kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre – MacEwan University

We proudly constructed the  kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre (which means “eagle’s nest” in Cree) with DIALOG in 2019. This centre provides a dedicated space for students to access personal, academic, financial, and cultural support.

The project’s scope included selective demolition of the Robbins Health Learning Centre to accommodate the new layout, which contains open gathering spaces, offices, washrooms and kitchen.

The interior tenant improvement incorporated “elements steeped in meaning,” such as canted and curved walls in the gathering rooms to resemble a tipi formation with grass-green carpeting and floor-to-ceiling windows. Custom acoustic panels were installed to control the sound transmissions within the gathering rooms as the spaces are used for cultural and academic events. An acoustic drywall ceiling was constructed with approximately 250 fiber lights to represent Indigenous constellations with additional artwork painted around it. Other elements include hardwood flooring positioned to reflect the four directions and colour coordination to tie into the Treaty 6 emblem design.