Postgraduate

Space and Service Design

Mechelen

English

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International Postgraduate in the design of services and service environments

Designing for change

  • Ready to use your design skills for forward-thinking, inclusive solutions to tackle today's social, cultural, and economic challenges?
  • Do you want to collaborate with real clients and end-users to tackle genuine design challenges?
  • Eager to dive into users' lives through research-led and user-centered design?
  • Come and study with us and use your personal vision to add sustainable value to public spaces and improve the accessibility and user experience of the clients of public services.
  • Embark on the 'Designing for Change' journey, where your creativity shapes innovative services and service environments that have a positive impact.
  • Become a proactive and socially aware agent of change, making tangible differences for people through the application of innovative design thinking.
Space and Service Design Classroom
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Your future job

Choose your programme type

Space and Service Design

A space and service designer does not only design the services but also the spaces, objects, and communication systems that make a service system really work.

We will equip you with skill sets for success in navigating today's dynamic, diverse and interconnected world.

  • You will build on your BA or MA in design (Industrial, Graphic, UX/UI, Architecture, Interior, and more) with this fully accredited international postgraduate program. You will acquire future-ready skills like focussing on the users’ needs, co-creation with communities, developing a digital perspective, creating evidence-based and context-based solutions, teamwork and team leading, prototyping and testing, strategic thinking and system design as well as working with constraints and effective intercultural collaboration and communication.
  • You will work collaboratively with multidisciplinary multinational teams on real-life projects with clients, expanding your network on top of weekly master classes with industry experts.

You will transform your design career or business aspirations to new heights via this one-year programme.

Practical information

  • Duration

    1 year (or 2 yrs part-time)

  • Where

    On campus

Programme

  • First semester |Your first semester provides you with knowledge and skills in researching and designing services and experiences. The methodologies and tools presented support you in developing innovative design ideas and delivering relevant solutions to real-world design problems presented by our client-organisations.
    You collaborate in international, multidisciplinary design teams and take up individual designer roles (the designer-researcher, designer-sustainability coordinator, designer-manager, designer-entrepreneur, designer-social media guru,…). As part of the team, you will apply and share your previous knowledge and interact directly with our clients and users. The SSD Master Classes bring in professional experts from creative industries that will share their knowledge, approaches and experiences.
  • Second semester |The second semester offers the opportunity to focus on your own strengths by working on a challenging real-life project and take part in an (international) internship, taking a client project to production or contribute to a service design research project. You expand your professional network.
  • Major Project | In the major project you will demonstrate your research skills and your ability to define the tangible and intangible context and needs related to the project. Your end work will be the creation of a relevant user-centred space and service design solution that you effectively document and present.

Below you can find an overview of the courses ( under reservation of changes), with the number of credits per phase. Credits express how many hours you need on average to process the subject matter (incl. lessons). Count about 25 to 30 hours for 1 study credit. 

  • We have explained the most important courses in a blue tooltip.  
  • Would you like to know the detailed content of each subject? Check the programme guide.
Semester 1 2
Space & Service Design i 15
SSD Master Classes i 5
Future Proof Designer i 5
Design & Research i 5
Semester 1 2
Final project Space & Service Design i 15
Professional Experience i 10
Professional Development and Design Management Master Classes i 5

Download

Timetable

pg-ssd-me.pdf
.pdf
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This course does not start in February.

Got questions?

Programme Manager

Nansi Van Geetsom

For all your questions about the Postgraduate in Space & Service Design.

nansi.vangeetsom@thomasmore.be +32 15 36 92 40
Study path coach/coordinator & inclusion coordinator

Annelies De Bruyne

For all your questions on study path, study support and facilities.

annelies.debruyne@thomasmore.be +32 496 17 71 09
Unit Manager

Guy Foulon

For all your questions about the ID&A department.

guy.foulon@thomasmore.be +32 15 36 92 40
Admissions

Admissions Officer

For all your questions about Admissions & Application.
Available by phone 9.00 - 15.00

admissions@thomasmore.be +32 15 36 92 50
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Excited? Apply now!

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 Space And Service Design

Our Work

De Kompaan

Sustainable food production & consumption
Food saving services for De Kompaan 

Vrijbroekpark

Interactive education
Vrijbroekpark's community and environmental services

Care facility services

Health and wellbeing 
Integrating services and builing community for Stabroek.

Museum  Dr.Guislain 

Inclusive design 
Support for Neurodivergent visitors  at museum  Dr.Guislain 

Vocational training in Uganda 

Designing for quality education 

Useful links

Live projects with real clients

Our course connects theory to practice through live projects, collaborating with real clients on planet-centric solutions. We embed user-centered design and co-creation methodologies, empowering you to create truly impactful designs. Each project is thoughtfully aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring our work contributes to a more equitable and sustainable future.

