Billy Blue Interior Design students work on Sibella Court project

For Billy Blue College of Design, industry and employability are at the forefront of everything we do. We’re all about providing our students with real-world, practical experience that will set them up for success in their careers. That’s why we value our partnership with globally renowned interior designer Sibella Court, ambassador for our Interior Design courses. 

Through our partnership, we strive to provide unique opportunities for our students to tap into Sibella’s wealth of knowledge and experience. From this, we know our students will take away invaluable learnings to draw from in their own Interior Design careers and practice. 

Interior Design live brief providing practical experience 

The latest component of our partnership with Sibella? A live industry brief. At Billy Blue, live briefs are embedded into our curriculum. They provide Interior Design students with a golden opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world projects and work alongside genuine clients.  

For aspiring interior designers, it doesn’t get much better than collaborating with Sibella. So committed to nurturing the next wave of designers and enhancing the student learning experience through initiatives like this live brief, Sibella was shortlisted as a finalist for the Local Hero Award in the 2022 ACEN WIL Awards.  

Sibella Court’s Interior Design brief 

Sibella is currently working on a heritage-listed residential building in The Rocks, Sydney. For her live brief, she tasked the class with creating a proposal to design the look and feel of the space. Students had to consider client needs before running wild with their designs – something we teach through our focus on human-centred design.  

Diploma of Interior Design and Decoration Course Coordinator Melissa O’Brien says projects like this provide priceless learning opportunities. “Working on a heritage project of this scale is an incredibly valuable and unusual student experience,” says Melissa. “It has been of importance to Sibella to ensure students build a good and informed foundation of knowledge in this area.”  
   
Working on this brief over the course of a trimester, students were required to consider factors such as budgeting and regulations, as well as produce floor and ceiling plans and select joinery, furniture, fixtures and equipment.  
 
Once they had refined their ideas and translated their visions into a proposal, it was time for our students to present to Sibella. 

Students’ proposal for Sibella Court’s Interior Design brief 

Working in creative teams with their own studio name, students collaborated on the project just like a live studio project team would. Here are some of the results.

Alchemy Interiors

Sandra Boyd, Portia Chaseling, Briellin Keenes, Skye Howard 

Alchemy Interiors wanted to create a haven for residents to escape their busy lives. From its palette to its artworks, the space is refined yet casual. 

“It was really exciting to work on the Sibella Court live brief. We approached the brief as if we were part of Sibella’s design team. It was an enriching place to be, and we walked the line between designing for ourselves and considering what Sibella’s team would create,” said Sandra Boyd, one member of Alchemy Interiors.  As she prepares for her future career in interior design, Sandra said, “I feel the live brief pushed me to a higher level of professional as I really consider at every point what the industry expectations would be.” 

Core Interiors

Olivia McLennan, Adina Tarabiya and Haley Lin 

Core Interiors paid tribute to the Gadigal Land on which the residential building stands. Each room harks back to an overarching theme that connects the space to its surroundings and celebrates its past. 

Creative Eye

Maria van Kempen, Nathan Exley, Sybella Wyatt, Erin O’Brien, Jamie Trefz 

As well as paying homage to The Rocks’s rich heritage, Creative Eye turned to Neo-Georgian architecture to inform their design choices.  

What's next for the Sibella project?

Sibella’s project is yet to be unveiled, but we’ll be sure to update you on its progress. You can view more of Sibella's interior projects here and follow her on Instagram to keep up with her latest endeavours.

If you want to learn more about how you can become an interior designer read our top tips.