Author Archives: Workshop

Workshop Closure Dates This Week

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Due to new equipment training and critique involvement the workshop will be closed for two days this week.

Monday 03/03/2014 – Open 09.30 – 04.30 (Closed 13.00-14.00 1hr Lunch)

Tuesday 04/03/2014 – Open 09.30 – 04.30 (Closed 13.00-14.00 1hr Lunch)

Wednesday 05/03/2014 – Closed

Thursday 06/03/2014 – Open 09.30 – 04.30 (Closed 13.00-14.00 1hr Lunch)

Friday 07/03/2014 – Closed

 Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Normal opening times will resume week commencing 10/03/2014

Scott & Jim

1:200 Castlefield Site Model, Richard Coskie

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Year Six student Richard Coskie has a history of making things from clear cut hand finished materials in our workshop. This project is no exception and as Richard explains, is continuing to influence his design decisions as the project develops.

“My project is an Urban Cultivation Cooperative Centre, located on a site that is nestled between train tracks and the canal, on the old Castlefield junction at the south end of Deansgate. The 1:200 scale site model I have crafted in the workshop from pine, is proving very useful in the development of the project for investigating relationships between different programmes. I hope to display the final scheme on the site model, as well as creating other models at other scales.

The decision to create the site model void of any digital fabrication was an easy choice for me. Firstly, because the site has a low-tech and industrial aesthetic, which is better achieved by sculpting arches from a single, chunky, piece of wood. But most importantly, as a designer, I feel it is important to learn the dimensions of a site, by actually planing the topography to scale, or sawing, carving and sanding the arches to size. For the moments that one is engaged with the manipulation of their model, I believe that it is as vital a time as any for visions to come to fruition.”

We will add some studio photographs of this model in the near future. Find out more about MSAp here: http://www.msa.ac.uk/atelier/msap/

Warrington Town Centre Flow Model, Baljit Panesar

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Baljit is using a slide system to convey the different mapping she has looked at in her study of Warrington High Street.

The key question for this project was ‘What is the future of the High Street?’.

The project has looked at empty shop spaces and their potential for non retail use as a reinvention of the traditional high street. Baljit mapped the variety of creative industries in the Warrington area and is looking at the potential to place them within the empty high street store spaces.

Contested Peripheries Baljit Panesar (5)

Her main site focus is the Garnetts Cabinet Works which is due to be demolished. By using this site as an ‘incubator’ or hub for creative services, Baljit proposes a ‘launch site’ for services that would normally be based outside of the high street with the Garnetts site acting as the gateway for those services.

This working model is constructed as a grid allowing pins to be placed in the board to indicate changes in site flow at specific locations across the high street and bigger city site.Points of intervention can easily be updated by simply relocating the relevant pin.  Each mapped industry or feature has been screen printed onto acrylic slides which are stored in the base of the model and slotted in above the engraved map and below the grid. This model will continue to change and inform as this project is refined and understood, partly due to the creation of the model itself.

New B.15 Photographic Studio

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After a lot of re-ordering, cleaning and a successful equipment bid, we now have a photographic studio at our disposal!

This will come in handy for documenting your completed work straight  out of the workshop at a high standard. We currently have a white backdrop in place and are awaiting delivery of grey and black as well. As projects are completed and photographed we will most likely include them on a dedicated page here on the blog for all to see.

Over the next week or so we will be getting an idea of how this area will be used so please bare with us whilst we figure out what suits your needs best.

Should you want to use the facility please don’t hesitate to ask either myself or Jim.

We look forward to seeing some great photographs of your finished work.

Scott

Contested Peripheries Sessions

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Every Tuesday morning is now focussed on the 5th and 6th Year Contested Peripheries Group. The sessions so far have allowed students to voice any questions on their projects and refine their ideas through converse with their tutors and workshop staff.

Having tutors on hand in the workshop has been very beneficial to the group and we hope to encourage other Ateliers to be involved in the workshop in a similar way. As projects are completed we will give a more in depth look at their models and how they are being used to inform their designs. 5th year cp (1)

Peak Pavilion, Dunham Massey

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After many months of design and development the pavilion projects have come to a close over the last week with their installation on site at Dunham Massey. The Peak Pavilion project consists of 8 ‘peak’ sections connected by a steel ring. Each peak features CNC engraved poetry written by former Dunham Massey Hospital patients during World War 1. Each text panel was CNC’d using a V-Bit cutter.

Despite the rain construction went smoothly on site and Omer kindly sent us these pictures of the completed Peaks.

Venice Plaster Detail Model, Becky Prince

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Made using an MDF mold this detail model aimed to demonstrate the window detail Becky was focussing on at her site. The mold proved to be the most time consuming aspect of the model but turned out successfully. It is always worth spending longer on mold design to ensure a good cast.

 

The mold was made using MDF which can absorb moisture from the plaster mix and therefore needs to be well sealed before pouring. Becky used Vaselene to act as barrier and release agent for the cast.

The internal void was made by using blue foam to allow for contracting of the cast as it cured and then be removed. This too was well coated in Vaselene to aid removal.

Once cured the MDF was unscrewed and removed before cutting out the internal blue foam. Additional window details were added using initially laser cut and then modified components.

 

Venice Arsenale Site Model, Matt Arnold

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Matt used stained Meranti hardwood to create the block massing on his model. The majority of the model was hand finished to a high standard with time being taken to sand the blocks a smooth finish. The water in the Arsenale basin is represented with a sheet of frosted acrylic.

The site itself covers the Venice Arsenale and focusses around a small site, as is often the case with Venice, in between a restrictively protected mass of existing historic buildings. Matt intends to use the model as a master to ‘drop in’ his site proposals as they develop with the final model being displayed in place at the end of year exhibition.

Change to Opening Times from Tuesday 28th Jan 2014

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Beginning Tuesday 28th January the workshop will be closed between 9.30 and 13.00 to all students apart from Contested Peripheries Atelier students. This will remain in effect every Tuesday for the rest of this Academic Year.

This is due to a change in teaching structure which,in the not too long term, will benefit all students. Our efforts will be focussed on delivering specific advice based on the whole groups needs whilst being exclusively available to answer questions as a group and to individuals.

These sessions will aim to focus on the theory of modelmaking and question your approaches based on what you are trying to achieve.

Necessary inductions or refreshers concerning machine operation will also be given.

The workshop will re-open as normal from 14.00 to all students.

Here are our amended general weekly opening times:

Monday: 09.30-13.00 (One hour Lunch Break) 14.00-16.30

Tuesday:14.00-16.30

Wednesday: 09.30-13.00 (One hour Lunch Break) 14.00-16.30

Thursday: 09.30-13.00 (One hour Lunch Break) 14.00-16.30

Friday: 09.30-13.00 (One hour Lunch Break) 14.00-16.30

Saturday/Sunday: Closed

We look forward to getting started!

Jim & Scott

Manchester City Master Plan Model, Architecture of the Processional City, Atelier VI

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Back at the start of December we covered one groups start on their master plan block model of part of Manchester City Centre during the still ongoing spate of block models being made in the workshop. The project was part of ‘Architecture of the Professional City’, Atelier VI at Manchester School of Architecture. You can find out more about their studies on their Blog by clicking here.