The site of the future Biindigen Centre is currently home to an old elementary school that’s set for demolition by the end of this year.mcCallumSather/Supplied
While it’s still early days, an Indigenous-led hub is coming to Hamilton’s east end and will offer health care, housing support and culturally specific community resources for generations to come.
“We needed this building yesterday,” says Samantha Steven, an Ojibwa from Serpent River First Nation and a member of the board of directors for Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg, a non-profit Indigenous organization that provides a variety of community services. “It is hard to find your roots. My culture was taken from my mom, so coming here as a child was a stepping stone for me to find my roots, and I flourished.”
Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg, along with De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre and Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services, will each have buildings in the new Hamilton hub. Currently, the organizations are located in different neighbourhoods around the city, though the forthcoming centre will put them in one place to allow for greater service accessibility. To help fund the new multi-use centre, the federal government invested $13-million into it as part of its Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program.
A welcoming cultural hub
Completed in 2023, Mr. Fortin’s team worked on the Horse Dance Lodge, a transitional housing project located in Regina.Celina Rios Nadeau/Supplied
The new hub, called the Biindigen Well-Being Centre, is currently in the listening and learning phase. While the property is expected to be operational by 2028, no conceptual designs have been approved yet. The project’s site is currently home to an old elementary school that is set for demolition by the end of the year. Once the hub is finished construction, its trio of accessible buildings – separate structures that will share outdoor communal space and programming – will offer local Indigenous residents and visitors a welcoming place of hope, healing and outreach.
“We are exploring a variety of design concepts based on the different land uses and needs of the three organizations,” says Michael Trussell, managing principal of mcCallumSather, one of three architecture firms involved in the project. “There will be three distinct stand-alone buildings because of their unique needs, but they will all support each other through collaboration and shared programming. It will become a true hub for Hamilton’s Indigenous community.”
The name of the future centre is important. It was collectively chosen by the three Indigenous organizations that will be housed within the structures and is meant to symbolize the site’s spirit. Loosely translated, Biindigen means “to welcome people and prepare your home for guests,” an ethos that is intended to guide the project vision and approach.
“The intention of this project is to make sure the Indigenous community is leading the process and we are hearing their voices to ensure we build a welcoming space that meets their needs,” says Janet Gasparelli, chief executive officer of the De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre, the only Indigenous organization in the region that provides a blend of traditional healing practices with Western medicine. “When we think about well-being from an Indigenous perspective, it’s not just about medical care. People are medicine, food is medicine and we always look at well-being in a holistic way.”
Using Indigenous-led design principles
Mr. Fortin’s past work includes the concept for Ottawa’s future Indigenous Peoples Space, which is yet to be built.Wanda Dalla Costa Architect, Smoke Architecture Inc., David T Fortin Architect, Winnie Pitawanakwat/Supplied
Conversations about Biindigen have been happening for several years. Joining mcCallumSather is David T. Fortin Architect, which brings a wealth of experience and knowledge surrounding Indigenous architecture and design. Other project contributors include Parkin Architects, landscape architecture firm SpruceLab, land use planner Landwise, health care specialists and ecological restoration experts.
David Fortin, a Métis architect, has spent much of his career studying design and urban development from a First Nations perspective. He’s worked with many Indigenous communities throughout North America, with other work boasting projects such as Ottawa’s future Indigenous Peoples Space, as well as an Indigenous housing project in Regina and a community hub in Saskatoon. Mr. Fortin is known for designing vernacular buildings. He bases his work on community listening, local engagement, and using local natural resources and traditional materials to make every building feature reflect each site’s environmental, cultural and historical context. Mr. Fortin currently teaches an Indigenous architecture course focused on reconciliation at the University of Waterloo, so the decision to include him on the Biindigen project team was a no-brainer.
“I’m always challenging myself as to what words like ‘reconciliation’ and ‘decolonizing’ really mean,” Mr. Fortin says. “This project is amazing because it feels so authentic. … I’m not sure if that is the right word, but from a values-based design perspective, our team is committed to – and all of us agree – that we have a responsibility to honour the name [Biindigen].”
Mr. Fortin is challenging his design colleagues on the project team to think beyond bricks and mortar and property lines to match the Biindigen spirit to the eventual use of these three buildings.
“In architecture, we often think of sites in terms of property lines,” he says. “I’ve been doing a lot of critical thinking about the problem the word property presents to our relationships with the land. … It’s a very colonial idea to draw a line in it, commodify it and then sell it to make money. I’m trying to zoom out and look at a site not only in terms of its property lines, but how it weaves into the broader community.”
Connecting commercial space to the natural environment
The site of the new Biindigen project is triangular in shape, which presents both challenges and opportunities. Urban development exists to the north of the proposed buildings, while a low-density residential area is located south of the property. A well-used pedestrian pathway currently connects the north and south ends of the site, highlighting the need for thoughtful integration. The challenge is to ensure the centre fits seamlessly into the neighbourhood, though there’s also an opportunity to take advantage of the area’s urban farmland and complement the site’s natural environment.
“The landscape, how the space between the buildings is designed, and how the on-site exterior public spaces connect to the existing urban farm is an important part of the project,” mcCallumSather’s Mr. Trussell says.
The Biindigen centre strives to minimize its ecological footprint. One of the project’s primary objectives is to use passive design approaches and the site’s natural resources to reduce energy demand and promote water reuse. The vision is also to reinforce the site’s connection with the natural environment and to preserve the work of the three-acre McQuesten Urban Farm, with which it will share the property.
Because it’s a residential neighbourhood and these buildings will be big in comparison, the designers also don’t want to create structures that will be detrimental to the community.
“We do not want the buildings to cast shadow lines on adjacent properties or create a wall,” says Brent Whiteley, principal at Parkin Architects. “Many residents already access this site via existing pathways that lead to surrounding communities, so we also don’t want to block these off. Instead, we want to build upon it.”
While the four-year journey to this Indigenous hub is only just beginning, the spirit of the place is already palpable.
“If done right, the Biindigen Well-Being Centre will be a precedent-setting project and will be an incredible and important addition to the city of Hamilton,” Mr. Trussell says.