UOCE Auditorium

About this place

The UOCE Auditorium is a University of Otago teaching venue in the College of Education Auditorium Building, in the east region of the University's Dunedin campus on Union Street East, North Dunedin. It is one of the University's centrally managed "pool" teaching spaces, which means it is timetabled for teaching but is also available for casual bookings, including by external clients.

The space

The building accommodates a single pool teaching space, the Auditorium. It has a capacity of 486, with stage capacity for shows of 50 depending on the type of use. Seating is a standard tiered arrangement of fixed seats with writing tablets — well suited to lecture-style and plenary sessions, and less suited to formats requiring table layouts, catering within the room or reconfigurable seating.

The venue is also listed by Theatreview as a performance venue, reflecting its use for staged events as well as lectures.

Booking, AV and support

Casual bookings of University pool lecture theatres can be requested by staff, students and members of the public for events that fall outside scheduled teaching. Non-University bookings are made through the University's Timetable Services external booking request form, and external hire charges apply to pool rooms. Enquiries about centrally provided rooms and theatres go to the Casual Bookings Administrator in Admissions and Enrolments.

Technical support for pool lecture theatres on the Dunedin campus is available when arranged in advance, provided by the University's lecture theatre technicians. Organisers are advised to make contact before the booking so that a time can be set up to walk through the installed equipment.

Suitability for MICE

With a capacity of 486 in raked fixed seating, the UOCE Auditorium is best used as a plenary or keynote room for conferences, symposia, public lectures, AGMs, award ceremonies and graduations — particularly for academic, health, education and not-for-profit organisers already working with the University. Catering and breakout space would need to be arranged in adjacent College of Education rooms or nearby Dunedin venues. The North Dunedin location sits within the campus precinct, a short distance from the central city.