Materials List and Online Shop

The workshop hold a stock of materials available to degree students at cost prices.

All prices shown are for full sheets as they are sold by our suppliers. Smaller cuts are charged relative to the required size.

Don’t forget to check the offcuts bin before buying new sheets of material – its free!

Payment for materials and services should  be made using a debit or credit card at our Online Shop IN PERSON AT THE WORKSHOP.

  • This should be done within the workshop with a member of staff to quote on exact costings based on our available stock. Do not purchase materials online without a quote from a member of workshop staff.
  • You will have to register your email account and payment method to set up and account. This will then allow easy access for future purchases.
  • You will be asked to detail the individual items or services you are paying for when making your payment. This should be based on your quote and materials listed here.
  • On making your purchase in the workshop you will be sent an email receipt to confirm your payment.

B.15 Modelmaking Workshop Materials & Services Online Store

Unfortunately we are unable to accept payment vouchers or MET card payments at this time. We are aware of MET card fund allocations meaning purchases are restricted to MMU and are working to change this.

Before buying new materials Please consider how you use them. Click here to read a few pointers on the subject.

*** Please note that all stock is constantly being used and therefore cannot be guaranteed. We highly recommend you come in to ensure the material you need is in stock before booking on any machines you intend to use it with. ***

Laserable ‘Medite’ MDF Sheets:

  • 2mm – £2 per Laser bed sized sheet (800mm x 450mm)
  • 2mm – £2 per Laser bed sized sheet
  • 4mm – £3.50 per Laser bed sized sheet
  • 6mm – £4.50 per Laser bed sized sheet

Laserable Ply (Standard) Wood Sheets:

  • 8mm – £14 per Laser bed sized sheet (800mm x 450mm)
  • 5mm – £11 per Laser bed sized sheet
  • 3mm – £4 per Laser bed sized sheet
  • 4mm – £4.50 per Laser bed sized sheet
  • 6mm – £6 per Laser bed sized sheet

Clear Acrylic Plastic (Also known as GreenCast or Perspex) Sheets:

  • 1mm – £21 per Laser bed sized sheet (800mm x 450mm)
  • 2mm – £5.50 per Laser bed sized sheet
  • 3mm – £11 per Laser bed sized sheet
  • 4mm – £15 per Laser bed sized sheet
  • 5mm– £18 per Laser bed sized sheet
  • 6mm – £22 per Laser bed sized sheet
  • 10mm – £32 per 600mm x 1000mm Sheet
  • 12mm – £35 per 600mm x 1000mm Sheet

Frosted Acrylic Plastic

  • 3mm – £11 per 800mm x 450mm Sheet
  • 5mm – £19 per 800mm x 450mm Sheet

Opaque Coloured Acrylic Plastic (Also known as Perspex) Sheets:

  • 3mm, Black, White, Grey, Mid-Blue, Light Blue, Purple, Yellow, Mid-Red, Light-Red, Mid-Green, Light-Green, Orange – £11 per 800mm x 450mm sheet
  • 5mm, Black, White, Marine Blue, Purple, Yellow, Red, Green, Orange – £18 per 800mm x 450mm sheet.

Transparent Coloured Acrylic Plastic (Also known as Perspex) Sheets:

  • 3mm, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Orange (Amber), – £11 per 800mm x 450mm Sheet

 ‘Live Edge’ Florescent Transparent Acrylic Plastic Sheets:

  • 3mm, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue – £11 Per 800mm x 450mm sheet

Acrylic Mirror

  • 3mm – £25 per 1200mm x 600mm Sheet

Vac Forming Styrene Plastic Sheets:

  • 5mm Black, Grey, Blue, Red, Yellow, Brown, Green, Orange – £1 per 508mm x 458mm Sheet
  • 1mm, White, Black, Grey, Blue, Red, Yellow, Brown, Green, Orange – £1.50 per 508mm x 458mm Sheet

Cork Sheets (Suitable for laser cutting)

  • 5mm thick £3 per 900mm x 600mm sheet
  • 2mm thick £8 per 900mm x 600mm sheet
  • 3mm thick £13 per 900mm x 600mm sheet
  • 5mm thick £13 per 900mm x 600mm sheet

Cork Sheets (NOT suitable for laser cutting)

  • 25mm thick £32 per 420mm x 594 sheet (Full sheets currently unavailable here. Ask for details)

Various other smaller sizes of cork are available. Please come in to check what we have in stock.

