We are disappointed to learn of the decision to close Make Aberdeen from 21st March 2018.
Make is a public-access digital fabrication space in the centre of Aberdeen. It supports a community of Makers, SMEs, students and artists giving them studio space and access to some high-end laser-cutters, 3d printers, digital sewing, digital vinyl cutters, and a really impressive printer that can print on any surface.
While we don’t rely on Make for 3d printing (others are not so fortunate), we make use of the facilities at Make whenever we can for laser-cutting sheet materials. Laser cutting facilities have been especially useful for our architectural models. Without the facilities at Make, we will either have to buy our own laser cutting equipment or use out-of-region online services. We are still evaluating our options. Thankfully, no current or committed work is directly impacted but, unless we can find alternatives, we may well need to adjust our services going forward.
For our own needs, we will find an alternative solution. However, closing the doors on Make makes it harder for start-ups, individual Makers, local schools and companies to access digital fabrication and an important route to innovation. Moreover, Celtic3d have become involved in several interesting and innovative collaborative projects through people we have met at Make. This source of creative inspiration will be sorely missed.
We would like to thank the staff at Make (Ben, Eilidh and Kerry) for their hard work and support.
With so many start-ups and SME in the city, and with the huge potential for innovation in digital manufacturing. If ever Aberdeen needed a facility like this, it is now.
We hope that an alternative can be found without delay. We would be interested to hear from anyone with ideas on how that could be done.
Correction: Date corrected to 21st March (previously posted as 18th)
