Left of Main
- Category: Commercial
- Address: 211 Keefer Street Vancouver
- Date: 2017
Left of Main is a creative hub for the live arts community located in the historic neighbourhood of Vancouver’s Chinatown. It’s second floor location, at one time the Park Lock Dim Sum Restaurant, had been vacant for a number of years. By carefully crafting the scope of work and understanding the building code implications to renovate and change the use of the space, Ph5 successfully met the project ambitions within the tightly limited budget.
The space was transformed into a shared arts space including a 1000 sq ft studio with a sprung wood floor with removable dance floor overlay, two walls of windows with black-out window coverings, sonic baffling, and pipe grid allowing for flexible set ups for sound, lighting and media equipment. Amenities include a shared office/lounge, kitchenette with drop down counter that can function as a bar for events, and a gender-neutral washroom with two closed stalls and a full shower.
The project contributes to a City-wide effort to build capacity in the arts community by providing a home base and rehearsal space for the Plastic Orchid Factory and selected resident artists and companies. Left of Main was also designed to generate revenues from space rentals to non-resident artists for performances, rehearsals, lessons and presentations. The space successfully welcomes over 4,000 people annually.