B.15 Modelmaking Workshop, MSA, UoM

.arch ‘’I began this project by theorising ways to best honour Crewe’s existing heritage through design. I believe that architectural facades specially can tell stories - so this project was heavily focused around the design of my facade.

During my first visit to Crewe’s city centre I walked around and made note of all the fun, notable, and strange little motifs I could find in the existing buildings. I found that Crewe was rich with these ‘strange details’ (as John Lee likes to call them). So I knew I had to bring them into my facade design to tie my building to its surrounding context and tell the existing stories of Crewe.

I began my model making process by simplifying the forms of the motifs I found and casting them into 1:2 jesmonite tiles. Craft is a really important element of architecture to me and I wanted to bring that into my design through the creation of these tiles.

The final model that I made was the 1:25 model of the final iteration of my facade. The skeleton of this model is created from laser cut MDF. Again, I used jesmonite casting to create the tiled portions of my facade as well as the red bricks. Most of the bold red elements were 3D printed and then spray painted red.
Something that was very important for me to communicate through this model was the layering of the facade. The lower portion of the facade is made up of metal panels (represented by MDF painted grey) but these metal panels are three panels deep.
This tessellated grating pattern is also repeated in bright red along the base of each window, bringing a sense of continuity throughout the facade.’’
_____________________________________________

One of this years B.15 Modelmaking Award Wild Card Sponsored by
Project by MArch Year 1 Student, Tasha Webb .arch
See it at the 2026 MSA Degree Show until June 19th.

_____________________________________________

‘’This project explores the intersection of traditional craftsmanship and functional modern design through the revival of thatching, a historical skill that is slowly being forgotten. By reclaiming this heritage, I designed acoustic panels specifically to absorb the structure-borne vibrations and mechanical noise generated by a milk processing laboratory, as creating a quiet workspace is vital for occupant health and productivity.
The making methods involved a tactile fabrication process that transforms raw harvest materials into structural architectural elements. As documented in my work, this includes the preparation of timber frames with wooden pegs and the intricate bundling of thatch secured by wire and manual mallets.
[...] I hope this work could highlights the potential of straw based architecture while identifying the need for more precise fabrication methods. It demonstrates that for natural materials to remain resilient in damp climates like Carlisle’s, traditional skills must be paired with rigorous technical standards to ensure structural integrity and longevity.
[...]
This fabrication method, which revives the ancient craft of thatching, entails the complex bundling of straw fastened by wire and hand mallets. The old hand methods needed to turn harvest resources into structural components are demonstrated by this tactile workmanship, which is gradually being forgotten.’’
_____________________________________________

One of this years B.15 Modelmaking Award Wild Card Sponsored by
Project by .space BA Year 3 Student, Tong Li
See it at the 2026 MSA Degree Show until June 19th.
_____________________________________________

‘’This project explores the role of architecture in post-conflict contexts—particularly in Iraq—by collaborating with displaced and neglected Baghdadi residents impacted by the housing crisis that is exacerbated by political instability, corruption, and the climate emergency.[...]Rather than a physical intervention, this project serves as a spatial justice toolkit, exploring an alternative architectural process that engages in radical participatory methodologies to reshape the future of Iraq’s built environment towards a restorative one grounded in resilience, adaptability, and the sacred practices of making that define Iraq’s rich tapestry.
Modelmaking is integral to this project, not only because the final output is a physical product/process, but also because its development is driven by iterative prototyping—enabling the evolution towards culturally sensitive and trauma-informed design responses. [...]
To communicate and test the developed design scheme, I explored multiple iterations towards a toolkit with a plug-and-play system. Prototyping began with a simplified design of the structural framework to ensure modularity and interactivity. Various materials (3D-printed, laser-cut MDF, and hand-carved wood dowels) were tested for durability and tactile comfort, finding that laser-cut MDF balances flexibility and visual clarity best. [...] The prototyping process relied on recycled materials, off-cuts, and scrap as much as possible to ensure this project is grounded in sustainable modelmaking.’’
_____________________________________________

One of this years B.15 Modelmaking Award Wild Card Sponsored by
Project by @msa.praxis MArch Year 2 Student, Marwa Al-Saqqar
See it at the 2026 MSA Degree Show until June 19th.
_____________________________________________

.narega ‘’Model-making became the primary method of design development throughout the project, operating as a testing tool across multiple scales to explore ideas that could not be fully understood through drawings alone.

Sketch models, development studies, structural details, and material experiments were used iteratively to test spatial relationships, circulation, tectonics, and material outcomes, allowing design decisions to evolve through continual making and refinement.

The project explored how architecture could support long-term ecological repair through a phased phytoremediation centre on Pomona Island, Manchester. [...] At 1:100 scale, the development models established the arrangement of modules across the site, testing massing, roof forms, and the relationship between built forms and the surrounding landscape.

Made from hand-cut balsa wood, these models acted as working design tools, allowing openings, proportions, and spatial sequences to be continually adjusted and evaluated.

