The University of Victoria’s new Indigenous law wing transforms the school by wrapping around the original structure, which was built in the 1980s. The $45.9-million addition officially opened in September and stands at just over 26,000 square feet.Supplied/Tango Studio
Five years after launching its world-leading Indigenous law-degree program, the University of Victoria (UVic) has opened a new wing at its law school dedicated to the program’s study and teaching.
The new Coast Salish-inspired curvy structure, outfitted with wood and glass, transforms the university’s original Fraser Building by wrapping around the faculty’s old complex, which was built in the 1980s.
The original building had been a hub of learning for both UVic’s Canadian common law and combined Indigenous and Canadian legal programs. The new $45.9-million addition is more than 26,000 square feet and officially opened in September, providing an entry point that all of the university’s law students will walk through.
UVic says its Indigenous law-degree program is a world-first, though a few other Canadian universities, such as the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia, offer Indigenous legal certificates and specializations. This aligns with the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 50th call-to-action, which recommends the federal government fund the establishment of Indigenous law institutes in collaboration with Indigenous organizations.
Integrating nature
The original idea for UVic’s new Indigenous law building was to situate it behind the 1980s structure. That was before the design team learned about Indigenous legal ideas such as the rights of nature and the spiritual currency of trees and creeks, meaning deforesting the back of the building would be an injustice.
Matthew Hickey, partner at Two Row Architect, one of the firms that worked on the design, says his team spent a substantial amount of time listening to Indigenous legal scholars, elders and knowledge-keepers. The Ontario-based Indigenous firm worked alongside Teeple Architects, experts in postsecondary design, and Victoria-based Low Hammond Rowe Architects to complete the school’s new building.
During consultations, the project’s design team heard stories about the back forest’s Arbutus trees, which are considered “ancestors,” Mr. Hickey says, as well as the habitat-rich significance of the woods’ ravine and creek. “We pushed to move the building around to the front of the school, away from what we were told was sacred space,” the Mohawk architect says.
The move made the Indigenous law wing the new face of UVic’s law faculty.
According to Canadian Architect magazine, which granted the design a 2023 Award of Excellence, the svelte structure creates the effect of the Indigenous program wrapping around and decolonizing the old law school.
Indigenous stories in design
Avery Guthrie, Teeple Architects’ principal and practice lead for Western Canada and the United States, says the building is also a testament to UVic’s strong connection to Indigenous culture, values and law practices.
“There was a practical reason to build the new space,” Ms. Guthrie says. “They didn’t have enough room for their student complement, but the much more meaningful reason was they wanted an Indigenous-informed space that reflects the teachings of Indigenous law.”
When designing the space, the architects consulted with Indigenous scholars, elders and knowledge-keepers. They learned that the forest at the back of the school is sacred, which is why they chose to build the new wing in front of the original structure.Supplied/Tango Studio
During conversations with UVic’s Indigenous law faculty, Ms. Guthrie says she learned how relationships with nature are fundamental to the practice and study of Indigenous law, which doesn’t discriminate between indoors and outdoors or nature and humans. On the other hand, colonial law practices have excluded these systems from the legal conversation, she says.
“We kept hearing the importance of nature as a teacher,” Ms. Guthrie adds, noting the design team heard the building should be a teacher that conveys Indigenous law through its form, materials and relationship to the environment.
The design team heard 13 First Nations stories about flora and fauna, the relationship to water, and the importance of language and witnessing, which were then translated into architectural designs. “You can see these stories as you move through the school,” Mr. Hickey says.
Indigenous traditions meet modern tech
The mass-timber-and-steel building’s slim form flows like a forest path, with stops for learning – or classrooms – that take unconventional shapes and forms. For example, the Sky Room has a glass ceiling, while the building’s maker space encourages ways of knowing by allowing students to create art. A round room honours oral tradition, while the Longhouse accommodates other less-hierarchical learning layouts, as well as cultural and academic gatherings.
Floor-to-ceiling windows offering sweeping views of the woods and an atrium supported by an “interior forest” of columns, made from trees harvested from the site and other campus construction areas, blend indoor and outdoor environments.
“There’s always an outward view so you’re never feeling like you’re insular,” says Mr. Hickey. “If it’s raining, windy or there are animals out there, you’re going to see that.”
Carved-out sections on the atrium balcony are a nod to the sustainable Coast Salish practice of peeling cedar bark, while exterior sculptural cladding echoes a Salish paddle and water ripple motif. The school’s mono-sloped roof directs rainwater to new gardens and woodland, including an interior courtyard.
“In five years, it will feel like it’s always been there, and the building will be resubmerged in the forest,” says Mr. Hickey. “Architecture isn’t something that just destroys the land – it can have a regenerative effect.”
Overlooking the untouched back woods, the school’s 50-person outdoor-learning deck has become a top-booked space on campus. The building also honours Indigenous traditions while embracing today’s technological advancements.
The school’s exposed-wood ceiling is a result of engineering firm Fast + Epp’s innovative point-support process, which places cross-laminated timber panels directly on columns to eliminate ceiling beams and drywall. Chandos Construction also developed a sophisticated moisture-control system suited to the structure.
Targeting LEED Gold certification, the building is powered solely by electricity, in part with a heat-pump system with advanced underground HVAC piping and energy-saving displacement ventilation.
First Nations stories are seen in design form throughout the school, which contains floor-to-ceiling windows and an ‘interior forest’ (pictured) of columns made from trees harvested from the site and other campus construction areas.Supplied/Tango Studio
Reawakening Indigenous law
Sarah Morales, associate dean and director of UVic’s Indigenous law-degree program, says Indigenous law “is being revitalized” as First Nations reclaim authority over their legal matters relating to land, environment, economic development, family and more.
She says UVic’s Indigenous law school’s primary objective – to cultivate a more multi-juridical Canada, where Indigenous and non-Indigenous legal systems co-exist and grow – can benefit the entire country. Other nations such as New Zealand, Australia, Norway and South Africa, have invited UVic representatives to discuss the ways its joint Indigenous and common law-degree program work.
By fostering community empowerment through meaningful consultation, UVic has built an Indigenous law wing that offers stories and lessons, similar to the national world. Ms. Morales hopes it inspires students “to listen deeply and to learn ways to bridge Indigenous and Canadian legal systems with skill and respect.”