Transitional Facility for Women in Corrections

Location: Scarborough, ON

Client: Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society

Budget: $10.6m

Size: 20,800 sqft

Status: Design Development in Process, 2020

Design Team: Smoke Architecture Inc. with SSA Studio

The Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society is building a new transitional facility for women in corrections. The community-driven project aims to break the cycle of recidivism by supporting the healing, rehabilitation and meaningful re-integration of Indigenous women offenders back into everyday society. The need for such a facility is strong as there is nowhere in Toronto that currently provides these services - nowhere for these women to call home.

A 24-bed lodge will offer short-term housing and proper support for Indigenous women who are either before the justice system, or re-integrating into society after incarceration. A dozen women will have a structured, mandatory daily program that includes trauma counselling, cultural teaching and healing circles. They can then transition into 12 temporary apartments in the building. The exterior form draws on the Thunderbird from which the society takes it’s name - a powerful spirit of both healing and service to others. The interior circular and domelike spaces are reminiscent of traditional Anishinaabe architecture including the wigwam and roundhouse.

Shelter for Victims of Family Violence | New Construction

Location: Kawawachikimach, QC

Client: Naskapi of Kawawachikimach

Value: $4 million

Size: 3,900 sq. ft.

Status: Completed, 2019

The Naskapi of Kawawachikimach have built a new shelter to care for victims of Family Violence in their community near Schefferville, QC near the Newfoundland border. The Naskapi make extensive use of local labour, and community identity is very strong, which offered plenty of inspiration for this design. The form draws from traditional Naskapi architecture, most particularly the Manukashunanu, a tent-like structure that uses posts and tensed fabric. The roof form and centralized layout of the building reflects this Indigenous architectural precedent.

Location: Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory

Client: Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte

Construction Value: $11 million

Size: 16 600 sq. ft.

Status: Construction Administration, 2024

Team Members : Eladia Smoke, Larissa Roque, Jennifer Kinnunen

Working alongside representatives from Tyendinaga’s Community Wellness Centre and project leadership, SAI developed a new addition to accommodate expanded services for Mohawk Family Services, Good Minds Life Promotions, and Ontario Works, and to support ongoing wellness programming that’s outgrown the existing facility.

The design uses inspiration from the surrounding landscape with exterior walls and windows reminiscent of flaked limestone forms along river valleys. A subtle wave-like roof is inspired by the curved forms of the longhouse and the adjacent existing facility. The design team also worked with representatives to identify outdoor areas that would enhance wellness programming, such as a playground within a new landscaped courtyard and sheltered canopy between the existing building and the new expansion, and an enclosed glass corridor that connects the two buildings for continuous services.

Location: St-Alphonse-Rodriguez, QC

Client: Waseskun Healing Centre

Construction Value: $4.2 million

Size: 4,750 sq. ft.

Status: Tender, 2022

Team Members: Eladia Smoke, Jennifer Kinnunen

Waseskun Healing Centre , established in 1988, is a non-profit private Healing Lodge contracting with the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) and the Quebec Ministry of Public Security for the rehabilitation of Indigenous men from penitentiaries, detention centres and communities. Waseskun uses the teachings of the medicine wheel to address all aspects of an individual - the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual - in order to provide balance in an individual’s life so he can successfully reintegrate into his community or society. In addition to the primary healing done through programs and one-on-one work with the Elders and Helpers, Waseskun provides cultural and spiritual teachings that enhance an individual’s healing and help with reintegration back into communities and urban settings. They are seeking to build a 12-bed facility for offenders on conditional release.

The form combines modern structure with traditional elements such as 13 Grandmother Moons in the Medicine Room and 7 peeled timber columns on the exterior.

Location: Pickerel, Ontario

Client: Henvey Inlet First Nation

Budget: $9.4 million

Size: 11,000 sq. ft.

Status: Tender, 2023

Team Members: Eladia Smoke, Julie Bédard

A welcoming feel and accessibility for community members are key success factors for the new Henvey Inlet Medical Centre. Project leadership, community members, and health professional staff emphasized that the entrance experience must invite members in for wellness support outside of formal appointments. This inspired the roof gestures at entries to bring daylight in from above, forming a connection to sky and openness in these introductory spaces.

Henvey’s connection to land is reinforced in a gathering courtyard in the centre of the facility. A shared teaching kitchen opens into the courtyard, reinforces community connections, traditional food preparation techniques, and nutritional programming.

At the same time, the building’s west wing also hosts private and sensitive family discussions in an outdoor setting. This three season room is off to the side and invites the comforting presence of natural spaces and privacy for that intense family work.

Henvey Medical Centre provides primary health care (including both local and visiting health professionals), community care (mental health & addictions treatment), and family support (child & family services) for the Henvey Inlet First Nation members and surrounding area.