Diploma in Interior Design 2008 -

Olivia Watts

Interior Designer

"I found the course very challenging, however this prepared me for what was to come in the ‘real world’ and also taught me to work as efficiently as possible either by myself or in a team."


What were you doing before KLC and why did you decide to attend KLC?
I was at the University of Leeds studying Spanish and Italian, I have always had two main passions in life; languages and design. I realised half way through my degree that I wanted to pursue a career in the latter, so I left Leeds and applied for a place at KLC.

Can you identify some of the highlights of your time at KLC?
The biggest highlight was passing all my coursework & graduating! I found the course very challenging, however, this prepared me for what was to come in the ‘real world’ and also taught me to work as efficiently as possible either by myself or in a team.

A personal highlight was learning to draw to scale! I used to paint & draw abstractly, so this was new territory for me and I really enjoyed learning how to draw within certain disciplines.

Also it goes without saying that working on some very cool projects whilst at KLC was definitely a highlight, these included a yacht design with Candy & Candy and a Period Listed building in central London.

How has your career evolved since KLC?
Soon after graduating from KLC, I moved to Dubai, I have been with the same company for 7 years - LW Design Group; ‘Best Design Firm of the Year’ for 2014. The company specialises in high end hospitality & F&B design. I was employed by KLC as a Junior FF&E designer; I then progressed to Interior Designer and then Senior Interior Designer which is my current position.

The company gave me a chance to grow and I was fortunate enough to work with and learn from some highly skilled designers – my role now means I lead a team to complete hotel projects from plan to completion, working together with other specialist consultants.

What are some of your recent projects?
My most recent projects include a Sheraton Hotel, an extension to an existing Meridian Hotel & the first of a new Middle Eastern brand Hotel, called Vida.

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