The Following are NOT FOR USE ON THE LASER CUTTERS:

Standard MDF Sheets:

  • 3mm- £8 per 8ft x 4ft, 2438mm x 1219mm Sheet
  • 6mm – £10 per 8ft x 4ft, 2438mm x 1219mm Sheet
  • 9mm – £12 per 8ft x 4ft, 2438mm x 1219mm Sheet
  • 12mm – £15 per 8ft x 4ft, 2438mm x 1219mm Sheet
  • 18mm – £19 per 8ft x 4ft, 2438mm x 1219mm Sheet
  • 25mm – £10 per 1220mm x 1220mm Sheet
  • 30mm – £15 per 1220mm x 1220mm Sheet

Various other smaller sizes are available. Please come in to check what we have in stock.

Standard Birch Faced Ply Sheets:

  • 4mm – £28.80 per 8ft x 4ft, 2438mm x 1219mm Sheet
  • 6mm – £33.60 per 8ft x 4ft, 2438mm x 1219mm Sheet
  • 9mm – £36 per 8ft x 4ft, 2438mm x 1219mm Sheet
  • 12mm – £43.20 per 8ft x 4ft, 2438mm x 1219mm Sheet

Exterior Grade Ply Sheets:

  • 12mm – £23 per 8ft x 4ft, 2438mm x 1219mm Sheet

Various other smaller sizes are available. Please come in to check what we have in stock.

Jelutong, Mahogany, Poplar (aka Tulip):

£20 per Block (Exact sizes vary please check in person)

Various other larger and smaller sizes are available. Please come in to check what we have in stock.

Grey Foam Block

  • 50 x 600 x 415mm approx £8.50 per block

Various other smaller sizes are available. Please come in to check what we have in stock.

Materials Store (2)

Clear Acrylic Rod

  • 2mm – £1 per 1000mm Length
  • 3mm – £1 per 1000mm Length
  • 4mm – £1 per 1000mm Length
  • 5mm – £1.50 per 1000mm Length
  • 6mm – £2 per 1000mm Length
  • 7mm – £2 per 1000mm Length
  • 8mm – £2.50 per 1000mm Length
  • 10mm – £2.50 per 1000mm Length
  • 12mm – £3.50 per 1000mm Length

Clear Acrylic Half Round

  • 5mm – £3.50 per 900mm Length

Clear Acrylic Square

  • 2mm x 3.2mm – £1 per 900mm Length
  • 8mm x 4.8mm – £1.50 per 900mm Length
  • 5mm x 6.5mm – £2.50 per 900mm Length
  • 6mm x 9.6mm – £3 per 900mm Length
  • 5mm x 12.5mm – £7.00 per 900mm Length

‘Live Edge’ Florescent Transparent Clear Coloured Acrylic Rod

  • 6mm, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue – £1 per 490mm Length
  • 4mm, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue – £2 per 490mm Length

Clear Square Tube

  • 2mm x 3.2mm – £2 per 760mm Length
  • 8mm x 4.8mm – £2.50 per 760mm Length
  • 4mm x 6.4mm – £3 per 760mm Length

Light Grey ABS Telescopic Square Tube

  • 2mm – £2 per 760mm Length
  • 4mm – £2.50 per 760 Length
  • 9mm – £3 per 760mm Length
  • 5mm – £3.50 per 760mm Length
  • 1mm – £4 per 760mm Length
  • 7mm – £4.50 per 760mm Length
  • 3mm – £5.50 per 760mm Length
  • 9mm – £6 per 760mm Length
  • 1mm – £7 per 760mm Length
  • 2mm – £7.50 per 760mm Length
  • 4mm – £8 per 760mm Length

Light Grey ABS Rectangular Tube

  • 3mm x 6.4mm – £4 per 760mm Length
  • 9mm x 6.4mm – £5 per 760mm Length
  • 3mm x 9.5mm – £4.50 per 760mm Length
  • 2 x 9.5mm – £7 per 760mm Length

