It all started with a trip around the world, with Malcolm Gillies, Kevin Melville, and Jamie Tout. Dreamers, doers with a vision, or was it just a mad idea?

Three men on a mission. Having heard about Gillies energy, “one manager tells it like ” f××× “Malcolms arrived at Brewtown, battle stations!. Everything just gets done!

There, they were traveling the world, looking to create something in Upper Hutt that no one could envisage, let alone finance and execute.

Tout had the vision, and the other two had the balls, Nev Mellon, the electric brains. It appeared that they were the perfect team.

“On behalf of my partner Kevin Melville and myself, NZCIS is super excited to have hosted the first-ever Super Rugby Pacific pre-season game here at the home of the Hurricanes. It is something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time now, and, amazingly, we can bring this game to Upper Hutt.

It’s great having the families here with us and how awesome the grounds look. Amazing work by the teams at NZCIS and the Hurricanes”

“Quote Malcolm Gillies”

The trip took them to the football mecca Manchester United and other high-performing clubs, and they looked at culture and equipment and dreamed up more, much more.

New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport was born. A reported 110 million later a unique facility was designed to put this region and our people on the world stage.

A one-of-a-kind destination for athletes, community groups, and corporate guests.

Located in Upper Hutt, on the former site of the Central Institute of Technology, the land and buildings were purchased by Malcolm Gillies and Kevin Melville in 2016 and have since been developed into a world-class unique facility providing a range of offerings. Not settled on creating a world-class sports hub, they also run conferencing, accommodation, commercial office space, and the impressive  Performance Institute.

A visit will feel like you are set in park-like grounds, the campus is a hive of activity, with over 200 beds, NZCIS is the largest ‘hotel’ in Wellington catering to all budgets from shared dorm-style accommodation wings and includes 50 brand new two bed apartments where the Swedish women’s FIFA world cup team resided.

‍A dining hall for 200 people in one sitting and a private kitchen for hire for board room lunches. Includes a YMCA on campus.

NZCIS has created a stunning high-performance center that houses the Canes and Nix football teams who by the way are leading their respective fields, possibly no surprise that they have recently moved from dull grounds into the sparkling NZCIS.