About the B.15 Modelmaking Workshop

The B.15 Workshop (Part of the School of Environment Education and Development or SEED at UoM) caters for students from the Manchester School of Architecture (MSA) – a shared school across the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University.

We offer facilities and advice for the production of scale development and presentation models for use in student projects. The workshop offers state of the art digital fabrication technology alongside core traditional manufacturing techniques.

Our aim is to continually develop our workshop to remain in line with industry standards whilst equipping our students with a good understanding of contemporary and traditional approaches to modelmaking.

As well as our main function toward MSA we offer consultancy work and are regularly involved in projects across campus and externally.

Short History of B.15

The workshop in its current location has been providing modelmaking advice and facilities to Architecture, Planning and Landscape students since its completion in 1970. Whilst technology has evolved since then, the workshop has always played a key role in the study of Architecture at Manchester. Originally part of the University of Manchester, the school merged with Manchester Metropolitan University Architecture Course in 1996 to form MSA. Find out more in this documentary short produced for the workshops 45th Anniversary.

The School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED) workshop is located in the basement room B.15 of the Humanities building off Bridgeford Street on the University of Manchester Oxford Road campus.

Contact

Address:

B.15 Modelmaking Workshop
Humanities Bridgeford Street
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
M139PL

Telephone: Office: 0161 275 6876 or Workshop: 0161 275 6853

Please note that due to the nature of our role we are often away from the desk to answer phone calls so leave a message and we will try to get back to you. Urgent contact can be made through the university switchboard directly to our workshop but we recommend either of the following e-mail addresses.

Staff Email addresses: Scott.Miller@manchester.ac.uk / lara.gerrard@manchester.ac.uk / teagan.dorche@manchester.ac.uk / sarah.carroll@manchester.ac.uk / paulina.voang@manchester.ac.uk

Please note that CAD related bookings can only be made in person although you are welcome to get in touch about machine availability or with and other questions.

Opening Times

Refer to the up to date opening times page for this years calendar.

For any further information about the workshop rules and regulations refer to the General Users Guide .

 

Recent Posts

Welcome to 2023/24 at B.15

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Hello all and welcome to another academic year at B.15 in MSA.

Hope you’ve all had a relaxing summer. Here are a few updates for this academic year for you:

New Staff Member

Please join us in welcoming Teagan Dorsch to the team. We’ll be doing a short feature on Teagans experience via our Instagram feed soon. Teagan will be leading on CNC related requests as well as covering all areas like the rest of the team. 

Newly refurbished workshop space

Throughout the summer we have been very busy with yet more building works to improve, refurbish and expand the workshop space. 

In short, all staff only equipment is now located in a separate workspace thus meaning more space for student projects. We have a newly configured machine space with new custom made efficient dust extraction system.

The CNC machine is now contained within an enclosed sound proofed area to reduce noise when it’s in operation. 

There is now a dedicated recycled materials space to allow for increased and more organised use of recycled materials wherever possible. 

Upgraded model archive/store

Our model archive and current projects store has had a make-over with the addition of a full length window. This now allows the collection to be viewed any time and provides additional inspiration throughout the year when passing between B.15 and B.12. 

Welcome video

For those of you unfamiliar with where we are you check out our brief introduction video below for a brief introduction of who we are and where you can find us.

New Starter Inductions 

New starter inductions will be taking place on the following dates with more catch-up sessions to be confirmed in the coming weeks. If you are scheduled to attend please turn up on time to avoid missing out. 

BA 1 – Tuesday 26th September

MArch (Session 1) – Wednesday 4th October

MA A+AR – Thursday 5th October

MA Landscape – Tuesday 10th October

BA1 Catch-up – Tuesday 10th October

MArch (Session 2) – Wednesday 11th October

MA A+U – Friday 13th October

Access around these times will be limited so please get in touch if you have specific requirements this early on. The workshop will be open for uninterrupted general use from 16th October.

General users guide

You should all have received the latest general users guide by email but you can also find it here for reference.

We look forward to see some familiar faces and meet plenty of new ones in the coming weeks! – Scott, Lara, Sarah and Teagan 

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