It’s not often the state of the arts is all that state-of-the-art.

But a new jewel in the crown of Tāmaki Makaurau could prove to be a game-changer for many organisations looking to take their next tech step.

On Wednesday night (14 May), Te Puna Creative Hub held its inaugural Open Studio – showing off the impressive West Auckland complex working at full capacity for the first time and a formal blessing of the Hub’s mauri stone.

The completion has been some time coming – with the sound recording and podcasting production suites the final pieces of the puzzle now in place as the Hub fires on all cylinders.

The new facilities also include Kōmanawa – a multi-functional 159 seat digital theatre – and Takawai – a 466sqm black box studio – as well as industry office spaces (with the likes of Crescendo and Click Studios already among the tennants) and a new, hireable boardroom suitable for team and client meetings, creative brainstorms and pitching sessions.

Te Puna is a collaboration between Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and Te Kawerau ā Maki iwi, utilising the former Whoa! Studios building on Henderson Valley Road. The Big Idea was among those to attend the Open Studio, left impressed by the capacity for creativity and innovation that the souped-up venue has to offer.

Jasmine Millet, Head of Creative Industries at TAU told The Lowdown that Te Puna has already proven to be a success, housing everything from music video shoots and soundtrack recordings to industry workshops and cultural performance rehearsals – and the calendar is growing.

“We’ve had a Māori climate innovation conference, next week we’ve got AI Forum and WeCreate hosting their one-day conference on the role of AI in the creative industries.

“We’ve had a Tongan choir come in and use it, we’ve got kapa haka coming through on a weekly basis. Te Puna’s also hosted television commercials, as well as a costume department for an international screen production in the studio and in the offices next door.

“Now that we don’t have construction going on next door, we’re really keen to dial it up and get a whole lot more happening, to really test what the venue can do. We think that it can do a lot.”

With the doors now wide open, the Hub is billing itself as “a meeting place for the next generation of creative innovation, collaboration, showcasing and learning” and “an ambitious initiative to catalyse screen, media, digital and creative technology, art, game development, music and performing arts in west Auckland.”

Millet notes “It’s going to be a great place for live music – there’s a real dearth of live music venues of West Auckland. We’ve put in a semi-sprung dance floor in the theatre, as we’ve heard for a long time that there was a real shortage of spaces with a sprung floor, especially in West Auckland. So there is one now.

“There’s also an infinity wall in the theatre, which allows immersive projection to take place. Things like that are there to create the conditions for people to innovate and push the boundaries with the kind of work that they’re either developing locally or wanting to showcase.”

Te Puna Creative Hub now moves into activation mode, offering training and upskilling initiatives, as well as providing the local community and creative businesses with access to its world-class resources and opportunities.

“I think that kind of industry knowledge sharing, masterclasses, conferences and workshops – that’s another really important role that Hub will play in just convening people to talk about things and learn from each other, demo stuff. We always need to do that in the creative sector, and sometimes it’s hard to find the places to do it.”

Millet has laid out the welcome mat for those in the sector to come and explore the new innovation hub – and be limited by just their imagination.

“I think the opportunity for creatives is to come in and work out how they can use it – it’s kind of a pick and mix. It’s not a traditional theatre space, it’s not a traditional live music space, it’s not a whole standalone film studio facility.

“So the message to creatives is, what can you do with these tools and these spaces all in one place? Especially with some of the newer tech that can be harder to get hold of.

“Come and play, come and innovate. Come and ask us which bits you want to be involved in, and who you would need as creative partners and collaborators to do the kind of work that you want to do. That’s what we want to be offering.

“Yes, it’s a building with some cool stuff in it, in a location that’s close to where a lot of creative people live. But how can the Hub build and help play a role in building the creative partnerships that will spur the next phase of creative work that we’re going to produce here in Tāmaki Makaurau?”

An open-ended question for a sector that is always looking to break new ground.