WaterFire Arts Center

An exciting addition to Providence's Woonasquatucket Corridor District, this historic industrial building consolidates WaterFire Providence’s operations and expands their mission by serving as a multi-purpose venue for exhibitions, community gatherings, and events which benefit a wide variety of cultural arts, institutional, educational, and community organizations. The adaptive re-use design approach was light-handed in order to preserve and respect the building's industrial history and appearance while carefully inserting new architectural elements to ensure modern functionality. A new mezzanine level was created to provide space for administrative offices by suspending new steel floor structure from original gantry crane rails. The flexibility of the space, particularly the main hall, accommodates the organization’s varied programming as well as community partnerships.