One of the great things about going to UTS is that everything is so condensed. Whilst we have over 10 buildings, most of them are half buildings and reall congregated together. To call our different locations “campuses” is stretching the definition. But one campus pushes the boundries, even more than the others: Blackfriars.
Most people don’t even know Blackfriars exists. I never had to go there myself until this semester. So to help inform people, I thought I’d take a pictorial…tour as one might say.
So as you’re walking down Broadway, you’ll notice a church on your left. This would be the University of Notre Dame. I have no idea what they do or what they’re good at, apart from the fact their name comes from some famous church in France. This church is a scale replica of that famous church in France BLATANT LIE. Once you reach this church, hang a left.
Then you’ll end up walking down this street. Apparently Notre Dame and UTS’s Blackfriar buildings were once part of a church and its convent. The buildings themselves look pretty old and lack much of the creature comforts that we take for granted today. I like the way the sky turned out in this photo. I pretty much just stopped for a second to take a quick snap. I’m really loving my new Lumix DMC-LX3.
After walking down the block, hang a right onto Blackfriar St. I’m assuming that Blackfriars was the religious order or whatever that used to be housed in the church and convent. And that the street was named after them. And that the UTS campus was named after that, because its main entrance is located on that street. But assumptions are bad.
Looking down Blackfriars St, you wouldn’t believe you’re one street away from Broadway. Its seems so quiet and tranquil around here. Those are apartment blocks to the left. I don’t think I’d mind living around this area. Peace and tranquility whilst being only a block or two away from Broadway shopping center. Also not much grass, which is always a bonus.
Keep walking down the road and you’ll hit Blackfriars. Its so small, they just consider it part of the City Campus. Room numbers are denominated by CC instead of CB though.
Inside there’s a small parking lot, a few buildings and a childcare center, which I didn’t take a picture of in case people get the wrong idea about me. I mean, I like children, I just don’t like them in that way :p. Anyway, the picture shows Building 5, the largest building in the “campus”. There’s apparently one security guard at Blackfriars, this one was sitting outside enjoying the sunshine and the wind. Sounds like a nice and easy job.
A picture from inside Building 5. Looks pretty good. Better than it looked in real life anyway. Almost feels mysterious. Almost.
Here’s like the only lecture theatre in the whole campus. The photo was a bit blurry because I was rushed. All the people rushing to get into the lecture hall to learn about Project Management. Engineers are really enthusiastic about subjects like this.
As you can see, everyone was really enthusastic about the lecture. It was standing room only by the time I got in. Anyway, the lecture hall itself was pretty crappy. Bad acoustics, no air conditioning (or heating for winter) and no permanent seating. The room took up the majority of the second floor of the building, so it was quite spaceous. Except that because of the bad acoustics, you can’t really pack as many people in as the space would lead you to believe.
These are the non-permanent seating arrangements for the room. It basically has this little “desk” thing on the right side of the chair. It’d suck to be a lefty in this hall, that’s for sure.
Barely enough room for my notepad. Lucky I didn’t bring my laptop, because it would be awfully unsafe on those desks or uncomfortable in my lap. Looks like I’ll have to do this subject with the good old pen and paper. Luckily I have plenty of pens and lots of paper.
Anyway, that’s the tour of Blackfriars. Might show up a little earlier one day and take some pictures, the place does look pretty (compared to the rest of UTS that is).
