Faculty
Our course is led by a strong team of successful practitioners from across the design and art industry.
Rachel Smith-Robb
BDes Int Arch and Design, BA Art History, Dip Tch Primary
NCSID Advisor
Rachel's role has been instrumental in re-shaping and updating the NCSID. She has worked with tutors and consultants to review the eight modules, upholding Nanette's core vales and vision for the school.
Rachel has a background in interior design and project management, working in both residential and commercial. She has practised around the world, in Rome, London, Melbourne, and Auckland.
Rachel has a passion to see students connect the dots and bring new appreciation and beauty to the spaces around them.
Lead tutor on Interior Design for Residential Contexts and graduate courses Residential Design Project and Interior Design Today
Grace Wright
MFA (Hons), A.T.C.L
Grace is a practising artist with a background in Fine Arts. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts and has held multiple exhibitions in New Zealand, Australia and more recently Asia. She is represented by Gow Langsford Gallery in New Zealand and Yavuz Gallery in Singapore.
Lead tutor on Colour in Context
Linda Tyler
PhD, MA (Hons)
Associate Professor of the University of Auckland, Linda Tyler has taught art and design history at Canterbury, Victoria, Waikato and Auckland universities. She currently teaches art writing and curatorial practice at Honours level in the University of Auckland's Art History Department, and supervises student research in the university’s Museums and Cultural Heritage programme.
Lead tutor on History of Interior Design
Victoria Gaylard
BHSc, NZ Diploma in Kitchen Design
With a keen interest in interior design, Victoria began the NCSID course as a student in 2018, where she soon discovered her passion for spatial planning and SketchUp, along with an understanding of how great design can transform lives.
In 2022, Victoria set up Victoria Gaylard Design – an interior design studio specialising in bespoke kitchen, bathroom and cabinetry design. Victoria completed the NZ Diploma in Kitchen Design in 2024 and is a Gold member of the Designers of the NKBA and a member of the Nanette Cameron Interior Design Guild.
At NCSID, Victoria teaches the Kitchen, Bathroom, Technical Drawing, and SketchUp modules. She understands that effective design is about understanding how people live. She is dedicated to guiding students through spatial planning, cabinetry design, and finish selection, enabling them to realise their design visions. Victoria believes in the transformative power of thoughtful design and is committed to equipping students with the skills to create meaningful spaces.
Tutor for SketchUp technical courses
Katie Smith
MA
Katie graduated with an MA in Textile Art from Goldsmiths University of London in 1995, after studying textiles at Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin. She has worked with fabric in one way or another throughout her life. From clothes to interiors to conceptual art, she’s always been fascinated by the power of fabric to transform places, spaces and people.
Lead tutor on Fashioning the Domestic: Interior Surfaces
Appears on graduate course Residential Design Project