CSAD to open Wales’

first official MIT Fab Lab

CSAD’s new building will house Wales’ first Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT) accredited Fab Lab at its core. We will be full

members of the global Fab Lab network and this will be the first official

UK Fab Lab attached to a university.

The term ‘Fab Lab’ is short hand for fabrication laboratory. Fab Labs are a

global network of local labs, linked through video conferencing technology.

They enable invention and innovation by providing easy access to tools for

digital fabrication and prototyping.

The lab will extend the School’s existing digital prototyping facilities to offer

computer controlled circuit board manufacture, a large CNC router capable of

dealing with 2.4 metre X 1.2 metre sheets, a large and powerful laser cutter

as well as numerous CNC machines, various 3D printers, large format digital

printers, a CNC vinyl cutter, 3D scanners and so on. Flexible provision will

ensure that our students have access to world class facilities which we will

also be able to offer to members of the public when our students don’t

need them.

The new facilities will house a

suite of modern, well-designed

and safety-conscious workshop

areas. These will be provided

on one whole floor of the new

build and a remodelled floor of

our existing accommodation.

Wood Area

New and traditional machines are

supported by highly skilled and

motivated practitioners. The

workshop will provide students

from all courses with the

opportunity to work with one of

the most elemental of all materials

in either self-directed or guided

sessions.

Metals

The centre of our metals

workshop is our new foundry and

hot metal space, run by our RCA

trained Technician Demonstrator.

Pieces, both large and small, will

be cast and used by a variety of

different artists and makers. The

workshop will also house a range

of Mig & Tig welders, plus plasma

cutters along with drilling, bending

and milling facilities.

our new homeready 2014

CSAD’s strategy of linking enterprise, research and learning & teaching

missions will mean that the new Fab Lab will be at the core of exciting

activities. It will, for example be used as a base from which students can

study optional modules in robotics, musical instrument design or computer

embedded product prototyping. At the same time, it will serve as a base from

which many of the School’s research staff and PhD students can operate and

will be a rich public resource for access to the latest digital fabrication

techniques. Continual Professional Development courses will be available and

the Fab Lab’s facilities will also be available to provide direct access to the

machines themselves.

A key part of CSAD’s Fab Lab strategy is that we will be able to offer our own

graduates access to the best possible base from which to start their own

businesses, giving them continued access to the machines they used during

their time with us. Thus the university’s facilities will become the base from

which our graduates can begin their professional lives. We aim to make that

partnership a long and fruitful one.

Ceramics

The ceramics workshops will

house well equipped kiln, plaster,

clay and glaze areas. The

workshop will also house glass

slumping kilns, clay and plaster

preparation facilities. Externally,

students will have access to soda

kilns and Raku firing facilities. This

forward-looking facility reinforces

CSAD’s commitment to this, the

largest ceramics centre in Europe.

Textiles

Our facilities in this area employ

traditional techniques alongside

up-to-date digital printing and

laser cutting equipment.

Professional sewing machines,

over-lockers and digital

embroiders are employed by a

wide range of CSAD courses.

Printing workshop

Students have access to a range

of printing techniques including

screen-printing, intaglio, etching,

engraving and stone litho facilities.

The workshop will continue to

have a complete high pressure

screen cleaning washing area with

adjacent equipment for drying and

developing the largest of screens.

Photo-media

This area will house a darkroom

with production of RC and fibre

based silver gelatin prints;

Photograms; Cyanotypes and

Liquid Light. In the film developing

room, you can process black and

white film 35mm 120 or 5X4.

Colour is handled via our Colour

Machine for production of colour

RA4 Prints from negatives. Digital

Printing is carried out on Epson

9500 large format and Canon 950

A3 printers.

In our studios you can expect to

find continuous lighting and

portable flash equipment, our

copystand can be used to

document all types of artwork

using a digital camera. Also

available is an infinity background

for documenting small to medium

sized objects plus a large flash

unit for studio photographs.

