The project was a complete renovation and recapitalization of a designated heritage
industrial structure. Originally an 19th Century brewery & distillery, and later a
military hospital for WWI vets, the building now houses over a dozen local artists and
non-profit arts-based groups, including a dance school, art gallery, musical instrument
lending library, potters guild, and weavers guild. Providing creative space for tenants,
with opportunities for maximum interaction between artists and the public-at-large, the
space has become a focus for arts in Kingston. The re-imagined mass of the original
malting tower on the shore of Lake Ontario houses a spectacular assembly space where
tenants and the public may gather to celebrate, educate, or perform. By retaining the
history written in the masonry walls of the structure, we have added another chapter to
the life of this excellent example of industrial heritage, and at the same time enriched
the local artistic community.