Since 1998, Lecole de design Nantes Atlantique has been located on the technological campus Atlanpole La Chantrerie, in the northeastern area of Nantes (France), housed in a custom-built facility thanks to the support of local authorities (Nantes Saint-Nazaire Chamber of commerce and industry, the Pays de la Loire regional authorities, the Loire-Atlantique area local council, Nantes Metropole). The only design institution in western France, the school benefits from a unique regional situation.
Lecole de design Nantes Atlantique is a private institution for technical education dedicated to the teaching of design. Founded in 1988, it has been managed by the Nantes-Saint Nazaire Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 1991. The school is recognized by the State and is one of the two schools in its field to award a design degree which is certified by the French Ministry of Higher Education.This degree is also registered in the Registre National des Certifications Professionnelles (the French directory for vocational qualifications) as a Level I Master's degree.
The school is affiliated with the international association Cumulus which associates 226 art and design schools from 49 different countries. From 2007 to 2013, Cumulus was chaired by Christian Guellerin, the school's Managing Director. He is now Honorary President of the association.
Since 1999 at Lecole de design, it has been compulsory for all 1st year students on the Master's program to spend a semester abroad. Each year since 2001, the school has hosted fifty to sixty foreign students in its International Class. The International Class is a specific 3rd year program at Bachelor's level fully taught in English and open to French and international students.
On 13 September 2008, the school opened a branch in the People's Republic of China, the China Studio. This program was then transferred to Shanghai in September 2010 in partnership with the University of Shanghai. 60 to 70 postgraduate students are taking part in the Transcultural Design China Studio Master's program. Since January 2017, the school's China Studio has been headed by Eric Mazodier.
In 2010, the school opened a second Master's program: "Transcultural Design India", in partnership with Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore. The program is hosted in the India Studio in Pune, in partnership with MIT school of Design since 2018. Since September 2017 the India Studio is headed by Ms. Helene Thebault.
A third studio opened in Sao Paulo, Brazil in September 2017, in partnership with the Mackenzie University, with a similar Transcultural Design approach. The studio is run by Benjamin Gagneux, designer.
The fourth international studio opened in Montreal (Canada) in September 2018, in partnership with the Centech, the incubator of the engineering school ETS. French students are joining the Studio for a one-year program Design and Entrepreneurship. Le Studio Montreal is headed by Julie Le Ster, designer.
In September 2010, Lecole de design Nantes Atlantique opened the applied experimental research in interaction design laboratory, known as the READi Design Lab. The aim of this platform for creation and experimentation is to involve students in research projects thanks to its capacity for prototyping to assess graphic interfaces (Internet, mobile phones, etc.), modalities for interaction (multi-touch, tangible interfaces, etc.) and for producing data representations (prioritization, mapping, etc.). The Design Lab evolved in 2018 to become Human Machine Design Lab. The laboratory is run by Gregoire Cliquet, PhD (Arts et Metiers Paristech).