Design Labs

At HAMK Design we take prototyping seriously. We have dedicated labs for different materials and techniques. With the equipment in our labs our students can realize design projects that meet the industry standards. And yes, the labs are open to students until 10 p.m.

Footwear studios are equipped with industrial sewing machines equivalent of a small manufacturing unit.

Dedicated equipment includes lasting station, sandling machine, shoe press, backpart mounding machine, patternmaking facilities and laser cutter and cutting area as well as material storages. 

Footwear design students can enjoy an ample supply of industry dead stock leathers that have been donated for their use.

The last supply includes series for the most common shoe types for men and women and is regularly updated with modern last types. 

Ceramics wheel throwing lab has Shimpo RK-55 and Ring Cone RK-02 model electric pottery wheels and workstations to prepare the materials and finish the rotational objects before the pieces are loaded to kilns for bisque firing. 

The grade FFP3 breathing masks and protective gloves are provided to each student working with glaze chemicals. Plaster molds are made by students themselves. Molds are used for small scale production in hand building clay and slip casting techniques as well as glass Pate Dé Verre technique. Cast models can also be 3D printed from files created in design programs such as Autodesk Fusion360. 

This MG-280 gas kiln in our kiln lab is used for stoneware clays and reduction glazes. The flame is manually controlled through the eight hours of firing. The massive air venting hoovers suck out residual particles during firings and are part of the safety protocol. 

Besides the gas kiln students operate 9 ceramic kilns reaching up to high firing temperatures of 1300 degrees Celsius.

The ceramics kilns include models Kerako 110/Kerako160, Nabertherm top 45 and Ceramotherm N300. Glass is melted for fusing and slumping techniques in our 5 glass kilns (Nabertherm F75 and Tornati T/L C) reaching 900 degrees Celsius.  

WASP 401003D printer for clay can be used to achieve parametric forms and other shapes not possible with other techniques in clay. 

Glass pieces are grinded and cut with the Bohle TSM 600-s disc grinder and Knepp SÄGBOY-2/PU500 water cutter.  

Fashion studios are equipped with overlocking and flatlocking machines besides the more common lock stich sewing machines and enough space and light to work. They are also stocked with specialist machines for leather and other technical materials. 

There are dedicated labs even for manual and digital  printing and product photography. For documenting the projects, the lab areas have several lightboxes and always accessible photo wall with mannequins and DÖRR DLP-1000 bi-color led set. 

And believe it or not, this is only a glimpse into what the HAMK Design labs have.

We urge you to come and see for yourself, either as a student or a company looking for skilled creatives on a project.