Totest Aleng “ Learning House”
Client: City of Surrey
Location: Surrey, BC
Program: Community. Cultural
Photography: Michael Elkan Architectural Photography
On September 30th the City of Surrey commemorated National Truth and Reconciliation Day by announcing a new Indigenous Carving Centre in Elgin Park. The O4A team is honoured to have contributed to this project which was conceived as a place to showcase the traditions of the Semiahmoo First Nation who have thrived in this area for millennia. At the Carving Centre, Semiahmoo history, knowledge and stories are communicated for everyone to appreciate through the mediums of art and carving.
Elgin Park, the site of the Carving center, is a picturesque heritage village that was once an active colonial farming community. The site's beautiful landscape and layered history make it a unique and fascinating destination in Vancouver's Lower Mainland.
The Carving Centre project has challenged our team to consider more than just the design of an architectural structure. We aim to learn and grow with every one of our projects, and the Carving Centre created an opportunity for our team to appreciate the reality and magnitude of the history that underlies truth and reconciliation and the social shift required to achieve these calls to action. We have come to understand the Semiahmoo First Nation in this area of BC as a proud and distinguished First Peoples who continue to have a deep connection to this site. Further, we are learning from their way of governance, organization and planning and approach to stewardship of their natural resources.
Through our design process we have come to appreciate the importance of legacy and language and the unique way it is communicated through art, carvings and stories. In this project, architecture has become another form of communication aiming to serve as a pathway to connect all people to this place. We believe that architecture should support new belonging among a diverse set of people to foster respect, dignity and dialogue.
The project design brief conceived of extending the original traditional colonial structure that is the bones of the carving centre. O4A sought a more transformative response, shifting away from the colonial model of inward-looking buildings to create a porous mediating space that welcomes people from all directions and visually and formally connects to other areas of the site. Different textures of wood make up the varied enclosure of the building to create a dynamic place setting for sharing history, art, knowledge, and culture. Wood as a material and as a utility connects us all in this region. It can instantly bind nature, art and technology in ways that are sustainable and beautiful.
We are honored to be part of this project with the City of Surrey and the Semiahmoo First Nation and continue our growth as an organization towards truth and reconciliation not on one day only but every day. The project is currently out for tender and anticipating starting construction in early 2022.
