Gitanmaax Community and Administrative Building
Hazelton, British Columbia

The Gitanmaax Community is located at the confluence of the Skeena and Bulkley Rivers, just north of Hazelton, in west-central British Columbia. The project is envisioned to reunify the Gitxsan (a people of the X’san) First Nations' political, social, and cultural organizations, which are currently dispersed throughout the town of Hazelton. The building would consolidate all of these organizations into one space, located on their own land.

The total program implementation will be phased. The first phase will include Band Administrative Offices, Health Centre, Child Care, and leasable office space. The program components are organized around a communal atrium space, which is anchored by the Elder’s Lounge on one end, and a circular Council Chamber at the other end.

The program components are contained in two converging arced wings, which are symbolic of the X’san (Skeena) and the Wa Dzun Kwuh (Bulkley) Rivers that were the life blood and site of the original settlement of Gitanmaax.

The building is designed with a disciplined grid of post-and-beam structure, which allows the flexibility to re-organize the internal layout as programmatic requirements change in the future.

A high level of sustainability has been achieved in the design of this building. For example, the structure is designed to utilize locally grown and harvested timber, and to maximize opportunity for the employment of local labour. A field of geothermal wells adjacent the building provides heating and cooling and will make this building highly energy efficient. The building is designed to meet the standards of a LEED® Gold rating.