July 13, 2007
Number TEN speaks at the Council of Educational Facility Planners International, July 2007
“School Design in the Far North, Lessons for the South”
Case Study: Arviat High School in Nunavut, Canada
How do you program and design a school for a culture that has no tradition of formal schooling and is located in a remote community where the ground is permanently frozen?
Number TEN Architectural Group has learned through experience.
Inuit culture, as with many Aboriginal cultures around the world, is undergoing dramatic changes in a very short period of time. Although many Inuit can still survive
alone “out on the land” in one of the most inhospitable climates on earth, they are being inundated with the same media messages, technologies and temptations as any other
North Americans.
Designing and building schools in Nunavut, Canada’s far northern territory, poses its own unique challenges of climate, isolation and cultural identity. School buildings
in Nunavut are more than just places of learning. They strive to be vehicles for social advancement by providing safe havens for their users and to create cultural affirmation
and pride for their communities.
In his presentation, Greg Hasiuk describes the design team’s journey in creating an architecture that reflects the Inuit identity: an identity with no tradition of
permanent structures or written history. He describes the process Number TEN followed in creating a new high school for the hamlet of Arviat, an Inuit community of 2,200
people in Canada’s Arctic.
The school features a “Kiva”, or central public gathering space. This tiered, amphitheatre-like setting is at the heart of the learning environment. It is open to the main
circulation of the school and is activated throughout the day by visitors, students and teachers alike. Greg also describes the various design and building science solutions
used to deal with the extreme climate, remote location and challenging site conditions of Nunavut.
Arviat School was designed with consulting engineers Accutech Engineering Inc. of Winnipeg.
Greg Hasiuk, MAA, LEED® AP, is the Design Knowledge Manager and Senior Architect at Number TEN. He leads the active learning and professional development of the staff. Greg
has worked extensively with aboriginal cultures, including Inuit and First Nation communities, giving him a unique sensitivity to issues of cultural expression. His northern
work also gives him insight into the special challenges of building in extreme climates in isolated locations.
CEFPI web site: www.cefpi.org
CEFPI Pacific Northwest Region web site: pacificnorthwest.cefpi.org
