When Centennial College held a competition for its A-Block Expansion Building in the autumn of 2019, it was clear they were looking for a design unlike any other. Not only does the Progress Campus gateway building have the potential to become the first net-zero carbon, mass timber, higher-education facility in Ontario when it’s completed in 2023, but it also embodies the College’s deep commitment to truth and reconciliation.

Centennial selected DIALOG, in partnership with EllisDon and Smoke Architecture, to design and build a structure defined by indigenous principles and stories. DIALOG and Smoke approached the project using the Mi’kmaq concept of ‘Two-Eyed Seeing’ – viewing the world through both an indigenous lens and a Western lens – and were inspired by the Anishinabek ‘Seven Fires’ prophecy that says we need to pick up things ‘left by the trail’.

This process started with a considered response to the existing topography. Listening to the land, the team chose to align the structure to the cardinal directions. The main entry is at the east, the traditional location for the entrance in indigenous structures. A grand stair ascends to the west, as part of the wisdom hall, a three-level high active multi-storey convergence space for students, staff, and visitors that connects people to indigenous stories. The narrative of the design is a story of seed, growth, culmination, and balance.

The design is celebratory, meaningful, and considered. The new building will connect to the existing street edge, completing the corner to yield greater pedestrian connections and enhanced public realm. It responds to the future success of the A Block expansion through providing a bold, new gateway that’s designed on indigenous principles, while leveraging the highest sustainability aspirations. Further, the north and west façade acts as a tool for storytelling, visibly branding the building to represent the aspirations of the institution.

An indigenous commons forms the heart of the building – the structure flows around this circular room that opens out into a soaring central courtyard. At the building’s corner, seven posts anchored in a centerstone represent the Seven Mishomis (Grandfather) Teachings. The building envelope aspires to biomimicry: the aluminum shingles of the façade are formed like the scales of a fish or snake. For the animal, the skin allows for fluid movement; for the building, the skin completes a high-performance envelope adjusting to changing temperature conditions.

The design team embraced indigenous approaches to living in harmony with nature. This approach augmented Western notions and methodologies of sustainability and pushed them to explore ideas beyond Zero-Carbon Building certification and LEED. The design integrates western ideas of innovation inspired by author Steven Johnson. Walls that act as barriers to communication are removed (removing walls also makes the design more accessible and inclusive). Opportunities for people to share ideas are expanded. Spaces are created with ‘spare parts’ (from both indigenous and western ways of knowledge) that can be recombined into new ideas.

Environmental sustainability is a key focus and attribute that the college wishes this building to embody. Its zero-carbon emissions design, along with its ability to store thousands of tonnes of carbon in its sustainably harvested mass timber wood structure, will be an important precedent in both Canada and globally. Centennial allowed for widespread use of wood while ensuring the space accommodates flexible academic delivery. The college is also pursuing an effective sustainability strategy to reduce energy consumption, aiming to achieve a minimum LEED Gold Standard and a Net Zero, or possibly Net Positive, building.

The interior of the building will be covered in exposed wood, while aluminum shingles on the facade of the building will resemble the scales of a fish or snake. Using a variety of mass timber and wood products in place of traditional building materials will be equivalent to the energy use needed to operate 470 home for one year and taking 941 cars off the road. In keeping with the desire to tread lightly on the environment, DIALOG plan to source all of the wood from an FSC certified sustainable forest in Chibougamau in Quebec. The wood that will be used is 90 percent black spruce and 10 percent jack pine and balsam fir.

The building design inside and out will reflect innovation and sustainability as key themes. A high-performance enclosure will reduce heating and cooling loads on the building whilst a smaller, highly efficient mechanical system will reduce energy use allowing for smaller photovoltaic design requirements. Adopting an offset mindset through the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), approximately 5 percent of the building’s energy requirements will be powered by solar photovoltaic renewable energy. Further, indigenous plants and vegetation will be used in the landscape to support local ecosystems.

Once completed, the six-storey addition will provide 150,000 gross square feet of space, which includes renovations to the existing A-Block building. The expansion will be a mass timber, zero-carbon building with academic programming space for the School of Engineering Technology and Applied Science programs (ICET), flexible classrooms that support Indigenous ways of teaching and being, as well as support areas such as Wisdom Hall, an engaging student touchdown space, along with collaborative spaces, administrative offices and food services.

The expansion project will be connected to the existing A-Block building on levels 2 and 3 to provide easy passage between the two buildings. The college is committed to eliminating barriers and improving accessibility for persons with disabilities in a manner that respects dignity, independence, integration and equality of opportunity.  This building is a significant first step towards realizing the goals outlined in the college’s Indigenous Framework and advancing their commitment to truth and reconciliation with the indigenous peoples of Canada.

The A-Block Expansion project will begin with interior A-block renovation work commencing in late June, as well as ‘early works’ site preparation, such as rerouting underground utility lines and vegetation and bridge removal over the late spring and summer. Full site mobilization and construction will start in the early fall. Substantial completion is anticipated by fall 2022, and building occupancy is scheduled for January 2023.