First Peoples’ Gathering House Ground Awakening Ceremony

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SFU’s Office for Aboriginal Peoples (OAP) held a special ground awakening ceremony to start the First Peoples’ Gathering House project in a good way.

We were humbled to be blanketed during the ground awakening ceremony.

UAA is honoured to be working with SFU on the First Peoples’ Gathering House which will be a First Peoples’ Gathering House with culturally appropriate ceremony hall and gathering space.

Please find a link to the detailed article here:
http://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2020/10/honouring-the-past-and-looking-forward-to-the-future-on-orange-s.html

The Xwemelch’stn Housing Project – a milestone for future generations

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More important news to share this week:

We are proud to be a part of the Xwemelch’stn Housing Project which is marking the first time the provincial government will finance housing projects for First Nations on reserve lands.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/squamish-nation-capilano-reserve-north-vancouver-affordable-housing

Launch and funding of ‘At Home in the North’ partnership

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Very exciting news to share today: the launch and funding of the ‘At Home in the North’ partnership.
UAA principal Ouri Scott is on the Executive Committee of this important research project.

Follow the link to the announcement and press release below. Please feel free to distribute and help share these news with our communities!

https://athomeinthenorth.org/at-home-in-the-north-partnership-launched/

Press release: https://athomeinthenorth.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/AHIN-launch_PR_Sept-16-2020.pdf

The T'Sou-ke Community Hall & Health Clinic project by the nation and the province

We are very pleased to share the news that the construction of the T'Sou-ke Community Hall & Health Clinic project by the nation and the province is expected to start in the spring of 2022 on a $7.4-million health and community centre that is being described as “life-changing” for the T’Sou-ke First Nation. The 10,400-square-foot facility will include offices for the T’Sou-ke administration, classrooms to support the teaching of Indigenous language and culture and a community hall for gatherings. The 1,800 square-foot health complex will give doctors, nurses and dentists ample room to treat the T’Sou-ke Nation’s 253 members.

https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/life-changing-7-4m-centre-for-t-sou-ke-first-nation-1.24182468

UAA welcomes two new principals!

Shelley Craig Featured in University of Waterloo Rome Program Exhibit

Shelley Craig is in an exhibit featuring University of Waterloo Rome program alumni work in Rome and current work at the Roma XL Exhibition Opening Reception in Toronto. Click here to find out more.

UAA's Ouri Scott to Speak at Visual Arts + Design Forum

UAA’s Ouri Scott will be speaking at the Department of Art + Design Fall 2019 Speaker Series for the Arts + Design Forum at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton on October 3rd at 5:15pm.

North Vancouver Museum Street Car

The Streetcar at North Vancouver Museum is in it's new home and looking proud! Currently it is sitting higher than it should, but once its lowered onto the trucks, more of the streetcar will be visible through the exterior glazing at the plaza level. David Walmsley from WCR is working with Nickel Bros to finalize the installation of trucks/tracks and the body of the car. The car will be protected by a fire resistant “box” later this week, where it will live until unveiled again next spring!

Photo Credit: Dianna Foldi

UAA is designing at the Aboriginal Land Trust Housing + Healing Centre Development for the heart of the Downtown Eastside!

UAA is proud to be the architect for the proposed Aboriginal Land Trust Housing and Healing Centre Development - an Indigenous-led mixed-use development focused on serving Vancouver’s Urban Indigenous community in the Downtown Eastside in partnership with Lu’ma Native Housing Society and Vancouver Native Health Society.

The project will include a Healing Centre operated by the Vancouver Native Health Society, 58 affordable rental units for Indigenous families with lower incomes operated by Lu’ma Native Housing Society, and 53 units of supported adult housing, operated by RainCity Housing Society. The project’s residential and healing spaces are being designed to meet the needs of Indigenous Peoples. Designed to welcome everyone with dignity, respect, honour and love, the new building will offer a safe and inclusive space where people can heal and flourish.

This project creates the opportunity to celebrate the rich history of the three host First Nations – and make visible what was made invisible by colonization. It will make space to honour the cultural and spiritual traditions that tell the stories of the land and its people and embrace all cultures and practices.

This project is an important step towards reconciliation and an opportunity to repair damage done by colonial actions. The project is being designed utilizing Indigenous protocols and guidance from Elders and Knowledge Keepers to develop the project vision, space program, and building design.

Radium Community Hall + Library Wins Canadian Green Building Award for Small Institution!

"Radium Community Hall + Library is the recipient of the 2019 Canadian Green Building Award for a Small Institution.

Urban Arts Architecture is proud to receive this prestigious award granted on the basis of not only exemplary environmental sustainability, but on the basis of its innovative social and economic sustainability. https://sabmagazine.com/awards/winners/

The winning projects are fully published in the Summer issue of SABMag, and the digital version can be seen here.

SABMag also has an article up on their website about Radium, click here to check it out!

Urban Arts is thrilled to be working on phase 2 of the project - 'Radium Stadium' - a rink facility in the park adjacent to the award winning Community Hall.”

Photo Credit: Nic Taggart

Deep Dives: Women Designing Cities at the Women Deliver Conference

"Partner Jennifer Marshall participates in Deep Dives at the Women Deliver Conference in Vancouver on June 6, 2019. These sessions aim to connect the local Vancouver audience to gender equity issues through free talks and workshops.” Jennifer’s session was live-streamed, click here to watch it.

