The Creative Media Facility at the University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu reached a milestone with the installation of its final beam. To mark the occasion, UH West Oʻahu students, faculty, staff, administrators and supporters each autographed a 15-foot white beam in rainy weather, commemorating their involvement in the 33,000-square foot building that is set to hold classes in fall 2020. The final beam installation marks the conclusion of one stage of the construction.
“Our Creative Media program, which will call this facility home, is important to UH West Oʻahu and the UH System as it provides our students with continuous opportunities to connect with our area K–12 schools and community colleges, and importantly to exciting, innovative careers!” UH West Oʻahu Chancellor Maenette Benham said of the $33,275,000 building that was awarded to local contractor Kiewit Building Group and local architect firm Next Design.
The new building aligns with the UH West Oʻahu’s newest degree program—the bachelor of arts in creative media. UH West Oʻahu’s Creative Media program embraces new media through video, animation, video games, social media platforms, apps, and virtual and augmented reality. The degree has concentrations in communications and new media technologies, design and media, game design and development and general creative media.
- Related UH News story:
- Construction on Academy for Creative Media building at UH West Oʻahu begins, January 11, 2019
- Contract awarded for Academy for Creative Media building, June 6, 2018
“Today marks another milestone for the Academy for Creative Media System and our partnership with UH West Oʻahu ACM,” Academy for Creative Media System founder and Director Chris Lee said. “This will not only be the most technologically advanced, student-focused building for creative media education at the University of Hawaiʻi, but will ensure living wage industry jobs for the West Side and all of our state.”
The facility will link complementary facilities and programs throughout the UH System and across the state as a catalyst for Hawaiʻi’s intellectual property workforce. The new Creative Media facility at UH West Oʻahu will consist of production spaces that include a two-story sound stage for filming, multi-purpose lobby, 100-seat theater with Dolby Atmos mixing capability, Foley stage for sound reproduction, editing suites, sound mixing suites, digital intermediate color grading, eSports Arena, incubator for student run companies, outdoor amphitheater, emerging media lab, mill shop to create film sets and equipment cages.
—By Leila Wai Shimokawa
