As a student within LICA, you will have access to a range of state-of-the-art facilities to catalyse your studies
Spaces
The LICA Building, Great Hall Complex and Bowland Annex house facilities supporting creative activities across various artistic disciplines.
Designed specifically for Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts students, the £10 million-pound LICA Building opened in 2011 and became the first higher education building to receive an Outstanding BREEAM Award for sustainability, one of only two in the UK. Facilities within the LICA Building include bright, open teaching spaces, flexible performance and workshop spaces, well-equipped seminar rooms, purpose-built editing suites and computer suites. The building houses one of the largest event spaces in the university which is used for teaching, film screenings and student performances. This large two-storey space has a floor suitable for dance, lighting rigs, speakers, projectors and screens. Additionally, the LICA Building features a large atrium which is ideal for displaying student projects.
In the Great Hall complex there is the Nuffield Theatre (a site of national importance for the creation of new work), the Peter Scott Gallery, the Jack Hylton recital room and recording studios, and a Play Room with sprung floor.
Two floors of art studios and a workshop are housed in the Bowland Annex across the Great Hall square.
Creative Arts Facilities at Lancaster University
As a student within LICA, you will have access to a range of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to catalyse your studies.
Equipment loans
Equipment Loanscan be arranged for LICA staff and students only.
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The Fine Art studios are situated on the third floor of the LICA Building and on the first two floors of the Bowland Annex. All studios are accessible 24/7 with either a pass card or key code.
At the start of the Fine Art degree schemes, students are allocated individual studio spaces in Bowland Annex. Then, at the start of their second year, students are allocated appropriate studio spaces depending on their artistic requirements. For example, if an artist focuses on sculpture or casting, they should be allocated a studio space close to the workshop. If a student’s artwork is large and needs extra space, they will be given a bigger studio. We work hard to ensure studio spaces meet students’ needs.
The LICA Building features a large Black Box Installation Space which has been purpose-built to enable filming under controlled conditions and housing larger installations.
LICA has three workshops in all: the General Purpose Workshop based in Bowland Annex, the Nuffield Theatre Workshop, and the Design Workshop.
The General Purpose Workshop houses an extensive range of wood and metal working tools, equipment and machinery. Students are taught how to use certain pieces of equipment under the supervision of a dedicated full-time technician. This workshop also houses chemicals and materials for casting, including clay, cement, vinamold, wax, plaster and alginate. We also have a kiln, which is used for sculptural objects rather than ceramics. Adjacent to the workshop there is a large teaching space where demonstrations and technical teaching takes place, and a fabrication space for assembling things such as stretchers for painting or assembling sculptures.
The Nuffield Theatre Workshop is equipped with a dimension saw, radial arm saw, bandsaw, planer/ thicknesser, lathe, mortise drill, and pillar drill. Furthermore, the workshop has a small metalwork area with cutting and welding equipment, a plasma cutter and various pieces of metal-working equipment.
The Design Workshop is suited to handle more specialised work, being equipped with C02 laser cutters, a vacuum forming machine and 3D printers (fdm and polyjet) as well as hand and power work tools. A dedicated technician supervises this workshop to help students learn to use the machinery safely and efficiently.
The Peter Scott Gallery produces an annual series of exhibitions and events. A key element of Lancaster Arts, the Peter Scott Gallery is also the custodian of the University’s art collection, which includes works by Picasso, Dürer and Miró. The Gallery also supports student and young artist exhibitions, including the annual final year Degree Show.
LICA’s Design studio is a purpose-built teaching space offering direct access to the Design Workshop. Room C01 on the third floor of the LICA Building also acts as the main teaching space for various Design modules.
Within these Design spaces are separate project rooms, presentation software, moveable tables and chairs, lockers, moveable and stationary whiteboards, design materials (e.g., flipchart paper, sticky notes, marker pens), outlets for plugging in electronics, desk space, a sofa and a kitchenette (with microwave, mugs, cutlery) for students to use. These collaborative Design spaces give students the opportunities to share skills, knowledge and experience.
Students interested in film post-production, editing video and sound design can take advantage of LICA’s four specialist, sound-proofed editing suites, equipped with all the software needed to complete the practical degree assignments. Currently our computer labs and specialist editing suites are equipped with a host of industry standard software including the Adobe Creative Cloud (i.e. Premiere, Animate, Audition, After Effect, Photoshop, etc.).
These edit suites are used for formal teaching but, as with many LICA spaces, they can be booked by groups and individual students for their own use.
LICA students are also able to install Adobe Creative Cloud software on their own machines using a University licence.
For students interested in making digital content and films, LICA hosts a range of digital film-making equipment for students to access. All LICA students are able to borrow simple cameras (DLSR and point-and-shoot) while specialist cameras (i.e. 4k cameras: Blackmagic URSA mini, Canon CX10, etc.) and lightweight lighting equipment are available to students who have received training through practical Film modules.
A good range of Tascam and Zoom digital audio recorders plus high-end microphones are available to LICA students for recording and producing sound.
The Nuffield Theatre, the biggest black box theatre outside of London, brings professional and world-renowned contemporary performance and theatre onto campus and offers students the chance to partake in professional workshops as well as perform themselves. The Nuffield Theatre acts as a key teaching and performance venue for Theatre students, and can be booked by groups and individuals for rehearsals. This theatre is the main venue for the final-year degree show performances.
As part of the Theatre degree, students can choose to specialise in the technical aspects of theatre production. Should this be of interest, students receive training in the use of sound and lighting equipment in the Playroom and the Nuffield Theatre.
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