Tag Archives: 1:500

‘Celebrating Burnage Garden Village: Building Manchesters Pioneering Housing’ Exhibition

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Senior Workshop Technician Jim Backhouse recently completed two vintage style models for the upcoming exhibition ‘Celebrating Burnage Garden Village: Building Manchesters Pioneering Housing’ which will open with a launch event this coming Saturday at Manchester’s Central Library.

The two models show the overall estate plan at 1:500 along with a 1:100 model of a semi-detached house. Jim’s modelling style took inspiration from the original plans and drawings from the early 20th century hand finishing components using water colour.

Exhibition Launch description:

Burnage Garden Village, built 1908-1910, is an little gem, with architectural influences from Raymond Unwin and other Arts and Crafts enthusiasts. It is still managed by a local committee of Manchester Tenants Ltd established in 1906. Come to the launch of a small exhibition detailing the design and building of this pioneering Garden Village here in Manchester, hear about how it attracted socialists, suffrage campaigners and conscientious objectors as well as some extraordinary artists, sculptors and explorers.

Opening at Manchester Central Library this Saturday, March 2nd and running for the duration of March.

Tickets for the opening event are free and available here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celebrating-burnage-garden-village-building-manchesters-pioneering-housing-tickets-55917194835

Continuity in Architecture 1:500 Bollington Site model by Will Priest

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Will recently completed this working site model of an area of Bollington made from a CNC routed block of Mahogany. Once the CNC job was completed will spend several hours hand finishing details such as the building footprints and road details.

It’s worth considering this aspect when using the CNC route for a wooden model. Even though the bulk of material is removed with the machine there is usually a considerable amount of finishing to be factored in.

Will Priest CNC (5)

“I required a site model to make massing and programme arrangement decisions in relation to the topography and trees on the site. I chose to use the CNC machine because unlike the laser cutter, it allowed me to get smooth contours at the 1:500 scale and as a result decisions could be made at the smaller scale.

Will Priest CNC (9)

It required considerable sanding to remove the CNC excavation lines. For this is started with a low grit sand paper slow working my way up to a fine grit. I used mahogany because it is a hardwood with an attractive grain which gave the model a material connection to the actual wooded site.

Will Priest CNC (16) Will Priest CNC (17)

The trees were an experiment in process. I wanted to recreate the densely wooded appearance on the site with varied tree types. For this I used a variety of modelling trees, brass wire and pieces of bush.”  Will Priest 2016

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Colwyn Bay Contour Site Model, Ketil Rage & Kristian James

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Rather than using heavy and considerably more expensive wood to make their contour model, Continuity in Architecture students Ketil and Kristian opted to use grey board which saved them considerable time in cutting and money on materials.

Rather than simply engraving the outline of the building footprints it was decided to make each a more defined presence by cutting down into the contours and layering in a maroon backing.

Ketil described the project for us:

‘The model is part of our master plan for Colwyn Bay, which is our 5th year project. We decided to focus on the topography of the area as well as viewing the model as a figure ground map (with the buildings sunk into the ground), to aid our initial master plan strategy. The model will be ‘replaced’ by a 1:500 model now for our massing studies, so it was primarily used for our initial strategies for the town.’

Urban Spatial Experimentation project, 5th Year Project

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5th Year Projects (6) This 5th Year group have spent the last few days putting together a 1:500 site context model of the area they will be focussing on for their individual projects. The project is called Urban Spatial Experimentation or U.S.E. The site in question is the Albert’s Shed on the River Irwell and the model will allow different proposal models to be placed in context as they are developed. 5th Year Projects (7)The model consists of several mixed media that are used to represent different aspects of the site. It was quickly decided that the offsite context buildings would be represented using jelutong block offcuts to reduce the cost and effectively put the massing of each building together. Building footprints were drawn out and placed on the block pieces which were then cut to height before being shaped and sanded to finish.

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The main base of the model is made up using 2mm MDF which was laser cut and engraved to create the minimal contouring on the site and provide the relief from the river section which was added last as a piece of black acrylic.

5th Year Projects (5)

5th Year Projects (11)

The group used small seed pods from a tree to represent the trees across site. This technique was used last year by several students and can be seen in this project by Laura Minca.

Here are a few pictures of the finished model below.

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1:500 Master Plan Model, Year 3 BA Architecture

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This group project for 3rd year BA students will be used to display multiple concepts that will continue to develop throughout the year. For this reason considerable thought was put into getting the contouring and overall model size correct for purpose.

By figuring out high and low points on their site the group could then make a series of supporting ‘ribs’ at the relevant size for the 1:500 scale. Clearly marking each piece by number is crucial when there are many components. Once fixed in place the engraved ‘skin’ was fixed over the top creating the flow of contours across the site.


The next main phase of construction was to produce the existing site buildings. by taking plans printed at scale the group divided the site into different zones and gave each building a number to assure easy identification when assembling.

By referring to visual reference such as photographs it is possible to find an approximate building height by looking at courses of brickwork and door/window heights. At this scale approximations are fine for the models purpose but extra care should be taken when focussing on areas in the immediate vicinity of the areas being used for proposed development.

The group decided to add extra laser engraved facade details to the exiting buildings closes to their proposed site. This helps to highlight the concentration and detail in the surrounding buildings without over emphasising their physical construction.

As the group found out, adding too many detail lines can prove costly in terms of time on the laser cutter.

We encourage you to consult us about any of these fine details as more often than not they can be simplified and still easily convey the message.

1:500 site model of a distribution/retail centre in Bradford, Sam Higgins

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Sam HigginsThis 1:500 Site model was made by 6th Year MA Architecture Student Sam Higgins. The model uses limited block coloured components to clearly define the outlines of various parts of the site. This model was made using laser cutting and hand cutting of components and was largely assembled out of the workshop hours. This is often essential to achieve a high volume of physical work for your portfolio as workshop hours can be restrictive. It’s important to make the most of any allocated time slots or time you choose to spend in the workshop for the best outcome in terms of what you are trying to convey.  Sam Higgins 1

‘Exchange Parade Theatre’ Context Model, Rachel Jenkins

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Just completed design development model, this 1:500 context model aims to show how this proposed theatre design will sit within what is currently an urban car parking space. The model includes subterranean levels and roadways that make up the different site levels. At this stage the model can be disassembled to allow for possible design changes to be discussed with Rachel’s tutors.