Design for Calgary’s Aboriginal youth centre focuses on private/public duality – Construction Canada
June 7, 2023
The design for the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth’s (USAY’s) new headquarters in Calgary’s Forest Lawn neighbourhood highlights togetherness and privacy by making the centre’s spaces distinct and permeable between one another.
Barrier-free entries and hallways mediated by wood and translucent polycarbonate panels are incorporated into the design to heighten this sense of togetherness and privacy. Co-designed and co-authored through a close, participatory relationship with the Indigenous-led, not-for-profit USAY, the architect, Lemay’s planning and design addresses the organization’s daily and long-term needs.
Calgary’s Forest Lawn neighbourhood location is significant as well, as it is the traditional territory of the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Iyarhe Nakoda, and Tsuut’ina Nations, as well as the Metis Nation of Region 3.
Designed to achieve a sustainable balance, the USAY youth centre will use passive strategies such as solar gain and holistic elements of biophilia and natural lighting to enhance the site’s natural materials, and the rooftop space for the future integration of solar panels to reduce operational costs through energy efficiency.