You'll work directly with government agencies, non-profits, and businesses, building your network and portfolio from day one. Gain hands-on experience in project management, client engagement, and understanding user needs. Take responsibility, develop your professional skills.

Don't just design; design with impact, with users, and for the planet.

Professional network

A few of our partners...

Small classes, direct expert guidance 

Our small class size fosters a close-knit community and personalized learning. We enroll 20 promising candidates, creating a dynamic cohort coached by dedicated design professionals, lecturers, and researchers.

Through our unique learning-by-space-and-service-design-development (LSSDD) approach, you'll engage in real-life projects, master classes, and hands-on sessions with clients and experts.

Operating like a design agency, each student takes on a specific role, allowing exploration of new skills and accelerated development of both hard and soft skills.

Co-creative methods ensure stakeholder participation and co-ownership. Students exchange knowledge with users and experts, gaining valuable insights.  Access to Interior, Design and Architecture unit's resources, including Whats'on and well-equipped workshops, further expands what each student can achieve.

PG Space and Service Design - inclsuive
Client and student insights
"In one year I learned more communication and management skills than I learned from any other education or job, and I learned how government, agencies and NGOs work with designers"
Naomi May Student
By collaborating with a group of international students — each with a different background and prior education — we gained new insights. The Service Design methodology was very refreshing and helped us break free from fixed patterns of thinking."
Koenraad Pierré Provincie Antwerpen
"Service design provides a context in which all disciplines of design come together;
there are few courses that engage students on so many levels, as makers, as thinkers, but also as citizens."
Andrea Wilkinson Researcher / Senior Lecturer

International and Inclusive Design Community

We embrace the global nature of design. Our diverse student body reflects the international reality of the field. In today's world, English is the language of global business, and cross-cultural collaboration is essential.

Working in our mixed-culture, multi-age, and interdisciplinary teams provides invaluable experience in communication, reflection, and project management—skills crucial for success in any international setting.

For us, international isn't a distinguishing feature; it's the standard.

PG Space and Service Design - international

Fresh perspectives each year

Every year of our program is a unique experience. Our diverse student body, with backgrounds spanning various disciplines, brings fresh perspectives and approaches to the table.
We partner with new clients each year, presenting unique challenges and opportunities for innovation.

We recognize that our students are already professionals in their own right, and we treat them as such.
This creates a dynamic learning environment where skills evolve, and opportunities are open equally to everyone in the class, fostering a new and collaborative experience for all.

PG Space and Service Design - Fresh perspective

Our program boasts a truly global reach, welcoming students from diverse corners of the world, spanning from Singapore to Cuba, Finland to South Africa.

This international perspective is further enriched by our collaborations on projects like CoLIFE, our multinational staff, and the vibrant mix of over ten nationalities represented in class each year.

CoLife

Our unique fast track Master's extensions

Our Postgraduate in Space and Service focuses on applied, hands-on research. For those interested in a more theoretical, research-focused path, we offer exciting opportunities to expand your studies.  Partnering with leading universities in China and Germany, you can pursue an additional Master's degree. Study a fast track at Jiangnan University in China or complement with a Master's thesis semester with Osnabruck University in Germany.

Space and Service Design in numbers

10+ Years experience

100+ Partners

35+ Real life projects

Designing for change, design with impact

Our postgraduates offer clients research-driven solutions: spaces, objects, communication and services that effectively change people’s day-to-day life. Our future-proof designers can play a significant role in tackling contemporary social, cultural and economic challenges through evidence-based and human-centred design.
For the Mama Sabina Health Care Centre in Bwera Uganda, students converted an existing school building into an inviting medical service space. Supported by Ekisande, Medics Without Vacation, the TM nursery department and Aquafin, feasible and desirable solutions were designed. The project is executed.

Check it out

What is co-creation and how can such a workshop benefit my design process and my organisation?

A co-creation session brings people from different interests and backgrounds together to co-design user driven solutions. Public organizations and governments increasingly demand this approach.Our students are uniquely trained to facilitate and lead these collaborative design sessions.

Our postgraduate Service Design students were tasked by Tourism Province of Antwerp to create the Ultimate Hiking Experience in the province. The students conducted thorough research into the needs of hikers, a co-creation day and worked closely with the Province and municipalities, which resulted in identifying the design requirements.

 Space And Service Design

Mechelen

Campus Lucas Faydherbe is a hub of innovation! With studios and a tech-packed workhouse, from 3D printers to panel saws, you'll have all the tools for any prototype.

Experience a warm, collaborative environment with cosy corners and a big garden. A campus where personalized learning is key, you're part of the community.

Watch our campus video here

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