Fabrication Workshop
UB has the best facilities for hands-on study, paired with instruction on digital resources and research possibilities.
- Julia Hunt, Architecture BS ‘17
As one of the premier fabrication facilities in the Western New York region, the Fabrication Workshop is the hub of our learning-through-making curriculum. Equipped for fabrication of all types, the shop serves both as a space to execute coursework and as a think-tank and makerspace for collaborative research with architectural practice and industry.
Full-scale maker space
Our shop is central to student learning, especially a holistic, integrated approach to design.
- Nicholas Rajkovich, PhD, assistant professor of architecture
The Fabrication Workshop is a fully equipped facility occupying 7,000 square feet of high-bay space in Parker Hall on UB’s South Campus. Roughly broken into three distinct areas, the Fabrication Workshop houses the Shop for woodworking, metalworking, and assembly, and the digital FabLab, providing versatility to work across multiple scales from model and component building to full-scale prototyping and installations.
Workshop Hours
Location: Parker Hall
Sunday 12Noon – 5pm
Monday 9am- 6pm
Tuesday 9am – 2pm
Wednesday 9am-6pm
Thursday 9am – 2pm
Friday 9am – 6pm
Saturday CLOSED
Phone: (716) 829-3510
Email: ap-shop@buffalo.edu
- The Fabrication Workshop will close at 2pm Tuesdays and Thursdays for
Structures III
Equipped for any project
If we don’t have a tool you need, we’ll find a place to get it. If the tool you need doesn’t exist, we’ll find a way to make it.
- Lindsay Romano, Director of Fabrication
Rooted in a culture of making, the Fabrication Workshop is dedicated to providing equipment for material research, model making, and fabrication through analog and digital processes, including CNC routing, laser cutting, 3D printing and a comprehensive selection of power tools. Students can also purchase materials and borrow basic hand tools from our store.
We're here to help
Let's problem solve together
Lindsay Romano
Director of Fabrication
Wade Georgi
Manager, Shop Services
Daniel Vrana
Manager, Fabrication Services
Need help with a tool or project? Our staff are here 12 hours a day ready to lend a hand. Experimenting with fabrication processes in your design research? We'll discover new methods and tools together.
What we're making
'Thinking through making' is the pedagogical crux of our programs.
Korydon Smith, professor and chair of the department of architecture
Welded steel cages, CNC routed wooden enclosures and 3D printed ceramic molds are just some of the built works to emerge from our shop.
The spring 2019 junior architecture studio invited students to think about how climate change is impacting the world today. As part of the studio, students designed their own laufmaschine, a precursor to the bike from the early 19th century. Watch the evolution of one student team’s project, “Gazelle,” from fabrication in the shop to its run in the studio-wide relay race in Cleveland.
Research for the Architectural Ceramic Assemblies Workshop, sponsored by Boston Valley Terra Cotta, culminates every August with a “maker faire” in UB's Fabrication Workshop and SMART Fabrication Factory. Students troubleshoot design, fabricate components and assemble full-scale prototypes.