Wet Lab

The Wet Lab is a creative space for students to experiment and create with materials like clay, plaster, concrete, glass, wax and silicone. The lab can be used to explore processes such as throwing, casting, hand building, glazing, firing, mould making and spray painting.

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

The Wet Lab supports cross-disciplinary projects and works closely with facilities like the Digital Fabrication Studios, 3D Fabrication Lab, Printmaking Studio and Bindery. This is because many contemporary art and design practices blend multiple specialist areas within their practices.

The Wet Lab’s facilities:

The lab provides safe, student-focused facilities, including:

Casting benches

Students have access to benches and formers designed to support many forms of mould making in plaster, silicon and urethane rubber.

The lab collaborates closely with the digital fabrication studios and 3D Fabrication Lab to create moulds and models for casting purposes. Students can cast with clay, slip, plaster, glass, wax, silicon, rubber and metal.

Kilns

The lab has four electric kilns:

• Cobcraft /internal measurements /630mm high x 535mm diameter/1222c
• Potclay /internal measurements /1000mm high x 560mm deep 430mm wide/1300c
• 2x Woodrow/ internal measurements/ 430 mm high x 300mmx 300mm/ 1200c /

The kilns are used primarily for ceramic processes, but can also slump and cast glass, heat PLA and mycelium.

Pottery wheels, extruders and a slab roller

The Wet Lab houses 3 electric pottery wheels and supports one-on-one throwing tuition. Students also have access to two clay extruders (one can be signed out for use in an AUT studio) and a Cowley slab roller for large slab making.

Spray booth

The 12sqm cross-draught spray booth provides a full LED lighting system, ventilated for spray painting to ensure vapours and potentially harmful chemicals have evaporated before removing objects from the booth. There is also a compressed air line to the booth.

Please note that students need to bring their own air guns.

Fume bench

The fume bench helps prevent students and the environment from toxic fumes when using materials like solvent-based glues and urethane rubbers. This is achieved by continuously delivering airflow away from the user.

Resin room

The resin room is a temperature-controlled, ventilated space for all resin-based work. It’s designed to safely manage vapours and other chemicals. By isolating resin use to this room, we ensure a safer workspace for everyone.