The Britannia Mine Concentrator is more than a surviving industrial building. For generations of artists, photographers and filmmakers, its monumental architecture and dramatic location above Howe Sound have provided a distinctive source of creative inspiration.
Its steel structure, enormous windows, machinery and industrial spaces tell the story of Britannia’s mining past while offering countless subjects for artistic interpretation.
The Mill Through Art
Artists have documented the Concentrator and Britannia Beach through paintings, drawings, poetry, photography and film. Works such as Orville Fisher’s Mining, Britannia Beach demonstrate how the industrial landscape became part of British Columbia’s visual history.
For some artists, the Mill represents the scale and engineering achievements of Canada’s natural resource industries. For others, its aging structure evokes memories of the workers and communities that once depended on Britannia Mine.
Industrial Photography
The Concentrator provides an unusual environment for photography. Weathered metal, repeating structural elements, old machinery, stairways and natural light entering through its many windows create constantly changing compositions.
Modern photographs also document the transformation of the building from a working industrial facility into an important piece of British Columbia’s mining heritage.
The Concentrator on Screen
The enormous interior and distinctive industrial architecture of the Mill have also attracted film and television productions.
Its spaces can be transformed into very different settings, allowing the historic structure to represent everything from an old industrial factory to an imaginative futuristic environment.
An Industrial Landmark That Inspires
More than a century after Mill No. 3 was constructed, the Concentrator continues to inspire new interpretations.
Art provides another way to preserve and understand Britannia’s history, revealing the beauty, scale and character of a building originally created for a purely industrial purpose.