Women in Architecture (WIA) is celebrating Indigenous People’s Day with a webinar and site tour of a new office building for this first-of-its-kind, province-wide entity founded through the expression of BC First Nations self-determination and health governance. Please join us for the site tour and webinar, or just webinar, to learn about the new First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) project, currently under construction, which brings teams together from across Metro Vancouver locations to one central location on Tsleil-Waututh Nation land in North Vancouver.

The new building will be a five-story administration office, over 9,000 square metres (97,000 square feet) of occupied space, built over two and a half levels of underground parking. The new office will accommodate approximately 350 staff and the design has been inspired by the plankhouse tradition of the Coast Salish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. Rather than planks, aluminum composite metal cladding will be used.

The building structure and foundation design references Coast Salish cultural and building traditions and the deep connection the Tsleil-Waututh people have with their land and waters. The mass timber structure of the building will sit on a base of forms clad in fiber cement to give them a stone-like expression representing boulders or islands, with the spaces in-between symbolizing the waters that flow around them.

WEBINAR

Presenter: Kate Gerson, Architect AIBC MRAIC – DIALOG

When: Thursday June 15, 6:00 pm-7:00 pm

Where: Zoom link will be provided

Admission fee: $5 for webinar only

AIBC: Approved for 1 Core Learning Units (Indigenous Peoples Learning) for webinar only. Register through Eventbrite

SITE TOUR

We highly recommend attending the webinar if participating in the site tour, as the background information for the project will be provided which will not be repeated on the site tour.

Tour Guide: Kate Gerson, Architect AIBC MRAIC – DIALOG

When: Thursday June 22, 12:00 pm-1:00 pm

Where: 600 Apex Avenue, North Vancouver, BC, V7H 2R5 (just past the Takaya driving range)

Equipment: Full personal protective equipment, including CSA approved safety boots, hard hat, safety glasses, and high visibility vest are required in order to attend the site tour. Anyone not in possession of these items will not be permitted to walk the site

Admission fee: $10 for webinar (details above) and site tour. Pre-registration is mandatory due to limited capacity. If you register and can no longer attend, please let us know so we can reallocate your spot. Register through Eventbrite

AIBC: Approved for 2 Core Learning Units (Indigenous Peoples Learning) for webinar and site tour

AIBC Note: Unlike the rest of the CES program the Indigenous Peoples Learning requirement is NOT currently covered by the Canadian CES reciprocity agreement, so AIBC registrants who typically report their CES through other jurisdictions must ALSO report their Indigenous Peoples Learning credits directly to their AIBC.

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​If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

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