Hire our facilities

Film and TV Studio

A four camera space with a composite studio floor and full lighting rig enclosed by drapes and a green screen. The studio has a control suite with vision, sound and lighting mixers and a small green room. There is a range of microphones, booms, dollies, tracks, cranes and steadycams.

The fixed facilities are supplemented by location equipment that can be hired and includes HDV cameras, location monitors, disc recorders, microphone tripods and lighting kits.

Film and TV Postproduction

This suite provides Apple computers connected to dual screens with video input and output devices and runs integrated Final Cut Pro which includes editing picture and sound as well as DVD authoring and production.

Dubbing Suites

A series of sound dubbing and monitoring suites which incorporate mixing desks, video and audio playback (surround sound) as well as foley materials, microphones, players and peripherals.

Recording Studios

Studio 1 is a 24 track recording facility with a control room housing a ‘solid state logic’ mixing console and 4.1 surround sound monitoring system. Studio 2 is a 32 channel, digital Yamaha O2R desk with control and live room for ensembles of 3 to 4 players. We always provide engineer support.

Two music suites are also available for hire, with Macintosh computers facilitating digital mixing, recording, sampling and composing. There is also a range of software programmes available to use, plus industry standard applications.

Photography Studio

Two photography studios are available for hire, both of which house lighting rigs and drapes as well as backgrounds that can be used to create a variety of different backdrops to suit your needs are available for hire. The studios are ideal for the shooting of still and video materials.

Technical support can be provided at extra cost.

Photographic Workshops

We offer dark rooms for developing black and white film and a processor for colour work. We also have a finishing area for glazing, toning and drying prints.

Textiles and Printmaking

Textiles - We have a specialist area for textiles construction, including a dye lab, a baking oven for curing dyed items and felt making facilities. It includes A3 sized heat transfer printing, a facility for stretching screens and exposing photographic emulsions.

Printmaking – The area supports a range of printing practices with a number of print tables configured for screen printing. It has plate and stone litho presses. Two large Victorian presses are for lino and the etching facility includes ink-mixing, an aquatint box, hot plates and a series of presses for different sized prints.

Fashion Workshops

We have a variety of facilities including a cutting space with pattern cutting tables, sewing machines, overlockers and tailors' mannequins. These facilities are complemented by industrial steam presses and an edge fuser with a cutting table. The computer suite runs the Adobe Creative suite and the Gerber software set.

Rapid-prototyping

This unit has a range of equipment linked to computers for digitally controlled output. Solid and freeform models can be produced as well as accurate 3D models of existing forms which can be modified, manipulated and rendered before they are output as an animation or a 3D print. A range of materials can also be cut and engraved.

3D Workshop: Construction and Carving

This workshop has modelling, casting and fabrication facilities. For metal working, there is a forge and anvil allowing blacksmithing techniques and rolling bars for the shaping and forming of sheet. A mechanical hacksaw can be used for cutting large section metal components.

The welding bay gives access to heavy and light welding equipment including MIG welding for steel and oxyacetylene for cutting, welding and braising, with propane for soldering.

The woodworking machine area has circular and band saws to cut and shape, a sander for finishing, a pedestal drill and benches for fabrication and a mitre guillotine for stretcher and frame making. There is also a sculpting and moulding facility where figures and creatures for special effects and fine art can be built and moulded.

We have a new fully ventilated fibreglass workshop for creating moulds and castes in fibreglass.

Machine Shop

We have centre lathes, pillar drills and milling machines for machining plastics, metals and timber. Band and circular saws are used for cutting and shaping bulk materials.

Vacuum forming and line bending machines are for plastic sheet and sanding and finishing machines are for fine finishing.

Casting room

This area facilitates casting and mould making using plaster, vinyl and latex for mouldings made from resins and rubbers.

Laser Cutting

An Evolution 30watt air cooled laser cuts paper, card and plastics up to 6mm thick and can engrave on a range of materials from paper to stone. The unit also has a Microscribe digitizing arm which allows us to create accurate 3D models of existing forms - these can be modified, manipulated (reverse engineered) and rendered before they are output as animation or a 3D print.

The area has a virtual sculpting tool that allows the user to create and manipulate complex organic and geometric 3D objects that can also be output to print or machined.

Glass, metal, ceramics

The glass workshop has equipment for cutting and working glass using abrasives and water cooled drills, these are supplemented by a flame work area. There are kilns for fusing and forming glass.

The small metals and jewellery facility has hand and machine tools including a fly press for working non ferrous metals, for example soldering, pressing and forming for jewellery and fine work.

Hand built and thrown work can be created in the ceramics workshop with a variety of slip glazes and clay materials. The workshop has a damp room, a glaze area and a kiln room with a variety of different kilns.

Computing facilities

There are a number of specialist suites within the School each with digital projection and display facilities. These suites are, wherever possible, positioned alongside or close to the studios and base rooms where students are working in complimentary practices.

The 2D Imaging Suite

Two suites of Macs with large scale monitors are linked to A4 and A3 scanners with A4 B&W and A3 Colour Lasers for proofing prints. They primarily run the Adobe Creative suite that includes In Design, Illustrator and Photoshop - these are focused on the manipulation of text and image as well as Acrobat and GoLive for file transfer and web.

A few machines also run Quark Xpress for print preparation.

The 3D Suite

This facility runs fifty 8 core i7 PC’s with a standard package of software such as Adobe Master suite CS4. It also supports specialist digital 3D Design & Modelling activities which use programmes such as Solid Works and Rhino for 3D modelling, and a spatial design package called Vector Works.

Digital Imaging and Fashion Computing

The computers that make up this unit have a range of software for image making and multimedia including web authoring with multimedia work. They currently run Photoshop, Illustrator, Director, Dreamweaver and Flash.

The area also has the Gerber software suite for design, pattern making and grading.

Artists Studio

For details of how we can support local artists, see our Short Courses page.

Contact us

Contact us on this link for more details about hiring any of our facilities