Mukwa Waakaa’igan Indigenous Centre of Cultural Excellence

The Mukwa Waakaa’igan Indigenous Centre of Cultural Excellence project at Algoma University is envisioned to be a source of hope in a place that caused pain to many indigenous children and their families. At the entrance of Algoma University stands Shingwauk Hall, a former residential school that operated between 1875 and 1970. More than 1,000 children from 184 First Nations across Canada were separated from their families.

The Centre is being built next to Shingwauk Hall as a place for healing, teaching and learning, cultural preservation, and transformation. It will combine a library, archives, exhibition space for sacred ceremonies, a teaching kitchen, a greenhouse, classroom and lecture/recital hall space, and offices. The building’s design incorporates Indigenous culture and teachings, including the use of locally sourced mass timber and the building’s integration with the surrounding landscape. The Centre’s name is comprised of two Anishinaabemowin words: Makwa, meaning “bear” and Waakaa’igan, meaning “lodge” or “den.” The significance of this name is reflected throughout the design, including in the building’s overall shape.

LMDG is providing building code consulting services for this project. In addition to the multiple fire protection and life safety reviews we have performed at various milestones to date, we have also prepared and successfully negotiated a performance-based design alternative solution for the heavy timber roof with the City of Sault Ste. Marie.

This project has won multiple awards, including the Global Future Design Awards, Cultural Architecture (Concept), 2022 and the 2022 World Architecture Festival (WAFX) Award, Future Project: Education.

Renderings courtesy of Moriyama Teshima Architects with Smoke Architecture.