A new design and digital arts building opened at Nottingham Trent University with hopes it will help put the city’s creativity on the map.
Turner Prize-winning artist and former NTU graduate Simon Starling took to the stage to open the building – but he joked there was “no red ribbon or pair of sturdy scissors,” – a nod to the building’s modern style.
Starling’s works have been featured in the Tate Modern, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art, among other places.
The new centre – which is on Shakespeare Street and part of the Nottingham School of Art and Design – sets the precedent for a new kind of arts and digital education, he added.
“It will offer possibilities to students armed with new tools – it’s about the past, present and future,” he said.
The new 5,300 sq m building is nine storeys high and includes a virtual production film suite with the same technology used to make the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian.
To mark the opening of the Design and Digital Arts (D&DA) building, digital artworks have been commissioned.
Prof Edward Peck, the university’s Vice-Chancellor, spoke of the importance of the new centre, which has been years in the making since planning permission was granted in October 2021.
He said the new building will “not just benefit students” but “bring together businesses and researchers”.
To mark the opening of the Design and Digital Arts (D&DA) building, a series of events are being held and two digital artworks have been commissioned by the university to be projected on exterior glass until November 15.
Tom Godfrey, director at NTU’s Bonington Art Gallery – says the new building will put the city’s creativity on the map.
“To have this kind of facility here in Nottingham and the region – there are parts of this building that are really rare in the country.
“It’s going to make the city be recognised as a place of really current future production, and I think that’s a really exciting thing.”
The university says the new space will improve their teaching of filmmaking, animation, user experience (UX) design, gaming, graphic design and illustration, together with traditional design practice.
Michael Marsden, Executive Dean of the Nottingham School of Art and Design, said the building’s opening marks a change in the way creative degrees are taught.
He said: “This is the next iteration of our art and design education. Our students will now be able to come and experience this and then go out into the job markets and be able to take advantage of those new job opportunities that come along.”
The building has welcomed its first intake of students this September. Opening events will continue until November 15.
