About.

Rooted in theatre. Open to possibility.

Founded in 2003, Great Northern Way Scene Shop (GNW) is a professional fabrication company situated on the unceded, ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Originally established in a repurposed 10,000-sq/ft warehouse on Great Northern Way in Vancouver’s False Creek Flats, GNW relocated to its current location at 281 Industrial Avenue in 2013.

GNW began as a collaboration between the University of British Columbia's Theatre Department and the broader arts community, with the goal of building a shared fabrication space. We started small—just five or six theatre productions in our first season. But word spread quickly. By the next year, we were doing 30 shows, then over 50 annually. Designers, technicians, and artists found a place here—a space where the behind-the-scenes work of theatre could finally be seen, supported, and celebrated.

From the beginning, we built our team from within the community. Many of our staff had backgrounds in theatre, fine arts, or fabrication. We weren’t just hiring for skills—we were building a shared culture rooted in creativity, collaboration, and care.

Over time, our work expanded beyond theatre to include public art, museum and gallery exhibits, and corporate projects. But that original ethos—resourceful, people first, community driven—remains at the heart of everything we do.

Some of the folks who were here in the early days have moved on, some have returned, but the values we established back then are still deeply embedded in our work today.

And more than ever, those values matter to the people we work with.

With 30+ employees, GNW serves cultural and corporate organizations locally, nationally, and internationally in all their fabrication and exhibition needs. And, we can serve clients in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, and conversational Cantonese.

GNW is an industry leader in the endeavours of sustainability and environmental awareness, and is proud to be a signatory to the Museum Exhibition Materials Pledge and the Museum of Vancouver’s SAGE Pledge, and certified Reel Green.

The Arts Factory won the RFP (Request for Proposal) to re-develop and manage the long-term lease at 281 Industrial Street, a City of Vancouver-owned building, as an artist hub In 2012. The initial lease expired in 2024 and has since been renewed to 2035.

Through the renovations, the building was transformed into the 21,000-sq/ft Arts Factory, which features 12,000 square feet of artist studios and a 6,000-sq/ft scene shop. The facility also includes 3,000 square feet of co-located offices, boardrooms available for bookings, and "hot desks" that can be rented by the public at large.

Mandated to provide affordable, accessible studio and production space, the Arts Factory supports close to 100 artists and creative sector workers by focusing on tenants requiring industrial-fabrication capabilities, such as set building, painting, fabric, wood, and metalwork.

The Arts Factory continues to operate as a creative hub, offering affordable studio and production spaces to Vancouver's arts community. The facility supports a diverse range of artists and cultural professionals, maintaining its commitment to fostering collaboration and innovation within the local arts scene.

The Arts Factory Society, a not-for-profit entity, has implemented discounted rental rates for NFPs and individual artists as part of its commitment to supporting the local arts community. In addition to its tenant artists, the Arts Factory houses creative and light-industrial businesses, such as the Great Northern Way Scene Shop, In Real Life (IRL) Creative, and Vancouver Upholstery, contributing to the facility's multidisciplinary environment. The Society's practices reflect a dedication to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for the not-for-profit arts sector and for local small businesses.

Explore The Arts Factory 🡥