Athena centre for creative technologies set to open

Students beginning degree courses this autumn at the University of Teesside will be among the first to benefit from a £10m new development to create the Centre for Creative Technologies (CCT) on the campus in Middlesbrough.

The Centre – in the Athena Building which is nearing completion on the corner of Southfield Road and Woodlands Road - will provide 4,000 square metres of studio space for teaching and learning across a range of areas of digital technology and media.

It is part of a major development programme on the Teesside campus to maximise the University’s potential to build on its excellent reputation in areas such as computer animation, games development, design and digital media, explained Professor Graham Henderson, the University’s Vice-Chancellor.

He said: “We’re looking forward to the start of the new academic year and the imminent opening of the Athena Building and the CCT which will ensure that Teesside remains one of the country’s pre-eminent universities for media, design and computing.”

Together with the new £12m Phoenix Building - home to the Institute of Digital Innovation and the DigitalCity project – the University is investing £22m to provide first- class facilities for undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers and business services to support new and growing digital enterprises on Teesside.

Facilities for new and returning design, media and computing students in the Athena Building include state-of-the-art design studios, an experimental workshop, a newsroom, broadcast news studios and multimedia publishing studios and workshops. There will also be new suites for 2-D and 3-D computer animation, computer games art, design and programming, visualisation, graphics programming and digital music, and gallery space for exhibitions at the entrance.

Professor Gerda Roper, Dean of the School of Arts & Media said: “The Athena Building, as a new landmark for the University, represents a significant commitment to design and media education in the Tees Valley and the North East. Design and media students already benefit from the excellent reputation of their courses and the expertise of their tutors, and these new facilities will offer one of the best teaching environments in the country.”

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