Location: Kirkland Lake, ON

Client: Keepers of the Circle

Status: Under construction

Size: Administration Building- 9,795 sf, Factory- 24,025 sf

Team Members: Eladia Smoke, Shauna Coates, Lily Desmoulins

Keepers of the Circle retained SAI to design and construct a Panel Factory that supports women to take our rightful place leading new building initiatives. The design features an administrative building and the panel factory where the panelized designs will be produced. The administrative portion of the building will include a daycare, a roundhouse to meet and discuss important decisions in a circle, a shared teaching kitchen and staff area, and a counseling / sensory room for quiet moments when needed. These are the spaces that KOTC has learned Indigenous women need to heal, to grow, and to succeed in our chosen path forward.

The panel factory attached to the support building will actively address the housing crisis our nations face. The high-quality panels built by women will help speed up housing availability and point the way for non-Indigenous peoples to follow suit.

Location: Curve Lake, ON

Client: Curve Lake First Nation

Size: 8,891 sq. ft.

Value: $9,436,500

Status: Tender

Team Members: Eladia Smoke, Chelsea Jacobs, Shauna Coates

Smoke Architecture is working closely with the Curve Lake First Nation project team on their new Anishinabek Police Services Building. We are designing a station that provides the nation with a modern police services facility that aligns with the needs of the Anishinabek Police Services (APS) and supports the community’s safety and security. The station will include administration space, detention cells, an evidence room and a sally port. SAI worked closely with the CLFN Police team to ensure the space was designed with both functionality and security considerations in mind. This meant closer detail to door hardware for secure areas, and the incorporation of security features such as 24/7 lighting in critical areas, a buzzer system for access control, and a fenced area with a swing arm gate. While the main priority when designing the building was a secure facility, we did ensure that staff and reception areas had windows and natural lighting.

Location: Napanee, Ontario

Client: Atura Power

Size: 5,942 ft²

Budget: $6.5 million

Status: Tendering, 2026

Team Members: Eladia Smoke, Esther Link, Sarah Gabinet, Lily Desmoulins

Smoke Architecture was contracted by Atura Power to design the Operations and Maintenance Building for the Napanee Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), located alongside the existing Napanee Generating Station in Greater Napanee, Ontario. The building supports the operation and maintenance of the battery storage facility, bringing together a large warehouse with adjoining office, meeting, and staff spaces. The project provided an opportunity to bring a considered architectural approach to a highly functional and technical building type.

The design moves beyond a typical industrial facility to create a building grounded in the history and character of the site. Inspired by the longhouse, the building’s elongated form and parabolic curved roof unify the warehouse and administrative spaces. The warehouse utilizes the familiar form of a Quonset structure, drawing from the agricultural and utilitarian buildings of the surrounding landscape. Exposed glulam structure brings warmth and a natural material expression to the office areas, creating a dialogue between the building’s Indigenous design influences, agricultural context, and contemporary industrial use.

Through its form, structure, materiality, and relationship to the landscape, the project creates a contemporary energy facility that acknowledges the layered histories of the land.