News: University of Otago announce new Christchurch Campus Building
The University of Otago has recently announced its plans for a new building worth $150 million to expand its Christchurch campus. The building, originally bought in 2011 after the Christchurch earthquake, is part of a long-standing agreement by the University of Otago to help with the city’s rebuild. The $150 million building is a part of larger set of construction projects, valued at nearly $500 million, which have been undertaken by the University. This project will be the biggest construction project conducted by the university of Otago.
The building is set to be a part of a new health precinct development and Vice-Chancellor Harlene Hayne said that the development would enable and develop growth in research and education programmes. The Otago university campus in Christchurch has been a training base for medical programmes for many years and has also been important for research with more than 1000 students using Christchurch based facilities. The new building will also house laboratories and most of the campus’s health research groups, alongside specialist radiology equipment.
Alongside providing long term growth, University of Otago Chief Operating Officer Stephen Willis says the building will also enable a number of university departments scattered around Christchurch to re-locate into a central location, providing a consolidation of previously separated students.
The University of Otago aims to complete the construction by 2022 and hopefully in time for the 50th anniversary of the University of Otago, Christchurch Campus. After this is finished the University plan to redevelop an existing building in the Christchurch campus to be used primarily for teaching activities and clinical research particularly involving the Christchurch Hospital.
