A Canadian Catholic student has replicated his school’s new building in the popular video game Minecraft. The project, which was undertaken for a talent show, is massive in its scope, presenting a 1:1 digital model of the planned building. Now a video tour of the build is on the school district’s YouTube page, where it highlights not just the new school building, but the skills of the student.
According to CBC, when Benjie Roberto heard about the contest he knew just what he wanted to do, although he wasn’t sure if there was a category for it. After clearing the plan with his teachers, who also supplied him with blueprints, Benjie took to Minecraft and built a replica of Central Catholic High School’s new building.
The tour is jaw-dropping from start to finish. Everything is there from the individual parking spaces to study halls and bathrooms. Benjie even went so far as to put a regulation gridiron in the back, complete with yard markers, bleachers, and even a track going around the field. Benjie said the sports field and bleachers were his favorite part.
Benjie reportedly won $75 for the talent show, although CBC did not note where he placed. He received a further $50 from a guidance counselor who wished to post the video on the district’s YouTube channel. It is now up on the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board page, where it serves as a digital model for the public to peruse. The project is said to have taken around 170 hours over 47 days to complete.
The artist noted that he had not stepped foot in the new building before his digital model was complete, but the finished school – which students were able to get a sneak peak at during a ceremony to plant a time capsule – is very similar to his rendering.
"Walking in as a person is a whole other feeling. Like you look up, you see all the details ... it was just magical," he said.
While the high school senior was happy with the money he won from the project, he said that nothing compares to the feeling of a job well done:
"After you're done making something that you've worked so hard doing, and then you sit back, look at it, and then you just have this nice warm feeling that you've accomplished something," Benjie told CBC.
