Fabrication Workshop

Overview of the Fabrication Workshop with students working on projects.

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.

- Julia Hunt, Architecture BS ‘17

Full-scale maker space

The shop has room to assemble full height walls.
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

New Hours for Spring 2023

Monday to Thursday 9am – 7pm. 
Fridays from 9am – 5pm.  
Sundays from 12pm – 5pm.  

We will regularly close during the time periods below. The front desk and store will remain open.

Mondays 9 -10:30
Tuesdays  12 – 3:30
Thursday 9 – 10:30 and 12 – 1:30

Phone: (716) 829-3510

Email: ap-shop@buffalo.edu

Equipped for any project

The shop has a large inventory of standard tools, including welding equipment.

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
Stephanie Cramer.

Stephanie Cramer
Director of Fabrication

Wade Georgi.

Wade Georgi
Manager, Shop 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.

Timelapse video of student project - for junior studio - evolving from fabrication to assembly in the Fabrication Wrkshop and then activation in the community.

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.

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.