Sneak Peak at Te Pae

Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre is launching a ‘Taste of Te Pae’ pop-up this month to showcase the venue to prospective clients ahead of the Centre’s proposed opening later this year. Launched on Wednesday 17 March, the activation hub will operate for eight weeks until Saturday 15 May.

Te Pae Christchurch General Manager Ross Steele said the pop-up had been developed in par, in response to challenges caused by COVID-19, “The events of the past year have obviously had an effect on construction timelines for the Centre. While we expect to be open in the latter half of this year, we still want to be able to showcase the venue to current and prospective clients, as well as the local community.”

The pop-up, which will be located next to the convention centre site on Oxford Terrace, will include a food truck, as well as activation areas featuring interactive displays, a virtual reality dome and information about the Centre’s design, cultural narrative and the role of business events in the community.

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The activation area will include Te Pae Christchurch’s virtual reality walkthrough, developed by local company Jix Reality. The Christchurch-based company specialises in building digital experiences to meet real world industry need, in Te Pae Christchurch’s case immersive true-to-life technology to showcase the building to potential Te Pae Christchurch clients and the community.

The result is a virtual tour that can be viewed online, or using a phone, iPad or virtual reality headset. A separate iPad app is also available.
 
Each experience starts at Te Pae Christchurch’s main Oxford Terrace entrance and Ground Floor Foyer before “guests” visit the centre’s array of flexible and modern spaces, including the 1,400 seat Auditorium; the Rivers Room – a 1,000 seat banquet space; the 2,800sqm Exhibition Halls and an array of smaller meeting rooms and pre-function areas.
 
Depending on the viewing method, the tour either follows a pre-determined path, or users can undertake a self-guided 360 degree experience and visit specific spaces.
 
“In developing this product we wanted to look at the expertise available in Christchurch first,” Te Pae Christchurch General Manager Ross Steele said. “It’s really important for us to be part of and support our community, so to have all that knowledge and creativity that JIX Reality brought located just down the road was just fantastic. It made collaborating on this project so easy – we’re thrilled with what they have produced.”
 
“Christchurch is well-known for being innovative and pushing the envelope in those areas where it has the expertise and passion to make a difference, so it’s little surprise that hi-tech solutions are one of the city’s growth industries,” Mr Steele said.
 
“JIX Reality is a great example of this, the team are forward-thinking and creative – they came up with some industry-leading ideas and had the technological capability to make it a reality. And when we needed to look at solutions that would allow us to open our doors, so to speak, while the borders remained closed – they quickly adapted our new virtual product to suit.”

Staff from across the business will also be on hand at the Activation Hub to meet with clients and members of the local community to answer questions and provide advice.

Inside the Convention Centre, the audio-visual fit-out by Ten Four is underway, and locally based Sound Choice Pro Audio completed the audio-visual supply contract last year.

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To download the tour visit www.tepae.co.nz/gallery