Public Tour: Hands-on with the Materials Library (Afternoon)

This introductory tour of our Stratford-based Materials Library is perfect for all materials enthusiasts. Join us to poke around our shelves, jingle our jars, revel in materials and talk to us about our eclectic collection.

The Materials Library is a handling collection of some of the most wondrous materials on earth, gathered from sheds, kitchens, workshops, labs and factories around the world.

Aluminium will be a particular focus for this session. Explore its reflective properties in a short interactive demo and try your hand at aluminium stamping, taking home a malleable metal imprint of a genuine Materials Library object.

Important information about our ballot system for this event:

We are using a randomised ballot system for this event.

Our ballot will go live on Monday 28th September at 05:00. To be in with a chance of joining us, select as many masterclasses as you are interested in attending and submit your entry before Sunday 11th October at 23:59. Please note: it makes no difference when you submit your entry; entering early does not increase your chances of securing a space. All places will be offered at random.

If successful, you will be emailed a link to book a space on one masterclass from Monday 12th October 2026. Successful applicants will have 24 hours to book their slot; however, if you do not book within 24 hours, your place will be offered to someone else. Even if you have selected multiple masterclasses on your submission, you will only be able to book one masterclass. This masterclass will be pre-chosen for you at random from your selection. 

If you are interested in attending our research talk and/or Materials Library tour, this will not affect your chances of gaining a slot on a masterclass, and will not count towards your one masterclass booking.

Once all tickets are fully booked by the ballot winners, we will notify everyone who signed up and offer them the opportunity to join our waiting list for last-minute dropouts.

This introductory, interactive session is suitable for anyone over 10 who would like to know more about the Materials Library and discover what we have on our shelves; including silly putty, polarising films, mushroom leather and glass formed by lightning.

Everyone at UCL is welcome in our spaces. We strive to make all of our processes accessible, including attending our events and workshops, and using our website and booking systems. Please message us if you have any questions or requirements, or need assistance using our platforms. We'll be happy to help.

We're always interested in feedback to help us improve access to our activities. Please contact events@instituteofmaking.org.uk if you'd like to chat.