The University of Waterloo's School of Architecture occupies a converted industrial building on the south side of the Grand River in downtown Galt. The school relocated here from the main Waterloo campus, choosing the old industrial core as a more instructive setting for architecture students — a working environment rather than an insulated campus.
The building is open for exhibitions and public events periodically. Even from the street, the adaptive reuse project is interesting: a substantial 19th-century industrial structure fitted with contemporary interventions while keeping the original structure legible. The surrounding blocks are part of the school's extended study area, and the student presence gives the neighbourhood a quiet energy it might otherwise lack.