Photo Credit: Ida Adamowicz

UNCEDED - Voices of the Land Exhibition at Canadian Museum of History

UNCEDED - Voices of the land features the innovative design talents of 18 Indigenous architects and designers in a breathtaking installation. Tlicho Dene architect Ouri Scott is one of 18 Indigenous architects and designers from across Canada and the U.S. who showcased her work as part of a collaborative exhibit at a prestigious competition in Venice, Italy.

The installation is now being showcased at the Canadian Museum of History and will run from May 3, 2019 to March 22, 2020. They are the first venue in Canada to host UNCEDED - Voices of the Land, following its successful debut in Venice. “This groundbreaking exhibition highlights the important contributions that Indigenous cultures have made to the world. It also underlines our commitment to promoting a greater understanding of Canadian and Indigenous history,” said Mark O’Neill, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of History.

The Canadian Museum of History is located on the shores of Ottawa River in Gatineau, Quebec and welcomes approximately 1.2 million visitors per year. UNCEDED is presented with support from the Canada Council for the Arts, and will be on display until March 22, 2020. For more information please click here.

Photo by Cueyo Laux

Beachway's development sign is up!

Located in White Rock at the corner of North Bluff Road and Maple Street, the project vision is to create an affordable community within a 10 minute walk to the Semiahmoo Town Centre. The project will create a vibrant new community with a variety of housing types for “growing up and growing old” in the same neighbourhood, to support the diverse needs of White Rock residents. Buildings will be constructed from mass timber construction, implementing a pre-fabricated sustainable construction system that reduces construction time, enhances affordability, and sequesters carbon. The project provides community connectivity with open and engaging public realm spaces, including “the Beachway” - a public mid-block promenade that increases porosity of the neighbourhood by breaking down the scale of the large city blocks, enhancing the character of the built environment, and supporting the City of White Rock’s socially-oriented urban design principles.

Radium Hot Springs Community Hall and Library

Our recently completed building, Radium Hot Springs Community Hall and Library has been featured on the Wood Design & Building website! The article highlights the use of Dowel Laminated Timber, Glulam to create a special community hub. To read the article, click here.

Cowan Theatre Feasibility Study at the Shadbolt Centre

UAA is delighted to be working with the City of Burnaby on the Cowan Theatre Feasibility Study at the Shadbolt Centre.  Shelley worked on the Shadbolt Centre with Henry Hawthorn in 1992 as the design architect.  Henry sadly passed away earlier this year, and we feel honoured to continue his legacy through a review of the Cowan Theatre.  This area was not part of the 1992 25,000 sq ft addition.

Radium Community Hall & Library Featured on The Columbia Valley Pioneer!

We are excited to announce that the Radium Community Hall and Library has been featured in a news article for The Columbia Valley Pioneer! Click here to read all about it!

Photo Credit: Dauna Ditson

Global Wood Buyers Mission

Shelley Craig presents our innovative mass timber buildings and consultation process at the Global Wood Buyers Mission in Whistler, Sept 6, 2018.  See the link to her presentation “100 Mile Building” here.

Photo Credit: Sandy McKellar

Radium Community Hall and Library opens!

The 8,000 sq ft Hall and Library, opened on August 25 with a large celebration with over 200 people in attendance.  The project was the result of a village wide stakeholder engagement process that commenced with a wood stakeholders meeting at the outset of the project to identify available trades in the valley.  The result is a “100 mile building” with over 80% of the construction contracts awarded within valley.  Wood innovation that resulted from the unique engagement process includes locally manufactured dowel laminated roof panels - a first for BC; and charred wood siding.  Much of the wood in the project was supplied by Canfor from the Radium mill.  The project was recently published on the Naturally Wood Website and has won the Woodworks! Community Recognition Award presented at UBCM (Union of British Columbia Municipalities) on September 12, 2018.

WoodWorks! Community Recognition Award

Radium Hot Springs Community Hall and Library wins the WoodWorks! Community Recognition Award at the 2018 UBCM (Union of British Columbia Municipalities). Leadership in structural and architectural wood use by local governments was recognized yesterday at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Convention in Whistler. Five local governments were presented with 2018 Community Recognition Awards for use of wood in their community projects by Wood WORKS! BC. The province-wide awards are presented annually to communities that have been exemplary advocates for wood. This may be demonstrated through the specification of wood in a community project and/or through visionary initiatives that work toward building a community culture of wood. For more information, click here.

Ouri Scott at the Venice Architecture Biennale

We are proud to announce that our very own Ouri Scott is currently at the Venice Architecture Biennale—"the Olympics for Architects" as she elegantly puts it—representing Canada with work she completed as part of the UNCEDED: Voices of the Land team! She uses the exhibition to explore what it means to be an Indigenous designer. Her interview with CBC news outlines the goals of the project:

"That message is that we come from the land, that we've been here since time immemorial and that the land and a relationship with the land is really important to us in the work that we do as architects, as designers."

The work is on display in Venice until late November.  Congratulations Ouri!

Photo by Cueyo Laux