University of Portsmouth’s Eldon Building West Wing officially opened on Friday 30th May by Sandi Toksvig.
A flash mob choir burst into song from hidden corners at the official opening of the University of Portsmouth’s new home for the arts, the Eldon West Wing. This new flagship building for the Creative and Cultural Industries faculty was opened by University Chancellor, broadcaster, writer and comedienne Sandi Toksvig who said: “This wonderful building is going to be a beating heart of creativity here in this glorious city.”
The CCi faculty encompasses everything from textiles and fashion to broadcast media and game design, and from photography and graphics to architecture and film. The new £14m (£9.5m contract value) 5000m2 West Wing provides the key linking piece and new main entrance for the whole faculty. Exhibition and cafe spaces at ground floor give onto a new courtyard. Lecture theatre, screening and seminar rooms and the School of Architecture are housed on the upper floors. A five storey atrium links all the floors and forms a key part of the assisted natural ventilation strategy of this low energy building.
Professor Catherine Harper, Dean of the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries in her welcoming speech said: “I am extraordinarily proud. The building brings together staff and students under one roof to benefit from working together and collaborating on creative projects and I am already thrilled with the response from staff and students to working and learning in the building.”