Industrial Legacy of KW
Adaptive Reuse: Industrial Legacy of Kitchener-Waterloo, 2022
Project Origin: Ontario, Canada
Grant: Region of Waterloo Arts Fund
Since the early 1800 Kitchener, also know as “The Industrial City”, was a manufacturing hub playing a central role for industry and progress. Waterloo, located north of Kitchener, grew simultaneously as a white collar city. As the cities evolved into their modern state, the factories once located at the edge of the city limits were embedded into its present-day urban fabric.
Its current iteration has seen a shift from the manufacturing to the technological industries, however, the buildings where this progress has taken place, in some cases, hasn’t changed. The influx of new population, while refreshing for the region, dilutes its humble, but assertive beginnings.
With this in mind, the project aims to consolidate the industrial legacy buildings in the Kitchener-Waterloo into a physical catalogue. This project includes architectural photography, a visual analysis of the industrial typologies, as well as diagrams of the buildings with the original factory facades. In addition, an analysis of the urban development through mapmaking, and how the industrial legacy has shaped the identity and legibility of the urban area is included. Kitchener-Waterloo has seen rapid transformation and urban renewal though adaptive reuse. The undertaking of the this project will help illustrate the uniqueness of KW, and spread among the community the value of keeping its industrial legacy as a part of the urban fabric.