Our stores contain a large

selection of 35mm film cameras

and compact digital cameras for

student loan, including 5X4 Film

cameras, 120 film camera, DV

tape video cameras and HD video

camera equipment.

Audio and Video

For video work we have

camcorders, lighting, microphones

and audio recorders available for

use. There is bookable studio

space, where we also do basic

green screen work. We currently

have four Mac based Video Edit

Suites running Final Cut Pro

Studio. In our Audio suite we have

a Mac based recording studio

utilising Pro-Tools. We have a

selection of instruments,

amplifiers, microphones and

outboard gear.

Our Macs run Pro-tools, Logic and

Reason, 3D workshops and

Fablab. This facility will continue to

develop, in line with technology.

Here you will find a suite of CNC

milling machines, laser cutters,

routers, and 3D printers. Add to

this our area for developing

electronic control systems and you

have an area where concepts can

become reality in a short time.

Facilities in the new building

www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/csaddevelopment

www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/csadwww.cardiffmet.ac.uk/csaddevelopment

Cardiff School of Art & Design Howard Gardens Campus Cardiff CF24 0SP Tel: +44 (0)29 2041 6154 Fax: +44 (0)29 2041 6944 email: csad@cardiffmet.ac.uk

Cardiff School of Art & DesignLlandaff Campus Western AvenueCardiff CF5 2YB Tel: +44 (0)29 2041 6637 Fax: +44 (0)29 2041 6640 email: csad@cardiffmet.ac.uk

The move will come in the third

year of delivering the School’s

new undergraduate curriculum,

designed to enable students to

work across the disciplines, whilst

increasing their depth of

engagement with their own.

“Our students will be able to

choose a period studying abroad

with partners in India, Zambia,

Venice, America or Korea, the

Dean says. “They will also be able

to choose to undertake a

management module or

experience a work placement or

work with one of our research

professors or principals. We will

also have a much larger masters

and research degree community,

with many more students

studying for MFA, MDes and

Professional Doctorates in Art or

Design.”

Moving to a new location also

allows the School to take new

steps towards providing the

energy and momentum for

innovation in teaching with a host

of exciting plans being made to

provide facilities that will mark it

as a truly modern faculty. Most

notably, a partnership with the

Samsung Art and Design Institute

in Seoul will allow students to

transcend international borders

engagement with art, design,

making and architecture from

perspectives other than those that

are western, white and frequently

male,” Kavanagh continues to

confirm the School’s commitment

to providing education in art and

design to a wide audience.

“Our students love Cardiff, many

choosing once graduated to stay

to set up businesses and their

own practices here. Our staff

contribute to the vibrancy of the

creative environments of both

Cardiff and Wales as a whole.

Collectively, we will remain part of

the very fabric of what makes this

city and this country special,” she

says as if to sum up. “We are

ready for anything the future

throws at us, and we’ll be

addressing it from a wonderfully

designed and created new base in

Llandaff. We can’t wait.”

and still cycle home from the

campus in the evening.

“We plan to develop video-linked

teaching facilities with Samsung

Art and Design Institute,

enhancing our joint delivery of

our MDes, with particular

emphasis on product design,”

Kavanagh says. “We’re also

looking forward to being able to

integrate high-end prefabrication

facilities into our workshops,

linked to the global FabLab

network, to meet the proven

needs of industry. This will also

be deployed to enable local school

children with an interest in design

and technology to connect with

classes as far flung as Boston,

Barcelona and Tehran.”

The cross-disciplinary aspect of

the new curriculum is very much

enabled with the new shared

studios that are being designed.

These will be able to

accommodate the School’s

growing interest in the way that

science, art

and design relate to one another

with debates and engagement.

“We will be able to action our

developing plans for part-time

degrees, where the emphasis will

be on multi-culturalism and

Our newhomeIn 2015, the Cardiff School of Artand Design will be celebrating its150th anniversary. At the heartof the city since its opening in1865, the School which is one ofthe oldest in the UK has had manyhomes.

