Otago Polytech trades training school opens

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has opened a new trades and engineering training centre for Otago Polytech.

The government contributed $28 million towards the new school He Toki Kai Te Rika, as one of the "shovel-ready" projects it invested into in 2020.

The multimillion-dollar facility is expected to be fully operational ahead of the first semester next year, with equipment and teaching transferred to the new building in stages.

It will act as a hub with shared spaces and equipment for teaching degree and certificate-level programmes in civil, mechanical and electrical engineering; quantity surveying in the New Zealand Diploma in Construction; and welding night classes and block courses for apprentices.

The building itself showcases future-focused design thinking including Living Building Challenge principles, laminated veneer lumber and cross laminated timber.

The name, He Toki Kai Te Rika, translates as 'a tool for the hand', in part a reference to the three adze blades and pounamu chisel at the polytechnic's Harbour Terrace site when the campus was developed in the mid-1980s.

Te Pūkenga Tumuaki chief executive Peter Winder said the skills to be taught there were already in high demand in the region, with $23 billion worth of major infrastructure projects in the pipeline including the new Dunedin Hospital build.

"We are delighted to be able to offer those on a pathway into these essential careers an inspiring facility reflecting their importance to the province and Aotearoa New Zealand as a whole," he said.

A whakatuwhera was held last month to bless the project.

The project has employed about 200 tradespeople, construction managers and consultants since work began in January 2021.