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 Architecture related 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 / paulina.voang@manchester.ac.uk / ken.chan@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 .

AiM: IN PROGRESS – Exhibition

Posted on September 1, 2026 by mzfassm2

AiM: IN PROGRESS: EXHIBITION

September 14th – October 23rd

Launching at London Design Festival with hosts Material Source Studio London

Presented by the Architects Index of Modelmaking, AiM: IN PROGRESS is the first in a three-year series of architectural exhibitions exploring how physical models can influence the design process — before the full-scale build.

Rather than focusing on the fully resolved, each exhibition will evolve to reveal how projects develop through conversations between clients, end users, modelmakers and architects. Here, models are not simply representations of an architectural idea, but tools for testing, questioning and, sometimes, changing that idea.

EVENT

AiM: IN PROGRESS: Before It Gets Built – A conversation towards 2028

17.30 – 21.00, Wednesday September 16th

Please register here to join this launch event

Does a model ever stop representing a design and start changing it?

Join us alongside representatives of the European Cultural Centre Italy and a selection of contributors, to discuss the latest AiM exhibition. Focusing on the models behind current architectural projects, we’ll look at the stages of design development when ideas are still forming — and consider how much of what ultimately gets built is shaped by what happens along the way.