The $98 million building is the latest in a line of major building projects since AUT gained university status in 2000. Many of those projects, such as the business building, completed in 2005, had suffered from being slightly isolated.
They have now been linked by the 12-storey Sir Paul Reeves building, which is in the middle of the university's main buildings.
Governor Fitzroy Place road, which ran between the Sir Paul Reeves building site and the business building, has been paved over and made into a pedestrian space, effectively creating a new quad and entranceway to the university.
In yesterday afternoon's heat, the glass walls facing that area had been rolled back, and students strolled through the building's atrium and out on to the grassed area facing Wellesley St East.
Richard Harris of Jasmax architects, which designed the building, said as well as linking the campus, a key brief had been creating an effective learning environment.
For today's students, that meant space to work and collaborate in groups. A lecture theatre on ground level has two rows of seats on each level, which can be swivelled around to face each other for times when the lecturer wants discussions to take place.
Walkways are areas between lecture theatres and rooms are dotted with groups of students using brightly coloured moveable couches, seats and low tables: There are more than 500 seats outside of lecture theatres and rooms.
Other areas have booths - not unlike in a bar or restaurant - with plasma screens (120 throughout the building) on the wall end, which students can hook laptops up to to discuss video and images.
The building includes large open spaces for university and public events, as well as state-of-the-art screen and television studios, a motion capture, sound and performance studios, and a light-bulb lined dressing room.
