"Colours have been used to articulate the facade. Their use and choice are sympathetic with the surrounding cityscape. The careful use of colour is reflected both internally and externally."

– NZIA Jury Awards Citation

City College was developed by the Dunedin College of Education, the Otago Polytechnic, the University of Otago and the Dunedin City Council to provide residential accommodation for first year students at the three educational institutions.

The College is planned as a series of 28 ‘flats’ each with 5 or 6 bedrooms, a lounge and a kitchen with access to a communal dining room and lounge and study/tutorial rooms providing accommodation with characteristics of both a student hostel and student flat.

The flats have been designed on three storey buildings at the street frontages to the site with the shared facilities in the central area.

The exterior architectural design of the buildings has been developed to reflect the typical gabled roof forms of the earlier building facades near the street.

The design of the facades has been varied with the changing roof forms, window designs and colour – all reminiscent of the buildings of the neighbourhood – to provide identity to each flat and, in most cases, each bedroom, and create a building which, although large, fits the residential character of the area.

The flats have gained the seal of approval from students – they appreciate the freedom and support offered by the College and the character and identity of their ‘separate flats’. The architectural design of the buildings has reinforces this concept of student housing.

The whole development was documented and constructed in a twelve month period with a conventional, fixed price building contract at the very modest rate of approximately $900 per square metre.