There’s a world class $80 million facility taking shape on QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus.

It’s called CIP2 and it features technology unlike anything seen in any other university.

We were invited inside, for an exclusive preview.

Tom Fowles reports.

TRANSCRIPT

Seven years of research, design, planning and construction and the CIP2 building at the top of Musk Avenue is almost there.

And it’s raised the bar for all universities but it’s the students who’ll reap the rewards.

Greg Jenkins, QUT Creative Industries: “I think they should be excited, students haven’t had a chance to look through it yet.”

In a way this is Greg Jenkins’ baby, he admits he’s never seen anything like it.

Six floors of specialist world-class drama, music and arts facilities all set to a spectacular backdrop of the Brisbane skyline.

The culmination of a worldwide hunt to source the best of the best technology.

Greg Jenkins, QUT Creative Industries: “We had teams going around the world looking at all the different venues to assess the best practice to bring that all back here.”

Two dance studios are equipped with specially sprung floors and cameras to capture and play back the dancer’s every moves.

Greg Jenkins, QUT Creative Industries: “For a dance studio, this is quite amazing too, you can see all the wires and such coming out of the walls here and the connection points up there and for a dance studio to have this much connectivity, this is quite unusual, normally it’s just a room with a piano in the corner.”

The Music School’s master control can simultaneously record and connect with any studio in the building, many boasting spectacular views.

They’ve incorporated what’s called a ‘floating box’ design for perfect acoustic sound.

Greg Jenkins, QUT Creative Industries: “Each slab is completely separate, each wall is built on a slab and this comes away, and every single room is a box within a box.”

The aesthetic use of timber softens the general purpose areas.

Many of the walkways are coated with recycled rubber flooring, in a bid to keep the building green.

From the natural lighting flooding in from the building’s east, to the recycled timber on the wooden stairs, sustainability has been a key feature of the building since day one.

Next year these empty computer stations will be buzzing, the entire building will come together with a whole new generation of artists, actors and musicians.

Tom Fowles, QUT News.