Origins of The Tin Shed

Where passion, determination & belief built more than a shed.

Kelly Armitage watching the very beginning of The Tin Shed story, 2018.

A few sheets of tin. A patch of grass. And a belief in what was possible.

Today, The Tin Shed has become synonymous with KAND Rowing Club. Within rowing circles across Queensland and increasingly throughout Australia, the name represents far more than the modest building that sits on the banks of the Brisbane River.

But every story has a beginning.

Miller Rowe building the Tin Shed, 2018.

And ours started in 2018 with a very small budget, a patch of grass, and an enormous amount of passion and determination. The Tin Shed was very much the baby project of Scott Rowe, affectionately regarded within KAND as one of the fathers of the club. Together with his son Miller Rowe, Kelly Armitage and a small group of fellow rowers and supporters, a plan was put in place to build a simple structure beside the river.

There was nothing elaborate about it. The purpose was straightforward: we needed somewhere to house the boats. So they got to work.

From the first posts in the ground, the shed gradually began to take shape. Piece by piece, sheet by sheet, everyone chipped in where they could. There was no grand clubhouse, no expensive fit-out and very little concern about appearances. Because the people building it understood something that remains at the heart of KAND today. A boathouse doesn't produce results. People do. They believed far more in the capability of the athletes, the quality of the coaching and the culture they were creating than they did in having impressive facilities. The shed just needed to protect the boats.

Building the original launch ramp, 2018.

What nobody could have fully appreciated at the time was just how many dreams those boats would eventually carry onto the water. During construction, Scott, Miller and the small circle involved began casually referring to their new home as "The Tin Shed."

The name stuck. And so did everything it came to represent.

In the years that followed, athletes emerging from this extraordinarily humble environment would achieve results at Queensland, Australian and international level. History would be written from a building that had never pretended to be anything more than what it was. A tin shed beside the river.

Many hands, one vision. The first signs of The Tin Shed emerging in 2018, built by the people who believed in KAND from the very beginning.

Today, the Tin Shed remains an important reminder of where KAND came from and what we believe matters most. It isn't the size of the boathouse that creates champions. It is the people inside it, the standards they set, the work they are prepared to do and the culture they build together. That philosophy has never changed.

The Tin Shed and KAND Rowing Club are now inseparable. The name has become part of our identity, our history and something we are incredibly proud of. The photographs on this page capture those earliest days: from a bare patch of grass and posts in the ground, through each stage of construction, until the little building we now know simply as The Tin Shed began to take shape.

The Tin Shed begins to take shape, 2018

It may have been built to house our boats. But ultimately, it became a home for something much bigger: a place where athletes, coaches and friends came together, where ambitions grew, champions were developed and the culture that defines KAND today was forged.

Although our continued growth and success means we now have plans to expand our boathouse and facilities, one thing will never change. The Tin Shed name, and the original Tin Shed itself, will always remain a part of KAND. It is where our story began, a reminder of how far we have come, and a piece of our history we will always carry with us into the future.

The Tin Shed today. Where humble beginnings became a proud legacy, 2026.