KOGAA converts Czech industrial hall

Architecture studio KOGAA has converted a former industrial shed in Brno, Czech Republic, into the Šmeral Art Factory. The new exhibition and events space is the first completed intervention in a wider plan to diversify the area of the still-operating Šmeral machinery factories and better connect it to the city.

Local studio KOGAA aimed to retain the building's industrial character while giving it what founding partner Alexandra Georgescu called a new public life. The project involved painting the existing steel roof trusses a pale mint green and using them to define the gallery spaces inside. This green tone references historical finishes on the factory's buildings.

A Catalyst for Transformation

Alexandra Georgescu explained the gallery's broader role. As the first completed intervention within the wider Šmeral complex, the gallery acts as a catalyst for its gradual transformation. The studio hopes the project demonstrates how small, strategic interventions can unlock potential in overlooked industrial buildings and encourage neighbouring owners to see existing structures as opportunities.

The site's boundary features Brno's first legal graffiti wall. Behind it, a large yard has been repurposed for events and temporary installations. At the northern end of the building, a canopy formed by extending the roof shelters a performance area framed in matching mint-green steelwork.

Interior and Local Craftsmanship

Inside, the Šmeral Art Factory is a single, long volume lit by a polycarbonate skylight. The original metal light fittings now hang from the green trusses, refitted with LED bulbs. A central block contains toilets behind a long bar.

That bar's construction highlights the project's ethos. It was built by the neighbouring Šmeral factory's own turbine makers using white corrugated metal from their everyday production. It is a small intervention, but one that captures the project’s ethos: creating new value through local craftsmanship, existing resources and minimal intervention.

Flexible Exhibition Space

At the southern end of the building, a group of temporary white walls creates a dedicated exhibition area. Narrow steel bars installed beneath the trusses allow for the hanging of artwork, providing flexible display options.

Ventilation is provided by a series of wall-mounted chimneys, also painted in the project's signature mint green. The photography for the project was completed by Alex Shoots Buildings.