The Indigenous Gathering Circle at the University of Waterloo was designed in consultation with the broader UW Indigenous community in a thoughtful engagement process through consultation meetings and worshops.

The project is located at a nexus of the greater campus in the North Commons coutyard and will be surrounded by an expansive garden featuring traditional plantings and medicines.

A series of sloped canopies come together to create arched gateways that greet its’ visitors from both the East and West direction. The structure is supported by 32 round Alaskan Yellow Cedar timbers, while an additional ‘story pole’ signals the entryway. The structural form of the gathering space is designed to give recognition to Indigenous cosmologies. The four levels of the structure serve to acknowledge the different layers of the earth as well as the space beyond, the sky realm, through the occulus.

Picnic style seating allows the space to serve as an informal setting for daily use by students. Each table is supplied with 2 electrical outlets to charge phones and laptops. The space can additionally be used for outdoor classes, ceremonies, and performances.

To celebrate the relationship between the gathering space site and the Grand River, the roof is designed to emulate the scales of spawning trout through interlocking metal diamond tiles.