Light Grey ABS Capping Strip

  • 22mm – £4 per 765mm Strip
  • 32mm – £6 per 765mm Strip
  • 5mm Thin Strip – £1 per 620mm Strip

Opaque Coloured ABS Tube

  • 4mm – Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, White, Green, Orange – £1 per 760mm Length
  • 4mm – Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, White, Green, Orange – £2 per 760mm Length
  • 9mm – Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, White, Green, Orange – £2 per 760mm Length
  • 1mm – Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, White, Green, Orange – £3 per 760mm Length

Brass Wire

  • 1mm – £1 per 760mm Length

Piano Wire

  • 5mm x 914mm pack of 5 –  £3.20
  • 4mm x 914mm pack of 2 – £3.80

Aluminium Wire

  • 2mm x 1000mm £1 each

Wooden Dowel

  • 1/8” 3.5mm – 3 x 600mm for 50p
  • 4mm – 3 x 600mm for 50p
  • 3/16” 4.5mm – 3 x 600mm for 50p
  • 1/4” 6.2mm – 3 x 600mm for 50p
  • 5/16” 8mm – 2 x 600mm for 50p
  • 3/8” 10mm – 2 x 600mm for 50p
  • 1/2” 11.5mm – 2 x 600mm for 50p
  • 3/4” 19mm – 1 x 600mm for £1
  • 1” 25mm – 1 x 600mm for £1.50

Wooden Square Section

  • 5mm x 3.5mm – 10 x 278mm for 50p
  • 6mm x 6mm – 5 x 600mm for 50p
  • 8mm x 8mm – 5 x 600mm for £1
  • 10mm x 10mm – 4 x 600mm for £1.25
  • 12mm x 12mm – 50p per 600mm
  • 15mm x 15mm – 50p per 600mm
  • 21mm x 21mm – 50p per 600mm
  • 34mm x 34mm – £1.50 per 600mm
  • 46mm x 46mm – £2 Per 600mm

Balsa Wood

  • 3mm thick 500mm x 300mm sheet £4.50
  • 5mm x 1.5mm x 915mm strip 20p each – £2 pack of 10
  • 3mm x 3mm x 915mm strip 25p each – £2.50 pack of 10
  • 6mm x 6mm x 915mm strip 30p each – £3 pack of 10

Styrene Rectangular Strip

  • 0.5mm x 4.00mm £3.50 X 10 (35p Each)
  • 1.00mm x 1.5mm £3.50  X 10 (35p Each)
  • 1.00mm x 2mm £3.50  X 10 (35p Each)
  • 1.00mm x 4.00mm £3.50  X 10 (35p Each)
  • 1.00mm x 6.4mm £3.50 X 10 (35p Each)
  • 2.00mm x 1.5mm £3.50  X 10 (35p Each)
  • 2.00mm X 2.5mm £4.00 X 10 (40p Each)
  • 2.00mm x 4.00mm £4.00 X 10 (40p Each)

Styrene Square Rod

  • 1.0mm x 1.0mm £3.50 X 10 (35p Each)
  • 1.5mm x 1.5mm £3.50 X 10 (35p Each)
  • 4.00mm x 4.00mm £3 X 5 (60p Each)

Styrene I-Beams

  • 4mm x 7.9mm £6.00 X 4 (£1.50 Each)
  • 6.4mm x 12.7mm £6.00 X 4 (£1.50 Each)
  • 7.9 x 15.9mm £6 X 3 (£2 Each)

Styrene Angles

  • 3.2mm x 3.2mm £5.30 X 7 (75p Each)
  • 7.9mm x 7.9mm £5.00 X 4 (£1.25 Each)

Styrene Half Round Rod

  • 1mm Width £3.50 X 10 (35p Each)
  • 2.00mm Width £4.00X 10 (40p Each)

Styrene Round Rod

  • 1.5mm Diameter £4.00 X 10 (40p Each)
  • 2.5mm Diameter £2.50 X 5 (50p Each)

Scale Trees (Supplied from 4D) 

High Quality brass etched and hand finished trees. Stock levels regularly fluctuate for these and we only stock a limited range. More sizes and styles available with your student discopunt direct from 4D modelshop.

