SAE OPENS $12M SYDNEY CAMPUS

14 February 2017

SAE has opened the doors to its impressive new Sydney education facility located at 39 Regent St in the inner-city creative hub of Chippendale and next to Central Station. It’s a $12m, seven-story campus complete with a rooftop recreational space where students can enjoy 360° skyline views across the CBD.

General Manager of SAE Australia, Lee Aitken, said the new campus was built to accommodate a growing demand for creative media programs in disciplines such as audio, film, animation, games, design and web/mobile. “The new campus has been fitted out with the best facilities and industry-standard equipment to support hands-on learning in small class environments,” said Aitken. “Our focus is on giving students access to the types of technology and equipment they’ll be using in the workplace, and equipping them with both the technical and soft skills needed to kickstart successful careers from day one of their studies.”

The SAE Sydney campus was designed by Phillips Smith Conwell, with director and principal architect Andrew Holmes charged with redesigning the 1920s ‘Berlei Building’. To add colour and life to the interior, SAE commissioned a wall art mural by Sydney artist Beastman (Bradley Eastman).

“The building’s new design is a direct response to the dynamic and evolving nature of the creative media industry and meets the highly technical requirements of studio spaces,” Holmes said. “The studios on the upper levels were designed with a high degree of acoustic awareness. A chilled beam cooling system was developed to offer silent cooling in preference to more common fan-driven systems.”

In 2014 the Australian creative industries were valued at $33b, and the entertainment and media market is predicted to grow to almost $40b by 2018.