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 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 / 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

New 3D printer: Fuse+30W SLS powder printer

We’re pleased to announce that after a successful bidding process last academic year we now have an exciting new type 3D Printer that uses selective laser sintering or SLS printing technology: The Fuse+ 30W.  

This type of 3D printing is a leading additive manufacturing technology that uses a high-powered laser to fuse small particles of powdered material together. The resulting fused powder forms your 3d print whilst the surrounding unfused powder is recycled back into the system. This circulation process is managed by the Fuse Sift station where excess powder is mixed with new before being added back into the printer as part of its own ecosystem. 

Our machine will exclusively use a grey powdered material called ‘Nylon 12’ which is known for its strength and durability, making it suitable for various applications in your model making projects.

The printable build area is 155mm(L) x 155mm(W) x 300mm(H).  

The process of creating SLS 3D parts first involves creating a suitable STL digital file that you will need to discuss with a member of B.15 staff. If accepted, your job will be priced up and added to the queue. Once your print has completed, the process requires a cool down period of around 6 hours before we can manually post-process it by removing all of the unfused powder.

Post-Processing – Cleaning excess powder from prints.

Depending on your design, you may have to contribute to this process. If this is the case or you would like to learn how it’s done, then we will provide instruction on how to do it.  

With this type of technology, it is more efficient and sustainable to group files together and because of this we will be trialling a workflow by running the machine once a week. This will initially be on a Thursday to run overnight and be ready to postprocess from Friday. If demand increases this will be extended to also include another day earlier in the week. Files need to be approved for this process no later than 1pm on Thursdays to have a chance of going on later that day. Post processing can be completed from Friday. 

Should you wish to find out more about this printer or about how it might be used as part of your project, drop in and speak to a member of B15 staff and we’ll happily discuss your project requirements.  

See you soon – Lara

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