PUTTING SCREEN AND POST SCREEN INTERACTIONS AT THE FOREFRONT OF CREATIVE EDUCATION
The Manchester Metropolitan University School of Digital Arts (SODA) is a future-facing resource that recognises that screen and post-screen interactions in the future will be central to human communication.
Working in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University on our fourth major project together, we have designed a new kind of art school provision that will develop interdisciplinary talent to support Greater Manchester’s creative and digital industries.
It is the first higher education building in the country where you can make a film, create the effects and post-production, and then screen the final result to an audience all in the same building.
I didn’t think it would be possible for me to get so attached to a building to be honest with you. but you know, it’s a thing, it’s important.
Prof. Toby Heys, Head of School SODA
LIGHTWALL
Technological advances between different creative digital sectors will completely transform the expertise needed to serve this greatly expanded range of screen and post-screen based interactions. This is announced boldly.
A four-storey low-tech, low-resolution, and low-energy 20,000-pixel video light wall on the northern façade not only marks the entrance but creates a highly visible platform for displaying student work.
A pleated metal façade reflects the local context and activity above a new pedestrian street between SODA and the adjacent Benzie Building, part of our RIBA Stirling Prize shortlisted Manchester School of Art.
FLEXIBLE LEARNING
SODA is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for the students and staff to research, learn and practice their digital arts. It houses subjects that span film, animation, UX design, photography, games design, AI and more and has resources that include a digital innovation lab, open workspaces, green screens, edit suites, screening space, a media gallery, sound and music studios and production studios.
However, the building itself is future-proofed for the fast pace of digital change: Through its loose fit, lean design, it has the capacity to respond to changes in technology.