North Point and arts have never been comfortable partners. With its reputation as a residential hub filled with skyscraping blocks of dinky apartments, the area's only artistic merits might be a twisted - and badly done - attainment of Le Corbusier's architectural maxim: the provisions of modular flats that are to become 'living machines' for men to reside within.
The Oil Street neighbourhood is certainly no different from the hundreds of streets that make up the area's concrete labyrinth. Just off the main traffic artery of King's Road, the short lane lives up to its name with a recurrent stench of lubricants and petrol, an atmospheric backdrop provided by the handfuls of shops that master the maintenance of cars and machinery.
In these drab, depressing environs, the behemothic buildings that used to be the Government Supplies Department depot were like rubbing an already irritating eyesore. The cheerlessly functional structures - two buildings and two warehouses fenced in by a grey wall topped with barbed wire - offered no respite for pedestrians.
With such low expectations, the depot's new incarnation will surely come as a pleasant surprise. With the hustling and bustling of government trucks a distinct memory, a walk inside the precincts provides a well-deserved breather from the choking traffic and imposing concrete blocks that cover the neighbourhood.
The warehouses still look minimalist: the least of embellishments exist within the rectangular spaces with high ceilings, while sunlight touches a few pieces of ochre-coloured furniture through sizeable windows. Some of the offices in the high-rise blocks retain the same atmosphere; the prices of food and beverages are still in evidence as the menu hangs over what used to be the top-floor canteen.
However, the people who took up the immense space have provided the difference that has suddenly propelled the site into the hip-stakes of today. The warehouse now plays host to several arts groups - among them artists doing painting, installation art and video montages - as well as an architectural firm, while a number of artists have taken up residence to do their painting and photographing where bureaucrats used to do the accounting and photo copying.