Mr Hipkins was on the campaign trail in Dunedin yesterday, and officially opened He Toki Kai Te Rika, in Forth St, in his role as Prime Minister.
"This building shows the level of innovation in our building and construction industry," he said.
"We’ve got real opportunities to turbo-charge our vocational education."
Mr Hipkins said the building brought many strands together when it came to the government’s reforms of vocational education.
"It’s a real testament to what we can achieve when we have a strong vocational educational system that can withstand the economic cycles," he said.
The building’s name translates to "a tool for the hand" and will offer a hub-type location featuring a variety of equipment and shared spaces.
The project was proposed by Otago Polytechnic in 2020 in response to the government’s call to develop shovel-ready projects, and was completed with help from $28 million in taxpayer funding.
"With $23 billion worth of major infrastructure projects in the pipeline for the region, including the new Dunedin hospital build, the skills taught at He Toki Kai Te Rika are already in high demand," Te Pūkenga chief executive Peter Winder said.
