About FAUM workshop

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    The Fabrication Facilities in the Faculty of Architecture exist collectively to serve, celebrate and promote the art of fabrication. The Workshop is a resource for the Faculty of Architecture and a workspace for the exploration of analog forms of design, prototyping and manufacturing. In the Workshop students have access to the support of professional technicians and the equipment necessary for exploring manual production. Workshop supports the production of refined models, environmental product and furniture prototypes, along with faculty research projects and student design/build. A wide range of tools, equipment and materials are present for wood-working and plastic.

How to access the Workshop

Workshop is located in the tunnel below John A. Russell building in Room 130.

  1. The Workshop is open to all faculty and students on a first come first served basis.
  2. Workshop Orientation is required prior to using the space. If you missed the orientation offered in the first week of school, please email arch.workshop@umanitoba.ca to schedule a time. A Workshop technician is always available to help with one-on-one consultation and training for tools, techniques, or design strategies.
  3. Workshop is card-only. Students can pay at the front desk of the Workshop.
  4. Materials or tools can be booked in advance by email arch.workshop@umanitoba.ca or by phone 204-474-6436.

Assembly Room 

The Assembly Room is a student-led working space located in room 115 in the tunnel directly below John A. Russell Building. The room contains worktables, tool lockers, and a library of free materials recycled by students and the workshops. This space is for the students of the Faculty of Architecture.

  1. Always clean up after yourself.  
  2. Students wishing to leave ongoing projects overnight or longer need to sign out their own bay on the whiteboard adjacent to their project. Students wishing to leave tools in the Assembly Room overnight may sign out a locker key from a Workshop Technician.  
  3. Precautions must be taken when using materials like paint, concrete and plasters to keep the workspace clean, i.e. use of drop sheets, tarps, etc.  
  4. Do not dump plaster or concrete mixtures, paint or glue into the sink – these should be emptied into containers, cardboard boxes or garbage bags and disposed of in the garbage bins outside of the FABLab/Workshop loading bay.  
  5. Grinding and sanding of toxic materials such as concrete or fibreglass is not permitted in this space.

 

Workshop tool rental

  1. The Workshop has an extensive library of  power and hand tools available to be signed out for student projects.
  2. This service is free to all students in the Faculty of Architecture. Note that a late fee may be applied to any tool not returned by an agreed upon date.
  3. The workshop signs out hard hats and safety vests/kits for groups. This requires advance booking; a minimum number of students should be involved in the pick-up and drop-off for the group. Individual hard hats and vests will not be loaned out.

Workshop Technicians

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    Top Row: Morgan Fraser, Diane Espiritu, Bottom row: Kellen Deighton, Shaylyn Plett

Kellen Deighton – Fabrication Facilities Coordinator

As Fabrication Facilities Coordinator, Kellen’s position includes a wide range of responsibilities relating to the operation of CAST and Workshop.  In this work, he collaborates with faculty on the research and programming that comes through the Workshop and provides technical support to students and faculty. He can be found on one of the shop floors problem-solving design strategies with students, managing a design build site or supporting faculty with research. Find Kellen for help with material understanding, construction drawings, project design, and tool use. His specialty is solid wood furniture and carpentry. Kellen has a background in fine arts followed by 10+ years as shop manager and lead designer with Woodanchor, alongside his furniture design studio Oddshop. He has been working with the Faculty of Architecture since 2020.

Diane Espiritu – Workshop Technician

Diane’s job encapsulates a wide range of student and faculty support relating to analog fabrication, with a focus on clay and textile media. In the facilities, Diane can often be found in the Workshop or the Softshop, supporting students with projects, and collaborating with faculty on the next workshop in clay or textile applications. Students should seek Diane’s advice when planning textile or clay work, as well as in patterning, casting, and prototyping. Diane’s education in Industrial Design has informed her work as a product designer over the last 15 years, during which time she worked as a Senior Product Developer at Herschel and began her ceramic design studio Diane Espiritu Design. She has been with the Faculty of Architecture since 2026. 

Morgan Fraser – Student Co-Op Technician

Often the first point of contact in the Workshop, Morgan’s job as a Student Technician is to provide hands-on student and faculty support relating to analog fabrication, while carrying out work for regular shop production schedules and supporting educational workshops and design builds. Come to her with any questions that you have about how things work in the Workshop. With an undergraduate of Environmental Design in Architecture, Morgan is interested in learning more about what type of maker/designer she is through hands on making and learning more about furniture design and how it relates to architecture through a personal lens. 

Shaylyn Plett – Workshop Technician and Ambassador

As a Workshop Technician and Ambassador, Shaylyn’s work involves a wide range of hands-on student and faculty support in the field of analog fabrication, with an emphasis on increasing the quality of student engagement with the Fabrication Facilities. She can usually be found supporting students with their work in the Workshop, building projects for shop production, or otherwise scheming ways to improve the student experience.  Ask her for help with tools, materials, woodworking processes, and design strategies. Shaylyn has a background in fine arts and furniture design/build and operates a custom furniture and design studio under her own name. She’s been working with the Faculty of Architecture since 2025.