Resources for Students
As a msa student, you will have the unique opportunity of having access to an exceptional range of workshop, media and computer facilities at two universities.
Jump to: Studios / Materials / Computers / Workshops / Libraries / Photography & Video
Studios
BA and BArch students’ day-to-day work space is located in the MMU’s Chatham Building. The eight storey building offers excellent panoramic views over central Manchester. All of the studios are covered by a wireless network. Third year students and BArch students all have their own dedicated studio space in which to work. Each of the BArch studios have dedicated computers, scanners and printers.
Materials
Students can purchase materials and consumables with student discount from our Material Stores. There are discounts available for students on Apple and PC computer systems and software.
Computers
As a student at the MSA you will have access to the extensive and state of art computing facilities at both Universities. This includes the large PC computer clusters found across both campuses as well as the specialist PC and Apple Mac computer suites located in the Chatham and Bridgeford Street Buildings. In these computer suites you will find industry standard software such as AutoCAD, Autodesk Viz, SketchUp and Vectorworks for computer-aided design and visualisation. You will also have access to web design, publishing and digital editing applications such as Adobe Dreamweaver, Flash, InDesign, Photoshop and Apple iMovie for presenting your work and large-format printers for the output of finished projects.
Workshops
There are workshops for model making in both the Chatham and Humanities Bridgeford Street Buildings. Inductions and training in the use of these workshops will be provided. The Faculty of Art and Design at MMU also houses an impressive range of fully equipped workshops for wood, metal, ceramics, glass, textiles, printmaking and bookbinding.
Libraries and Special Collections
The John Rylands University Library at the University of Manchester is one of the largest university libraries in the country and the Manchester Metropolitan University Library has a nationally recognised art and design collection.
Special collections at MMU include the Manchester Society of Architects’ Library, which holds important and rare books on the history of Architecture, and the RIBA Trade Literature collection provides technical details of a wide range of building and design products.
Photography and Video
The MMU Faculty of Art and Design has an AV Store for the loan of video and photography equipment. Audio-visual equipment can also be borrowed from ICTS Audio-Visual Services at MMU and the Media Centre at the University at Manchester. Photography studios, film processing and video editing facilities are available in the Chatham building.
The MMU Visual Resources Centre has a collection of over 300,000 slides covering a broad spectrum of subjects, including architecture, all art and design areas, film, popular media and social history. There is also a video collection.