SCHOOL OF DIGITAL ARTS, MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY 19
working with the university to get a leaner building,” for example introducing hot desking and proposing shared seminar rooms and support spaces in SODA’s adjacent buildings. Wilby says the site enabled the architects to take a genuinely fabric-first approach to benefit efficiency: “We placed the circulation core and black box studios on the south and west elevations respectively, to prevent heat gains normally associated with windows on these orientations.”
There was an interesting architectural conundrum in that due to the building containing 15 film studios of different sizes and types, around 60% of the overall structure didn’t require windows. This meant “pros and cons” for the designers, says Simon Wilby, because while avoiding windows due to overheating is a sustainability plus (and wasn’t required for the centrally-placed cinema), there was also the danger of presenting a featureless box to the community externally.
Seminar rooms have been placed on the east flank, benefitting from the connection with the art school on that side. “There are very large windows which are aligned with those on the art school,” says Simon, giving a “very visible connection between the two buildings” when students are working there.
A sense of movement Wilby says the building was somewhat “tucked away” in a fairly dense urban context between the art school (with a new pedestrian access between) and a pub. FCBStudios arrived at a striking means to signpost it, and the work within. At the entrance (on the northern facade) is a five- storey digital light wall where thousands of LEDs are mounted, displaying the work of staff and professional digital artists, and also enabling signage. Steve Wilby says that displaying the
college’s work so visibly “will help to make wider connections, placing their work within the city.” Also communicating the “movement” inherent to the school’s work, is the pleated, mill-finished aluminium cladding whose appearance changes with the weather thanks to its reflectivity and makeup. An attempt to maintain the “exciting culture” of its art school neighbour, the composition of closely-ranged folds changes as the light changes, and produces a texture that varies depending on the angle they are viewed from. The architects “spent a lot of time getting the reflectivity right,” in the end opting for a clear (depigmented) powder coating, “essentially a clear lacquer which massively increases reflectivity,” says Wilby.
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