A flexible, welcoming corporate space designed with Indigenous elements
Brook McIlroy worked closely with CIBC, The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, Ellis Don and Govan Brown to create a Legacy space in the new CIBC Global Headquarters located in Toronto’s financial district. The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund Legacy Spaces are safe, welcoming places dedicated to providing education and spreading awareness about Indigenous history and the journey of reconciliation. The Legacy Spaces program is an opportunity for corporations, government, organizations and educational institutions to play an important role in their communities.
The Indigenous Design Studio at Brook McIlroy designed the Legacy Room, with its vaulted ceiling, to reference the traditional form of the Midewiwin Lodge as built by the Anishinaabe (Ojibway) as well as the longhouses of the Huron-Wendate and Haudenosaunee longhouse villages. Three round light apertures reference the Niswi-mishkodewinan or Council of Three Fires – the Anishinaabe alliance of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi nations.
Leading visitors to the space, the adjacent corridor features a ceiling inspired by Guswenta or Two Row Wampum, one of the first treaties. Additionally, the environmental graphics were designed to depict the Toronto Purchase Treaty and as a reminder all peoples are subject to the treaties and have a shared responsibility to uphold their obligations.
The space features furniture and finishes sourced through Indigenous suppliers.
