Through a referral from one of our clients, the Power To Give organization, the firm has been commissioned to support the design of a healing centre for the Homalco Nation. Returning to traditional territory and a previously occupied village site, the opportunity is one of deep reconciliation – return to land, return to community and return to self. The healing centre is intended to support recovery for community members in a residential environment that includes a range of healing practitioners, elders and the land itself. Situated in a remote location, the response to infrastructure need consider a highly localized response, from the supply of water and energy to the composition of the buildings themselves. The project is an exceptional candidate for designing to the Living Building Challenge standard, while also applying an ecological, systemic approach to repairing and regenerating the site itself with the return of the land’s stewards.

The approach to the project to date has been deeply informed by multiple engagement sessions with community members, from Chief and Council to Elders and youth. Sessions have been a place of conversation and healing, shedding light on the deep need for a place to reconnect, to restore and to reconcile the significant impacts of colonialism and particularly the residential school system. Listening has informed the development of a program and the potential situating of the project within a historical village site. The needs of those participating in a recovery program as well as support workers and the need for site remediation and incorporating the history of the site are all in play.