The Polytechnic’s old canteen from Timisoara is a modernist historical building, built around 1930’s, known as “Cantina 2MV”. Today it is listed as a monument of local importance, together with the Faculty of Mechanics building and the MV1 dormitory, as one of the most representative and architecturally coherent ensembles of the first university historical campus from western Romania, created by Duiliu Marcu, a well-known interwar architect. After 1990, the whole space was rented to different private companies and accommodated a restaurant, a discotheque, small offices, even kindergarten. Gradually, during the last ten years, the tenants left due to various reasons. Thus, a great opportunity was offered to the architectural school as a possible answer to our needs for more adequate artistic areas. The last two years’ intervention on this important masonry construction was meant to create a representative cultural icon for the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, ARChA, a contemporary multifunctional and educational space. The project had to deal with urban constraints, tight budget and a short execution period, connected with programmed events from the Timisoara 2023-European Capital of Culture. The paper presents architectural and structural solutions, considering the specific modernist elements, with heritage value and great historical characteristics. The methodology consists of presenting existing data, historical and contemporary, followed by architectural and structural interventions on the monumental building. The research objectives on this case study were achieved demonstrating the positive impact of a good intervention for the creative community of the city.