New building planned for University of Canterbury’s $131m redevelopment

Wednesday, 7 February 2024

Digital screen students will soon get to play with even shinier toys at the University of Canterbury as it splashes out on more state-of-the-art facilities as part of its $131 million redevelopment.

The expenditure, previously reported to be $95m, will transform Dovedale Campus into an industry standard hub for its digital screen production degree.

The degree had 170 enrolments when it was introduced last year - nearly triple the forecast 60. This year’s numbers are still being finalised.

Having nearly completed phase one of the redevelopment, the university is now seeking a contractor to build a post-production building with motion capture, green screen and virtual production capabilities.

The two storey, 1400m² floor area building is expected to open in 2026 as the degree’s first cohort enters its final year.

Executive dean of arts Kevin Watson called the project an “ambitious enterprise” offering students “the most value in terms of a career”.

“As they move through the program they will get access to closer to industry standard spaces, and by the time they get to fourth year they will be using only industry standard.”

The building will offer a larger virtual production stage with more computing power than will be available this year - vastly increasing possibilities.

Watson said one of the most interesting features of the redevelopment was “its close relationship between the industry and the university”.

As the campus will cater to commercial use too, students will learn in the same environment professionals are working in, gaining experience typically associated with internships.

“Often industry experience and work experience is seen as an additional thing in some university programmes … what we’re trying to do is better connect the industry side.”

Once complete, the campus would offer a “developing ecosystem of qualifications”, including postgraduate options and industry-specific qualifications to upskill those in the sector, Watson said.

This “ecosystem” will not only give students a broad overview of screen, but is designed to be flexible enough to adapt to the sector’s growing future.

Watson noted they were only “really recently figuring out what is possible” in the virtual production space, but now the University of Canterbury would be ready.

Although Canterbury was not the biggest region for film, the university would soon be pumping some serious talent into the area, he said.

The post-production building’s contract is expected to start at the end of April.