KZA was retained by Associated Engineering to design a new building to house the necessary infrastructure for a water treatment plant. The facility provides the City of Dawson with safe and clean drinking water while adhering to the requirements of the City of Dawson Heritage Bylaw.

The project site is surrounded by several, important heritage works including the Old Territorial Administration Building (OTAB) and the historic Black Residence (1901). The Black Residence is formally registered with Canada’s Historic Places. Buildings designed in Dawson City’s core area (Downtown Heritage Management Area) are subject to heritage design guidelines, empowered by the Heritage Management Bylaw and created to preserve the historic context of the Edwardian–based building stock.

For new construction, the Bylaw asks proponents to consider replicating the external design of any building that may have existed on that particular site during the Gold Rush period. While no evidence was found of a former water treatment plant in Dawson during the Gold Rush era, such a facility would presumably have been utilitarian in structure and function. In the absence of a historic precedent for the building, the Heritage Advisory Committee (HAC) required the architects pay homage to the former Pacific Cold Storage building that once sat near the site.

KZA drew on several architectural elements of the former Pacific Cold Storage building and incorporated them into the modern-day water treatment plant. These elements include a large gable roof, canvas window awnings, and a board and batten cylindrical water tower.