ᐊ ᑖ ᕐ ᑐ ᑦ | A Long Journey
We are pleased to share our design for the Nunavut Inuit Heritage Centre in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Our scheme imagines a heritage centre shaped by place, celebrating the unique seasonality of Nunavut including, and carefully sited in response to the rock formation of the site so as nestle the form to minimize cut and fill to the site.
The overall design emerged from a collaborative listening process with our Inuit Design Advisory Council (IDAC). Our scheme, named ᐊ ᑖ ᕐ ᑐ ᑦ (A Long Journey), celebrates the journey it has taken to realize a Heritage Centre in Nunavut as well as the journey of Inuit and Inuit artifacts to make their way back home. The building and its near and far context is experienced by visitors dynamically as they move from space to space. The design is shaped by the ingenuity of material culture, creating moments of home, and places to share stories inside and out.
At the commencement of the Nunavut Inuit Heritage Centre (NIHC) Design Competition, a Design Week in Iqaluit, where members from all four shortlisted teams attended, initiated the process and our connection to the project. The Design Week program, a welcomed and forward-thinking process, included a site visit, community consultation, Elder’s Gathering, presentations from various technical and cultural advisors, and concluded with Design Team Presentations.
Following the Design Week, Lateral Office, Teeple Architects, and our Inuit Design Advisory Council developed a unique collaboration for evolving our design vision of the NIHC. We met as a group every two weeks, with Teeple Architects and Lateral Office meeting weekly to share values and ideas.
The five all-team meetings were focused on:
Design Vision
Site Response
Building Organization
Building Expressing Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit
Material Expression and Naming of Spaces.
From these design discussions, three essential priorities emerged that governed our design intent and values.
The NIHC:
Will be welcoming to all and feel like home;
Will protect and celebrate traditions and objects;
Will create diverse connections between inside and outside representing all seasons.
In our initial collaborations, a series of cards were developed that guided the team in determining priorities. Following this, collaborations involved sketching ideas and spaces, creating moments reference images, and annotating plans and models. This led to a vision co-designed by many and addressing the interests of all.
We will be sharing more images on the process and project soon.
Design Team:
Teeple Architects and Lateral Office
Stephen Teeple, Tomer Diamant, Robert Cheung, Dhroov Patel, Richard Lam
Lola Sheppard, Mason White, Kearon Roy Taylor, Vincent Chuang, Josh Kirk
Inuit Design Advisory Council (IDAC):
Elisabeth and Attima Hadlari, Rassi Nashalik, Jessica Koterierk, Special Kusugak, Goretti Kakuktinniq, Shirley Tagalik, Theresie Tungilik
Technical Team:
Mechanical, Electrical, Civil: WSP Canada
Structure: Fast & Epp
Renderings: Tango Studio
