A creative and educational environment to support Thunder Bay’s youth
Roots to Harvest supports Thunder Bay’s youth by creating educational and employment opportunities to engage with local agriculture. However, the program’s success in recent years put pressure on their old space. Brook McIlroy worked with Roots to Harvest to envision improvements that not only support their current programming, but create room to grow.
The scope of work included the renovation of a wood shop, office space, and spaces for meetings and gatherings. Following their collaborative model, work spaces allow for significant flexibility with an open office space able to transform into separate meeting rooms and break-out areas during events or specific programming. The design made improvements to lighting, allowing more natural light to reach work and gathering spaces on the interior. A barrier-free washroom allows programming to reach people of all abilities.
Since re-opening, the space has been well-used for classes and as a base of operations for programming to secondary schools in communities near and far. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Roots to Harvest pivoted their operations to assist with food supply in Thunder Bay, taking advantage of the flexibility of their space to move food to those in need.
Brook McIlroy collaborated with Heather Cranston on the interior design.
