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The S.I.T Centre for Creative Industries – Te Rau o Te Huia is a specialised educational facility for S.I.T/ Te Pukenga students, incorporated into a 150-year-old church. The most contemporary specialised space of its kind in New Zealand - it allows learners to train and upskill their digital technology skills towards qualifications in the screen arts such as film, game design and animation. 

The site’s Heritage Category 1 status provided the main challenge for the project. The team had to work to particular protocols during construction, with onsite observers required during excavation, to ensure that not only the buildings but the surrounding trees were protected.

The new facility connects to the existing church, allowing you to stand in a 21st-century new building and touch elements of 19th-century architecture. A unique feature of the build is the fully cantilevered, floating, 3-storey staircase, fully welded to AESS 3 - a result of careful planning and methodology to execute a design that pushes the absolute limits of engineering.