The building is for the University’s Art, Media, Design and Computing students and located on the corner of Southfield Road and Woodlands Road, Middlesbrough.
Mr Denham will meet BA (Hons) Graphic Design student Helen Hurry. Helen, 21, from Fulwood, Preston who created an 8m by 6m mural displayed on the left side of the Athena Building. Her design was selected following a competition for Design students, with a brief to produce artwork for the Athena building around the theme of celebration.
During his visit Mr Denham will meet the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graham Henderson, talk to current students, and tour the Athena before officially opening the building.
Mr Denham said: ‘I am delighted to open this new £10 million state-of-the-art building at the University of Teesside. It will enable the University to give students the skills that they need to get the high paid jobs of the future. This innovative centre will unlock talent in the North East, by providing a high tech environment in which students can gain the knowledge and expertise for crucial jobs in the creative industries.’
Professor Graham Henderson, University of Teesside Vice-Chancellor, said: ‘I am delighted to welcome the Secretary of State, John Denham, to the University to open our new Athena Building - one of the latest additions to our modern and continually expanding University campus. This particular building is an exciting new development for the University which provides a state-of-the-art environment for students studying programmes which will prepare them for careers spanning a range of creative, digital and media related occupations and industries.
‘The building also provides a further manifestation of our continued commitment to playing a leading role in providing the higher level skills needed to support the growth and prosperity of our region and the wider UK. I am very much looking forward to sharing our successes and our exciting plans for the future with the Secretary of State during his visit.’
Inside the Athena are 4,000 square metres of studio space for teaching and learning across a range of areas of digital technology and media. This has enabled the University to build on its reputation for excellence in areas such as computer animation, games development, design and digital media.
Facilities inside 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 are also 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.