Wet Lab

The Wet Lab is a technical 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 like 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.

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, including plaster, silicone and urethane rubber.

The lab collaborates closely with the Digital Fabrication Studio and 3D Fabrication Lab to create moulds and models for casting purposes. Students can cast with clay, slip, plaster, glass, wax, silicone, rubber, metal and more.

Kilns

The lab has five electric kilns:

• Cobcraft /internal measurements /630mm high x 535mm diameter/1222c
• Potclay /internal measurements /1000mm high x 560mm deep 430mm wide/1300c
• Woodrow/ internal measurements/ 430 mm high x 300mmx 300mm/ 1200c
• Nabertherm N40E / internal measurements/ 350mm high x 350mm wide x 330 mm depth/1300c
• Nabertherm F30 Top Loader Glass Fusing Kiln/ 30lt

Pottery wheels, extruders and a slab roller

The Wet Lab houses 3 electric pottery wheels. 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.