My Subject: Built Environment: Special Collections and Resources

News, trends, forecasting, inspiration

Institute of Making The Institute of Making is a multidisciplinary research club for those interested in the made world: from makers of molecules to makers of buildings, synthetic skin to spacecraft, soup to diamonds, socks to cities. At the heart of the Institute of Making is the Materials Library – a growing repository of some of the most extraordinary materials on earth, gathered together for their ability to fire the imagination and advance conceptualisation. A place in which makers from all disciplines can see, touch, research and discuss, so that they can apply the knowledge and experience gained to their own practice.

Mintel This link opens in a new window Mintel contains marketing intelligence reports, trend analysis and market size information for a wide range of industries and across several countries. It is particularly strong for sector information in European and American countries.

Trendhunter Trend Hunter is the world's largest collection of cutting edge ideas, fueled by 132,000 insatiably curious people. Their trends and trend reports help brands, media and innovators Find Better Ideas, Faster.

WGSN Interiors This link opens in a new window Description: Worth Global Style Network Interiors is an online trend forecasting and product design tool for the industrial design, home and interiors market across 16 product categories, including furniture, lighting, textiles, interiors, garden design Subject Scope: Interiors, product design, packaging, textiles, marketing, trends, forecasting, business strategy, trade news, trade shows Date Range: Current

Special Collections in The Sheppard Library

The Library holds a number of special collections to support your studies including. Fashion, Illustrated Books, Advertising Archive, and Samples.

The majority of these collections are located in The Materials Room located in the basement of The Sheppard Library.

The Materials Room is usually open 12pm-3pm Mon -Fri during term-time.

Find out more: http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/specialcolls or watch our video.

Materials Room Opening Hours

The Materials Room is normally open during term time, Monday-Friday, 12-3pm

Please check below for any changes from the normal opening times

Please contact us if you have any queries or would like to make an appointment for a time outsde the standard opening hours:

ACILibrarian@mdx.ac.uk

Samples Collection

The Samples Collection is located in the Basement of The Sheppard Library in the Materials Room (usually open 12pm-3pm Monday-Friday during term-time). The collection contains samples of hundreds of different materials, anything from plastic and glass to smart fabric and innovative wall finishes. More information: http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/specialcolls/samples.

Items can be borrowed from the collection for up to two weeks. Contact ACILibrarian@mdx.ac.uk for more information.

Sourcing materials

Architonic Guide to products and materials including fabrics, furnishings, lighting, wall and floor finishes.
Barbour Product Search Barbour Product Search a "searchable database of products and suppliers, including images, case studies, technical data, catalogues, news and project data".
Building Products Index UK online database of building materials and suppliers. The site includes links, images, British Standards, technical data and PDf catalogues
Hafele Online Searchable database of furniture fittings and architectural ironmongery.
Institute of Making The Materials Library is a collection of materials gathered from sheds, labs, grottoes and repositories around the world. It is a resource, laboratory and studio providing hands-on research, events and workshops and is attached to University College London (UCL).
Kompass UK Searchable database of 40,000 products and services and corporate information on 47,000 UK industriall companies including contact details.
Maker Shed The place to buy all things technical.
Material District MaterialDistrict, the world’s leading match-making platform in the field of innovative materials.
Material Lab "A place to explore different materials and discover latest trends" Part of Johnson Tiles part provides range of samples and advice and assistance.
NBS Source Online guide to companies, manufacturers and suppliers of products and services, plus advisory organisations.
ReMaterialise Excellent resource for ecosmart materials. Registration is required to search database - but registering is free.
Transmaterial "Transmaterial online is intended to be a clear, concise, accessible, and carefully edited resource that provides information about the latest and most intriguing materials commercially available".