Beginning life in the oak rooms above the

Royal and Morgan Arcades, it is the oldest

part of Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Since its first site, it has also been housed

in The Friary building, near Cardiff’s New

Theatre, and in the purpose built Howard

Gardens Campus, opened by the Earl of

Snowdon on 13 May 1970.

“Each location has marked a step forward and a turning point. No less a

turning point is Cardiff Metropolitan University’s decision to consolidate the

School on one site, the Llandaff Campus, through an investment of £14m in

the provision of a new building and the refurbishment of existing

accommodation,” says Dean of Cardiff School of Art and Design, Professor

Gaynor Kavanagh. “The planned development means a tremendous amount

to the School. Above all else, it represents to us the faith and confidence

placed in CSAD by the University’s Governors, who recognise the School as a

centre of excellence and high performance in both research and teaching. We

are hugely grateful to them for this and for their continued interest and

engagement with the School.”

In 2014, the School will move to the new campus designed by award winning

architects Austin-Smith:Lord, who also designed the Riverfront Theatre,

Newport as well as the Cardiff School of Management - one of the most

pleasing and useful spaces in Cardiff. Consolidating the split site campus

allows the School to facilitate a better experience for students as well as staff.

“The development has been designed around the research and teaching

requirements of CSAD. As a result, it is sensitive to the ways we work through

making and critical thinking,” Kavanagh explains,

“The design fully recognizes that CSAD represents higher education at its

most unconventional, intellectually challenging and creatively dynamic. The

design allows for the fact that we are messy, noisy, technology-driven,

talkative, hugely hard working, and resource-intensive: not to mention,

inventive, pragmatic, constantly developing and generally maverick.”

But the move doesn’t just mark the physical progression of the School of Art

& Design’s history. It also indicates a renewed commitment to progression in

research, teaching and innovation.

A lead partner in the Wales Institute of Research in Art and Design, the School

will deliver a strong submission to the Research Excellence Framework in late

2014 to follow the success of its ranking of 11th in Research Power in art and

design in the UK in the REF’s predecessor, the Research Assessment Exercise

in 2008. On this last point, Kavanagh says, “The allocation of space in the

new accommodation will enable the continuation of our varied and

groundbreaking research work, especially that where we are in partnership

with other universities including Lancaster, Birmingham, and Cardiff, in

particular Cardiff Medical School. Our commitment to science in the context of

our disciplines remains strong and hopefully will be well evident at the

Science Pavilion of the next National Eisteddfod.”

Taught Postgraduate

► Postgraduate Certificate in

Professional & Research Skills:

Art & Design

► MA Ceramics

► MSc Advanced Product Design

► Master of Fine Art (MFA)

► Master of Design (MDes)

► MA (Art & Design) Fine Art

► MA (Art & Design) Communication

► MA (Art & Design) Textiles

► MA (Art & Design) Art & Science

► MA (Art & Design) Philosophy

► MA (Art & Design) Ecologies

Research Degrees

► MPhil

► PhD

► Professional Doctorate: Art

► Professional Doctorate: Design

► Professional Doctorate:

Ecological Building Practices

Undergraduate

► Cardiff Diploma in Foundation

Studies (Art & Design) (Bridgend)

► Foundation Degree in Contemporary

Furniture Design (Bridgend)

► Foundation Degree in Ceramics

(Barry)

► Foundation Degree in Textiles

(Barry)

► Foundation Degree in Graphic

Communication (Barry)

► HND Architectural Design

& Technology (CSAD)

► HND Design for Interactive Media

(Bridgend)

► BSc (hons) Architectural Design

& Technology

► BA (hons) Artist Designer: Maker

► BA (hons) Fine Art

► BA (hons) Ceramics

► BA (hons) Textiles

► BA (hons) Graphic Communication

► BA (hons) Illustration

► BA (hons) Product Design

► BSc (hons) Product Design

► BA (hons) Photographic Practice

(Bridgend College)

Gaynor KavanaghDean of CSAD

Project Team Cardiff Metropolitan

University Estates Department

Austin Smith: Lord

Wilmott Dixon

Davies Langdon

Ove-Arup

Silcock Dawson