Tsleil-Waututh Administration & Health Centre

Wood has been used by First Nations as a primary building material for 10,000 years. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation is well known for its history and the role that wood from the forests of the Pacific Northwest has played in the development of its intricate art, philosophy and building techniques.

The Tsleil-Waututh Nation's government, medical, cultural and community services headquarters is the first phase of a campus-like downtown overlooking Burrard Inlet. Tsleil-Waututh means "people of the inlet" and the symbiosis between the Tsleil-Waututh culture and the sea is represented in the undulating shape of the ceiling. The largest of these forms overlooks a central multi-purpose gathering space at the heart of community events. This space also serves as the seat of government.

Cultural heritage and its significance are integrated into the design developed in collaboration with the entire Tsleil-Waututh community. The building is oriented on a north-south axis and follows the course of a creek to the east of the site. This reinforces the connection between water and forest by providing views of both the forest and the ocean from both inside and outside the walls. Cedar columns and beams, symbols of traditional structures, accentuate the government room that can easily close for privacy, or open to extend the gathering space. Cedar siding walls surrounding the chamber form the backdrop for the display of traditional and contemporary art created by Tsleil-Waututh artists.

The quality and clarity of the interior spaces are the result of exposing the structural elements of the building without the addition of superfluous finishes. Using engineered wood products and natural lumber, the structure combines glass framed with posts and beams, and a small number of strategically positioned bracing walls. This structure required careful off-site prefabrication. The design emphasizes each structural element as an architectural feature and requires skillful concealment of the building's dense service networks.