Available from us in Cork, Mid Green, White, Copper Beech and Bare Branch.

  • 9mm high – 50p per tree
  • 50mm high – £20 per tree

Before buying new materials Please consider how you use them. Click here to read a few pointers on the subject.

B.15 Modelmaking Workshop Merchandise 

Branded Tote Bags – £5 each

Branded Enamelled Steel Mugs – £5 each

Ltd Edition MSSA/B.15 T-shirt – White or Grey, XS,S,M,L,XL – £5 each

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Modelmaking above Alexanderplatz – Peter Lee at HENN Architects, Berlin

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Earlier this summer I visited MSA Graduate Peter Lee at HENN Architects Berlin Office. Located overlooking Alexanderplatz, HENN is an international architecture office with additional offices in Munich and Beijing. They have a wide-ranging experience in work space, culture, health, education and research as well as production and master planning. It’s a great pleasure to see graduates take their modelmaking skills into practice. Where possible I always try to take the opportunities to learn just how these skills are used in their work and this has been one such occasion. Peter has been kind enough to discuss his experience over the last 3 years in practice since graduating from MSA.

After graduating from my masters in 2016 I wanted a bit of a change from Manchester so started applying for jobs in cities that I wanted to live in, mostly abroad, and HENN was the first place that got back to me. The job description was particularly interesting in that it was a mostly model making role within the design / competition team, which suited my skill set pretty well.

On a day to day basis I produce a lot of sketch models, mostly for internal use which really helps with making design decisions. Because of the fast pace of competitions (they generally last a month or two), people are often jumping between projects. Having a model in front of you is a much easier way of understanding site conditions, massings and contextual relationships than working purely with software because it has this tangible quality. 

The workshop has a laser cutter, spray booth, hot wire cutters, disc sander, sandblasting cabinet and Ultimaker S5 3D Printer. Mostly we work with foam, card and acrylic – occasionally we get things outsourced or made in the HENN Munich office, which has more machines available for woodwork.

In terms of setup it’s a lot more restricted than what the students have access to at B.15 which is mainly due to spatial constraints. The office is located in a 70s East Berlin tower and there isn’t enough space for more equipment -however, it’s more than sufficient for producing competition / presentation models. It also serves a different purpose as a workshop for a commercial practice – B.15 is more about giving students the opportunity to learn and therefore supports a wider variety of techniques and materials that aren’t necessarily appropriate or efficient for me to use.

Most of my time is spent on massing and context models but it really depends on what is important to the project – it could also be façade models, mock-ups of internal spaces, more conceptual pieces etc.

Around two years ago I produced a sketch model for an office tower competition in Hamburg which we went on to win. The massing was derived by cutting out foam slabs and arranging them to generate a stepping double height void moving up the lower part of the building. When placed in the context model and compared with other designs it was clear that it was the right way forward – while it was more conservative than some options it fulfilled all the masterplan requirements while retaining an interesting spatial logic.

The competition was also a different format from usual in that we had a lot of contact with the client / developer during the design process. People always love it when you turn up with a model, especially if it’s not required – in this case we brought a lot of sketch models which gave an insight into the design process that the client wouldn’t normally see. It’s also more interesting to have something more tactile in front of you instead of being sat in front of slides and slides of presentation, which definitely worked in our favour.

Leading practices at the moment like Morris and Co, Carmody Groarke are really pushing the use of models as an important design tool and it would be good to see that trickle down into the majority of practices. I have had two architectural jobs before this one – the only time models were around was for presentations and they were always built by a specialist model maker. Software is all well and good but I feel you can always make better design decisions if you have a physical representation in front of you.

If I could change anything about my work on a personal level it would be to be a bit more poetic with my model making through abstract / conceptual models and material explorations – most of what I do at the moment is pretty representational. Having said that, I really enjoy my job here. It can be long hours from time to time but it often feels like an extension of architecture school due to the quick nature of competitions and room to experiment. It’s also good to see models being used as a design tool and being able to use my skills to collaborate with other specialists, such as computational designers.

Thank you to HENN for allowing us to share this insight and to Peter for his thoughts, time and continued enthusiasm towards the work we do here in B.15.

– Scott

Peter at work in on his MArch final major project B.15 Workshop in May 2016

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