience and performs for the institution behind it.
From concept to completion, we design spaces that bring people together, strengthen campus identity, and help students feel part of something bigger.
Sustainability starts with what you already have
Sustainable design isn’t always about the materials we choose — it’s about how we use what’s already there.
Reusing, recycling, and repurposing existing elements takes creativity and care, but it’s often a smarter, more cost-effective, and environmentally kinder approach.
At Warwick’s Terrace Bar, we restored the wooden dancefloor, polished the copper ceiling, and revitalised the existing bar to create a completely refreshed space.
From restoring original features to refining layout and lighting, thoughtful design can bring new life to old spaces — proving that sustainability and great results can go hand in hand.
Why flexibility matters in student spaces
Student spaces are rarely one-dimensional. They need to adapt — from day to night, study to social, quiet to lively.
At Warwick, both The Atrium and The Terrace Bar were designed with flexibility in mind. Each space can shift seamlessly to suit different activities and audiences, from everyday use to major events.
Designing for flexibility means thinking ahead — creating layouts, furniture, and finishes that can evolve with changing needs. It’s about making spaces that stay relevant, useful, and full of life long
after opening day.
Why Wayfinding means more than just signage
As interior designers, we look closely at the environment and the people who will be using it to understand how they will interact with and navigate around your space. Then we apply our knowledge of wayfinding, signage, lighting, colour and texture to create distinct zones and pathways.
Improved wayfinding was central to our design for Warwick Student’s Union – helping students to easily navigate the space: to understand what the space is for, how they can use it and where they they can go. It might sound simple but if it’s not right, shared spaces can feel chaotic and disconnected.
How graphics can shape a strong visual narrative
In community spaces, using graphics intelligently can be hugely powerful. Imagery, typography, colour, symbols and signage can all be used to capture your brand, evoke emotions and tell stories. Warwick Student’s Union asked us to transform their Atrium building (often mistaken for an office foyer) from a tired, unused space to a place that would encourage students to come together to work and relax.
Part of the design included applying vibrant large-format graphics in a style reflecting the university’s brand. This helped us to create a space with a cohesive visual narrative – one that was both engaging and easy to navigate.
What our customers think…
“Highly recommend Retail Experience Design to fellow professionals who are looking to transform their existing spaces into dynamic and engaging areas that students and staff can connect with and enjoy.
It has been great working with the team, and we are certainly pleased with the projects delivered to date!”
“Warwick Students’ Union worked with Retail Experience Design on refurbishing our main daytime student social space – the SU Atrium. RED provided great insight right from the start of the project, and gave us some great concepts to begin the design process. We had tight deadlines, but RED worked hard to ensure our requirements and feedback were incorporated into the scheme as we went through the development stages. We felt supported and involved throughout the process, and RED managed the delivery of an amazing new space exactly in line with the final design. Feedback from students has been incredible, and we couldn’t be happier with how the project turned out. We would wholeheartedly recommend RED, and would definitely work with them again on similar projects in the future.”
“We invited Retail Experience Design to look at our practice and provide initial space plans and a design direction for a new store concept, the initial ideas put forward blew the usual optical shop fit specialists out of the water and we therefore appointed RED to produce the concepts for our practice.
We are extremely pleased with how the designs have turned out not only does it look fantastic it improves upon so many areas and it really feels like this store has been designed to reflect what we are all about as a forward-thinking optical business. I would urge fellow opticians to give Dean a call if you are considering a refit or a new practice- they will defiantly provide you with something different.”
“The design knowledge and expertise that Retail Experience Design has was invaluable to us – it helped us to launch and push our new business venture forward.
Superbly functional, but also full of our personality, the RED team helped us create a design for our new dessert cafe that was aligned to our vision and importantly, to our budget.
Brilliant designers, highly recommended.”
“Since the practice re-design, growth has impacted all areas and surpassed our expectations. The results simply speak for themselves
135%
increase in retail sales
123%
increase in overall sales
40%
more clinical exams per week
844
new patients
Ready to start your own redesign?
Have a chat with us to get your project started. Fill in the form to get the ball rolling or give us a call.
Studio
02477 103 494
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Need some inspiration? Take a look at some of our work.
There are no boundaries to what good design can achieve for your space and your business. Take a look at some of our work.
The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
Community
Warwick SU HQ
Community
Warwick Students Union – Atrium
Community
Other sectors
Design for every space. Our experience is as broad as it is deep.
