About
The Campus development will be staged over a 20-year period to 2040. This is where you can learn about our future development plans and participate in our program that is focused on listening to your feedback to improve our design outcomes to support the long-term evolution of the site as a leading educational campus that specialises in filmmaking, games, animation and VFX.
Initial masterplan goals
AIE’s essential facility requirements:
- Include the following key elements:
- AIE headquarters and administration offices.
- AIE and AIE Institute teaching facilities.
- Industry partner / Work Integrated Learning.
- Student production halls, workshops, and facilities.
- School of Cinematic Arts and School of Business.
- Student accommodation.
- To be consistent with the business case presented to the ACT Government.
AIE’s key design values
- To incorporate the essential facility requirements.
- To meet complex games and film industry production requirements.
- To make best available use of the combined Block A and Block B sites to ensure a cohesive and functional educational campus.
- To retain trees and re-plant where that cannot be achieved.
- To plan for sufficient parking and vehicle movement.
- To focus on active travel with allowances made for end-of-trip facilities and bike parking.
- To maintain safe pedestrian access through the site.
- To create welcoming spaces where the education community, student residences and locals can mix.
- To have seamless integration with the open green space that is managed by TCSS.
- To fund the replacement of the existing tennis courts on the open green space that TCSS will maintain.
Approved Future Intentions Plan
A bit of history
In case you have not met us before, we are a longstanding part of the Watson neighbourhood! AIE is the world’s first non-profit specialist games and film educator. We invest in our students, grow the industry and support graduate career opportunities.
We have been in the old former Watson high school site on the corner of Windeyer St and Phillip Avenue for over 20 years. The non-profit AIE was founded here at this location in Watson and with your support, we would like to create a newly invigorated, purposeful, and contemporary Campus that is connected to the local community and environment.
We first began considering options for future growth in Canberra back in 2011. We submitted our initial proposal to the ACT government in 2014 and several subsequent proposals to provide additional data.
In 2018 the ACT Government undertook community consultation regarding possible future site uses. Later that year, it was announced that The territory decided to:
- Retain responsibility for community green space on the site
- Demolish and remediate the existing buildings on the site due to residual asbestos contamination
- Enter into negotiations for a Direct Sale with the AIE
In August 2020, AIE and the ACT Government reached agreement on the terms of a direct sale. As a requirement of the terms of sale, AIE consulted with the community and the National Capital Design Review panel and developed a Future Intentions Plan for approval by the Territory.
AIE’s draft Future Intentions Plan was Approved by the ACT Government in September 2021 noting the requirement for minor amendments. Final approval was granted in December 2021.
The market rate purchase of ‘Block A’ referred to in the Future Intentions Plan to The Academy of Interactive Entertainment Limited (AIE) concluded in April 2022. Block A is now Section 13 Block 4, Watson.
Throughout May-June 2024 AIE consulted with the community regarding proposed changes to its Master Plan. The amended Future Intentions Plan was submitted to the ACT Government for consideration on 1 July 2024. Additional updates were submitted on 11 March 2025 in response to a further information request. The amendments were approved on 24 April 2025 and are published in the Revised Approved Future Intentions Plan (11 March 2025).
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