The cost, which was referenced at the university’s capital development committee recently, comes at a time when the university is looking to get out of its deficit, and rationalising courses in order to become more financially sustainable.
At the committee meeting, university staff presented members with a summary of the current infrastructure projects.
The Christchurch campus upgrade, also known as the UOC Wai-Ora Building Project, was expected to cost about $150m when it was first announced in September 2018, but the most recent update said it could cost close to $278m by the time it is finished in the middle of next year.
The project was also ranked "amber" on the financial risk scale — "red" is the highest risk.
Otago University director property and campus development Tanya Syddall said an in-principle budget of $178m was approved in April 2020 and was based on a pre-Covid cost estimate for the construction works.
When the contract was awarded in May 2022, the university approved a budget of $240m.
In October last year, a separate business case for adaptations in the new building was approved, increasing the approved budget to $246m.
"Wai-Ora is a large and complex project being delivered in an unprecedented time within the construction industry and has subsequently faced significant challenges including contractor delays, client-requested changes, ongoing cost escalation, external market and global conditions and other construction industry challenges.
"The project has continued to report cost-risk pressures."
The size and complexity of the building also posed challenges, Ms Syddall said.
"We have large floor-to-floor heights driven to support our new state-of-the-art laboratories.
"This complexity has driven the need for detailed modelling and co-ordination which has pushed the boundaries of market capability."
Wai-Ora is a large six-storey building with a total area of nearly 17,000sq m.
The building will house laboratories for medical research and teaching, a specialist radiology suite, a clinical research department for psychological medicine and health-related studies and a hub for postgraduate nursing studies.
"The new building will allow the Christchurch campus to grow, including being able to accommodate more postgraduate health students and potentially University of Otago students from other courses."
The building was on track to be completed and opened sometime next year, she said.
