Fabrication Workshop

The University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning Fabrication Workshop is the hub of our think-through-making curriculum. Our 11,000 square feet of facilities include high bay assembly spaces, woodshop, metalshop, and digital fabrication labs featuring lasercutters, 3d printers, a CNC plasma Cutter, 3-axis CNC routers, a 5-axis waterjet cutter and a robotic arm.

Equipped for any project

The Shop —
Analog Workspace and Assembly Hall

‘The Shop’ is a 6,000sf high bay space which primarily supports students and provides course support. It is professionally staffed, and supported by a team of trained student assistants. Here you will find our help desk, a store to purchase materials, digital fabrication job pick-up, the student facing digital fabrication lab, the woodshop, metalshop, and large assembly space.

The Fabrication Factory —
Advanced Digital Fabrication & Research Space

Our Digital Fabrication Factory is primarily used by graduate students and faculty for advanced research and scholarship. This 5,000 sf lab is home to the Kuka Robotic Arm, a 5’ x 8’ 3 axis CNC milling machine, and a 5-axis waterjet.

Material Store —

Located within the Fabrication Workshop, the material store is an easily accessible place for students to purchase supplies on Campus.

Stocked with a variety of papers and cardboards, wood, foam, and plastics for lasercutting, CNC milling, and model making, we attempt to have most items students need to complete their work.

Students purchase materials with Campus Cash using their UB ID card, making all transactions easy and tax-free.

Through our relationships with local suppliers the Material Store is able to source high-quality material and pass the savings of bulk pricing directly to students. We also sell a variety of sizes to help limit waste.

Students are not required to purchase supplies from the material store and are more than welcome to purchase material from external suppliers.

What we're making

Architecture Students Use the School’s “Coolest Machine” for Furniture Making
7/16/26
On July 8, the sunlight-filled, white-walled lecture space at the top of UB’s Hayes Hall transformed into a furniture showcase. On display: a wave-inspired mirror, a wooden table with birds intricately carved into the legs, a rocking chair constructed from flip-milled red oak, and dozens of other unique works. These pieces were the culmination of the School of Architecture and Planning’s summer Digital Fabrication Furniture studio.
Banham Fellowship Exhibition Explores Reuse in Architecture Through Objectile Adventures
4/29/26
The lobby of UB’s Hayes Hall got a new floor this month—but it’s temporary. The 2026 Banham Fellow Exhibition—an installation by Celia Chaussabel titled Objectile Adventures: The Floor—celebrated its opening on April 20. Testing methods for designing, building, and telling stories with reused building materials, the project challenges us to consider the narratives embedded in the objects around us and how that affects our perception and use of them.
From UB to the Workshop: Three UB Alumni Power Industrial Arts Studio
2/19/26
Inside a tan brick building on Buffalo’s Hertel Avenue, three graduates of UB’s School of Architecture and Planning have carved out a place to do what they love—designing and building. Under the banner of Industrial Arts Studio, Casimir Garrison (BS Arch ’19), Quincy Koczka (MArch ’18), and Nicholas Wheeler (MArch ’21) combine their talent, resources, and creativity to produce work ranging from kitchen renovations to custom furniture, all guided by a distinct vision and impeccable craftsmanship.
The Beautiful Game: Big Projects Studio Tackles Stadium Design
4/13/26
The UB School of Architecture and Planning's Spring 2026 Big Projects Studio, titled “The Beautiful Game,” took shape around one of the world’s biggest sporting events: the upcoming World Cup, which will be hosted this summer in stadiums across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. For Joyce Hwang—professor in the Department of Architecture and a self-described “huge soccer fan”—the timing couldn’t be better. This global tournament provided inspiration and a real-world framework for this year’s studio.
Imagining new possibilities at historic Richardson Olmsted Campus
5/26/26
UB architecture graduate students design housing for a vacant building at the complex and contribute to a book project.