As an architecture student there is a high level of manual practice required in creating drawings and building models. Getting a decent set of tools will make this both easier and more accurate. Over the course of your time at the School of Architecture you will probably collect masses of material and tools, but as a start the list below should be a place to start. Many of these are available from the ASOC shop, and if they run out they will always order more.
It is important to stress that it is important to permanently label your equipment to reduce the risk of it going missing. If it’s not named, it will probably not find its way back to you.
Also, although the studio is pretty secure please take care of expensive kit like hard drives and library books, and only have them in the studio if you really need them.
This is clearly a long list. The essentials will be needed in the first six weeks, but you might consider additional materials as you develop your ideas.
If you find a cheap place for materials you might consider letting your fellow students know on a Facebook page or similar. Amazon and Ebay are good places to start. Locally, Cass Art on School Lane near the Bluecoat hold most materials (don’t forget to mention that you’re a student and have your Student ID with you).
Finally, please respect the ownership of equipment. If it's late at night and you really need to borrow equipment from someone who's not around please make sure you return it immediately after use. Afterall, they may come in when you're not about and be unable to work because their kit has gone walkabout.
As with all things, if you have any queries please let us know.
Essential
A4/A3 cartridge sketchpad with removable pages (minimum of 80gsm) Goldline are good.
A1 cartridge paper
A1/A2/A3 layout paper/Tracing Paper/ Butter Paper rolls
0.5 Automatic pencil
Selection of traditional pencils 2B-6B for shading work and loose design development
Plastic eraser
Eraser shield (really useful!)
Masking tape (for securing paper to drawing boards/table)
T Square for accurate lines perpendicular to page – get one for A1 paper
Adjustable Set square
Tape measure
Architectural scale ruler
Metal ruler (for cutting)
Scalpel or craft knife ( essential that the blade is sharp and kept sharp, blunt knives cause you to press too hard-lose control= risk cutting yourself, as well as giving a rough edge)
A1 or A2 cutting mat. DO NOT CUT DIRECTLY ON TABLES
Lockable tool box
Tippex style pen or Sharpie for naming your equipment
A1 portfolio for storing and protecting your work
UHU or cheap superglue
PVA glue
Dress makers pins for putting up work. NOT drawing pins or novelty pins or worst of all sellotape, the work is the star and should be treated with respect. Drawing pins will make your wall look like a Chesterfield sofa, and tape will damage the work.
Optional
A range of model boards available from the School of the Arts Arts Materials Store shop (2mm greyboard and brown craftboard whould be your standard as they are easy to work with).
An art folder (you can always make this yourself) - two pieces of light board, taped with duct tape along one edge, with 3 flaps of card taped along the open edges of one of the boards. This will allow you to store loose pieces of paper, and also doubles as a useful drawing board when you're out sketching.
0.3 Automatic pencil
0.7 Automatic pencil
0.35, 0.5, 0.7 Rotring drawing pens. Expensive but produce a perfect black line. NOTE: take care to put the lid on the pen when you're not using it, they work differently to normal pens and are prone to problems with drying that causes them to block - worth the extra care though!
Basic set of water colours (for sketching)
Basic set of gouache paints
Basic set of Acrylic paints (for models)
Plasticote spray (for models). NOTE : no aerosols can be used in the building, they can be dangerous to asthmatics, and often cause damage to the studio due to ‘overspray.’ Please use the spray booths in the workshops, or at the very least use them outside, with a large area of newspaper underneath.
Spraymount, for putting your work onto sheets, and for putting your sheets onto presentation board. NOTE: as above, not to be used in studio.
Eraser stencil (useful for accurate rubbing out)
Scaled circle, elipse and architectural element stencils
Tack hammer for putting work on walls
Cheap pliers for removing pins
graph paper
A3/A4 layout paper for developing designs
long metal ruler for cutting
A bradawl tool - a tool with a small point comes in handy more often than you'd expect
Headphones - it's useful to listen to music in a noisy studio, but no one else wants to hear your music
Foamex is tricky to get hold of but is an excellent modeling material as it’s easy to cut to a clean edge and doesn’t get glue marks and is available in 1,2, 3, 4, and 5mm thicknesses
Specialist
Dremel hand tool - excellent for fiddly modeling tasks, but quite expensive.
Fine finish plaster (polyfilla)
Selection of sandpapers for detailed finishing on models