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Indigenous House officially opened on Monday, May 25 at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), introducing a new Indigenous-focused cultural and academic hub at the centre of the campus. Designed by Formline Architecture + Urbanism in association with LGA Architectural Partners, the building draws from the forms of Eastern wigwams and longhouses to create a dedicated space for ceremony, teaching, gathering, research, and student support, advancing the university’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action and related Indigenous initiatives.
The opening ceremony featured remarks from Indigenous community leaders, guided by Elder Josh Eshkawogan, alongside tours of the completed facility overlooking the lush Highland Creek ravine. Conceived as a permanent home for Indigenous students, staff, Elders, and community members at UTSC, the project brings together spaces for cultural programming, language preservation, scholarship, gathering, and ceremony.
Positioned near the centre of the Scarborough campus, Indigenous House occupies a site along the edge of the campus escarpment overlooking the ravine. The project replaces a former surface parking lot with a heavily landscaped setting featuring native and medicinal plant species, outdoor gathering areas, and views extending across the ravine corridor. Its organic form and timber expression were conceived as a contrast to the concrete-heavy Brutalist and modernist character of many surrounding university buildings.
“We’ve replaced a parking lot with a forest and an expression of nature. This signals you’ve arrived in a different place, and that’s carried through many moments: the wood door handles, the black spruce structure from Quebec, the Eastern white cedar siding from Ottawa — all speaking to a place with a distinct identity,” said Drew Adams of LGA Architectural Partners.
The building’s two-storey form takes shape through an ovoid massing wrapped in curved glue-laminated timber, referencing traditional bentwood construction methods associated with Indigenous architecture in Eastern Canada. Two circular gathering spaces anchor either end of the building, linked by a central spine and atrium that reinterpret longhouse organization within a contemporary institutional setting. Exterior ramps planted with medicinal species rise toward upper-level overlooks and outdoor gathering areas facing the ravine.
“As a West Coast Indigenous architect, it was a journey to learn the rich cultural traditions of the East, particularly the elegant bentwood structures of the Eastern Wigwam and longhouse,” said Alfred Waugh, founder of Formline Architecture + Urbanism. “We reinterpreted this architectural form in a contemporary way within the two gathering spaces connected by an eastern longhouse — honouring the past while stepping into the 21st century.”
Inside, the building is organized around a cluster of offices and support spaces serving Indigenous staff and Elders, while larger circular gathering rooms anchor each end of the structure. The program includes dedicated areas for research, scholarship, and language preservation alongside classrooms, exhibition areas, meeting spaces, and informal social spaces. A multi-level atrium visually links the floors, while the arrangement of spaces was planned to accommodate hands-on learning, cultural programming, and gatherings.
Indigenous House was designed with unconventional fire detection systems that will permit smudging ceremonies to take place throughout the building, while indoor and outdoor gathering areas were arranged to support teaching, storytelling, ceremony, and community events. The project’s emphasis on experiential learning and cultural continuity extends from its interior spaces to the surrounding medicinal gardens, outdoor seating areas, and fire pit gathering space.
“We were deeply honoured to design a place that restores dignity, ignites pride, and offers quiet confirmation to the Indigenous community at the University of Toronto Scarborough — especially to the Elders, the knowledge keepers and teachers who guide the next generations,” said Waugh. “This building is rooted in the land itself. It stands as a living declaration: Yes, we are here. We belong. And we welcome you to share our knowledge.”
Environmental performance and landscape restoration combine passive building systems with extensive ecological planting. Fresh air is drawn through a sculptural concrete intake and circulated through earth tubes buried roughly 2.7m below grade, allowing the surrounding ground temperature to assist with pre-heating and cooling before air enters the building. The surrounding landscape, designed in collaboration with Public Work and informed through consultation with local Elders, includes native and medicinal plant species, a birch grove, outdoor seating areas, and gathering spaces.
“I love how different people each find something meaningful in it,” said Adams. “That it resonates like this and fosters a sense of belonging is powerful.”
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