Piloting energy-efficient construction for the new Inuinnait Knowledge Centre in Cambridge Bay

PI/KHS is developing a new cultural campus dedicated to the documentation, revitalization and mobilization of Inuinnait knowledge. Our project, titled Nunamiutuqaq (Building from the land), bridges traditional principles of Inuit architecture with cutting-edge technologies and materials to revitalize Inuit traditions of building in harmony with the Arctic landscape. The campus is envisioned as two buildings, of 1,100 sq ft and 3,500 square ft respectively, and outdoor activities areas. The first phase of our project began in 2021 with the design of the 1,100 sq ft modular building as a customized cultural workspace and smaller-scale version of the final facility. This workspace emerged from our ongoing partnership with SAIT's Green Building Technologies research lab, and is designed to bridge extensive research in local and traditional Inuit knowledge with recent advances in renewable and energy efficient materials and technologies-many of which have not yet undergone Arctic testing. It is also informed by the experiences of community members within their own homes, learning through their challenges and the solutions they design. This pilot structure will be created through a collaborative training workshop held by SAIT’s Green Building Technology centre in Calgary that bridges northern and southern students, technicians, and industry experts to ensure that all knowledge required for the construction, maintenance and operation of both the workshop building and future cultural centre can reside entirely in Cambridge Bay. The pilot will then be disassembled, shipped to the community in August 2022 (only 1 sealift is available per year), and re-assembled in the fall. The building will be used to test and monitor the performance of renewable/sustainable building materials and technologies in our Arctic environment to target Net-Zero goals, to develop key partnerships and track lessons learned, to test the supply chain, to develop realistic cost estimates for the final structure, to build local capacity for our final facility’s construction and maintenance, to develop a long term O&M plan, and to assess the replicability and applicability of selected building technologies to other projects and northern communities. The workspace is developed as a self-contained satellite hub, custom designed to facilitate traditional activities (preparation of skins, fabrication of traditional tools, sewing, etc.), and will be closely monitored and adjusted until December 2023 through workshops and site based activities to ensure its compatibility with desired cultural uses. The findings from the pilot project will form the basis of the technical feasibility study and final building design, on which construction will begin April 2024 and be completed by March 2026. The final energy efficient building is envisioned as approximately 3,500 square feet distributed on 2 floors (with an estimated first floor size of 2,500 square feet). This new space will accommodate the museum and the archives (with environmentally-controlled collections storage), an innovation hub (flexible space for entrepreneurs to try new concepts), community gathering space, a board room, office space, a dedicated space for the Elders and the northern research library. Community members have suggested taking advantage of the future site slope to integrate traditional subterranean storage and freezer spaces. In line with traditional Inuit architectural concepts of flexibility and modularity, the outdoor space around the building will be designed to accommodate seasonal activities-including meat preparation, hide drying, and outdoor cooking spaces- activities that are necessary for upholding traditional cultural ecosystems and ways of life. The building is specifically designed to help revitalize Inuit vernacular and spatial concepts that have been displaced by western architecture. Note: this funding application is for the smaller 1,100 SQ ft cultural workshop.