Challenging architectural expiration : a transformative re-purposing of the Enterprise foundry

The act of preserving architectural artefacts is normally reserved

for constructions of cultural status. The masonry buildings of the

industrial era in Canada, devoid of “value," offer an uninhibited

palette for architectural re-invention and thus a greater potential

for active intervention, innovative re-programming, and recovery of

social relevance, than “valuable" heritage buildings. That they are

often abandoned should not be seen as an indication that they are

ill suited for preservation. By contesting the idea that programmatic

obsolescence in ordinary buildings signifies expiration, we effectively

take charge of the potential to create rich and layered architectural

storytelling within a built context where temporal layering and

complexity are increasingly difficult to find. This thesis explores the

possibilities of conserving and repurposing buildings of the ordinary

industrial category. In a larger movement, this thesis considers a path

for recuperating long-standing architectural values so often absent in

contemporary construction: solidity and permanence.