Huge, light-filled rooms, high ceilings and hardwood floors - the space may be temporary, but who's complaining? Certainly not the members of Megalo Print Studio and Gallery, who have moved into their new digs on Wentworth Avenue after years in limbo at their old premises in Watson.
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The new studio and gallery, formerly the offices of the Land Development Agency in the old bus depot, is just a stone's throw away from the historic building that had once been promised to Megalo, the Fitters Workshop.
The heritage-listed building became the subject of a bitter stoush within the arts community when it was discovered it had unusual acoustics that would make it more suitable for a performance space.
But, having relinquished this dream and walked away from the dispute in December, Megalo took an alternative offer from the ACT government of a new workshop in the soon-to-be-developed Kingston Arts Precinct.
Artistic director Alison Alder said the light-filled space was extremely well suited to the type of work the printers are doing. ''It's lovely and light. People can see from the street - people walk past and come in and it's really nice,'' she said.
''We've already got people from the Glassworks coming over and we've collaborated and working together, so it's a great outcome.''
And, she pointed out, it's amazing what removing a few walls and a lick of paint can achieve.
''This was formerly the Land Development Agency office, and it was all split up into little cubicles. They were partitioned all the way through - it was really dingy and very dark,'' she said. ''They had to repair the floors and change the windows, and decided to put down the lovely recycled hardwood floor in the gallery, as a sort of reminder of the building's past, because it started off as transport workers' depot offices.''
She said Megalo would probably remain in the space for at least the next five years, as there were still delays relating to the development of the precinct.
''There are still some issues with the Kingston Arts Precinct with soil contamination and deliberations about where things are going to go,'' she said. ''But in terms of it being a temporary space, it's a very beautiful temporary space, so we're happy.''
The studios have the added bonus of looking out onto Wentworth Avenue, through fresh double-glazed window panes that have replaced the old glass-brick ones. Artists can watch the world go by without the noise of the traffic outside.
Ms Alder said while the space was temporary, it was a far cry from their previous, also temporary, premises in a dingy workshop in Watson.
The studio, at 21 Wentworth Avenue, will be launching its new space with a free open day from 10am to 4pm on August 3.