At 1:50 scale, interior study models examined the quality of individual spaces, testing roof variations, apertures, skylights, and the movement of light through key programme areas. These models revealed how the central circulation spine connected different activities while creating moments of pause, observation, and engagement with the remediation process.’’
_____________________________________________

One of this years B.15 Modelmaking Award Wild Card winners, Sponsored by
Project by MArch Year 2 Student, Neel Naregal .narega
See it at the 2026 MSA Degree Show until June 19th.
_____________________________________________

architecturalmodels

‘’Embodying the concept of the project ‘The Low-Main Depot’ “experimental changes”, the models start off with a 1:10 model which evolves to refined 1:20 models represented and encased in a 1:1 model of the scaffold structure, in this case, with a shelf. These models seek to experiment with the extent and potential of steel material and its effect on the relationship with the interiors of the functions introduced to the building. They are presented in a way that would allow for further experimentation or flexible change to occur to explore the possibilities of architectural design.[...]
The 1:10 model was an early moment of early site takeover using scrap materials that make an enclave of a space in the Mayfield Depot. This experiment helped in informing the design of the next models to be much more refined.
The 4 x 1:20 models explore how four different functions (pop-up gardens, gallery, co-working space and food research lab) can be connected to create new configurations. All of which sit within a 3x3m scaffold grid grounded in the existing concrete of the site in the early phases of the project as an affordable response to adaptive reuse. [...]
The 1:1 section model of the scaffold seeks to understand its construction in practice whilst trying to learn about its loading, connections and ways of occupying the scaffolds.[...] This model presents itself as a real-life experiment for both architectural and construction understanding.
[...]’’
_____________________________________________

One of this years B.15 Modelmaking Award Winners Sponsored by
Project by , MArch Year 1 Student, Maream Merza
See it at the 2026 MSA Degree Show until June 19th.
_____________________________________________

‘’This innovative co-living model addresses the UK North’s defining challenge: retaining young talent. By catering to young professionals, the design successfully responds to their core requirements: affordability, social connectivity, and spatial flexibility. Throughout development, physical model-making acted as a critical, iterative driver, spanning from 1:1000 masterplan explorations to 1:25 tectonic bay studies in a continuous loop of “design–make–iteration”.

Initially, a 250mm cube ‘touchstone’ conceptual model verified the scheme’s massing against Crewe’s urban fabric. [...]This phase also included material tests, utilising Jesmonite to simulate recycled brick aggregate within bespoke concrete and terrazzo mixes.
Subsequently, a 1:75 structural model was fabricated. Utilising laser-cut plywood and greyboard scaled to realistic floor thicknesses, simulated a low-carbon concrete-CLT hybrid floor system. Constructing this primary framework allowed me to test varying volumetric setbacks, which dynamically contributed to the final façade design.

Finally, building upon previous models, a detailed 1:25 bay study model was produced. This model physically manifests the project’s core architectural narrative: the tectonic dialogue between heavy and light. [...]Colour and intricate decorations were precisely reproduced via laser cutting and 3D printing. With the integration of its immediate living context, the final model functions as a vibrant tectonic stage, vividly projecting the scheme’s social ambition and architectural vision.
[...]’’
_____________________________________________

One of this years B.15 Modelmaking Award Winners Sponsored by
Project by MArch Year 2 Student, Tianyu Zheng
See it at the 2026 MSA Degree Show until June 19th.
_____________________________________________

‘’Made to Matter is a proposal for Crewe that asks how a town built through making can recover that identity within its centre. The project reimagines the high street not as a place of passive consumption, but as a productive civic landscape where people can make, repair, learn, display and sell again.
This 1:50 sectional façade model explores the workshop building as both construction and argument. It focuses on the point where structure, material, services and public expression meet. The façade is cast in different tones of Jesmonite to distinguish the material layers of the proposal, from brick and pigmented panels to heavier concrete elements. [...]
The casting process deliberately mirrors the project’s wider ambition. Rather than using silicone moulds, the panels were formed in laser-cut greyboard moulds, carefully hand-assembled to reduce waste and give more control over variation, texture and imperfection. Each cast became a small act of remaking, turning a temporary, fragile mould into a permanent architectural surface.
[...]
The model brings together casting, laser cutting, 3D printing, hand cutting, painting and assembly. In doing so, it becomes more than a final representation of the project. It is a physical continuation of the thesis itself, exploring how architecture can make matter visible again through craft, care and construction.
[...]’’
_____________________________________________

One of this years B.15 Modelmaking Award Winners Sponsored by

Project by MArch Year 2 Student, Finley Hartless
See it at the 2026 MSA Degree Show until June 19th.
_____________________________________________

“My thesis mobilised the heritage of Crewe Works to provide an adaptable theatre, where the manufacturing of set pieces is a performance equal to theatre. I thoroughly interrogated historic imagery and technical drawings of the works to derive a place-specific tectonic language.
[...]
The tectonic resolution of these towers was explored through a 1:25 model during the refinement phase of the project, where decisions needed to be finalised. Modelling these details at this scale allowed me to test buildups and the connections between elements, crafting the model to the manufacturing constraints of the physical material.

This model was key in communicating the tectonic collage, the connection of the two adjacent halls either side of the towers, and the adaptability of the space.
The towers were constructed from laser cutting 4mm MDF interlocking sheets. [...]The use of sheet material reduced the weight of the towers, and the interlock of the brick increased the strength. Powder printed elements reflect precast concrete, used for the plinths of the towers and the structural diaphragms, tying the 4 columns of the towers together to resist the live loads of the overhead cranes.
[...]Materials Used Include: Plywood, MDF, 3d Powder Print, Grey Board, Coloured Card & Piano Wire.”
_____________________________________________

One of this years B.15 Modelmaking award winners sponsored by

Project by MArch Year 2 Student, Luke Ferguson

See it at the 2026 MSA degree show until June 19th.
____________________________________________

Less than one week to submit your work for this years B.15 Modelmaking Awards - Sponsored by Omar Gandhi Architects !

Open to all students of all years groups - show your process and be inspired by past submissions available to view on our blog!

Submission deadline 12.00 noon June 1st - Good Luck!