My thesis proposal explores the conversion of an abandoned 1930s airport hangar into a concept hotel which captures the surrounding natural landscape of the Almaguin Highlands region. Still in progress, these conceptual snapshots study the relationship between the historical and future site development through the lens of "negative" and "developed" film. Intended to frame the landscape from the inside out, this proposal will offer an artistic perspective on the future of hospitality and tourism within the region while maintaining the integrity of the existing cultural and geographic history.  

This adaptive re-use design proposal is located in the south end of Northern Ontario and is approximately 300 kilometers north of Toronto. 

This pre-World War Two airport and hangar was constructed as a part of the Canadian Government’s depression era make-work projects. The existing aircraft hangar is a post-industrial concrete and steel frame building that sits on a large property with three small runways, a surrounding treeline and a small pond. The site was once a fully functioning small-scale airport that linked the Muskoka region and North Bay airports together as a part of Canada’s trans-airline plan, as well as a training camp for  both the Canadian and Norwegian Air force during the war. 

Resting in a vast and diverse landscape, this region is surrounded by an excess of fresh water lakes, forests and cascading rock cliffs that make up the Canadian Shield. A region with crisp winters and warm summers the area has long attracted tourists from the south and from around the world that come to explore the region’s natural beauty.  Almaguin Highlands region is made up of a collection of townships and rests between Parry Sound and the west entrance to Algonquin Park.