A new collaborative higher-ed project from Two Row Architect and DIALOG has been proposed for Canada’s Seneca Polytechnic College in Toronto.

The proposal calls for a new Health and Wellness Centre to be delivered at the eastern edge of the school’s Newnham Campus, transforming an aged sports center structure into a multi-level complex that serves the academic community of more than 30,000. 

“There are a number of big ideas that have inspired this design. One is the idea that this building will be an intimation of what an 'architecture of reconciliation' could look like,” DIALOG Partner Craig Applegath said in a statement. “And such a wonderful way of not only connecting and reconciling Indigenous and settler cultures but also of providing a gateway for potential new Canadian students to imagine what the reconciled future Canada might look and feel like. Another is that this is intended to be a truly environmentally responsible building: with plans for net-zero carbon, and sustainable mass timber — and a wonderful showcase for both.”

The Centre will serve as the new home of the Seneca Student Federation (SSF) in addition to facilities that support a range of student-focused services including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness. Its design is supposedly inspired by a drum circle, which carries the symbolism of “balance, equality, wholeness, and connection.” 

The firms say a “multitude of green building practices will be incorporated,” including rainwater harvesting, solar energy, geothermal energy, renewable building materials like mass timber, and a green roof. A central “drum courtyard” features a fire pit flourish to complete the design, which is being funded in part by SSF capital fees paid by students over several years.

Two Row's Erik Skouris said finally: “The outcome of this circular design signifying a drum demonstrates that the Centre will provide a holistic healing approach within the lives of the students based on Indigenous ways of seeing, understanding, and being in the world that extends beyond the mere act of drumming. Many teachings across Turtle Island use the circle to represent balance and equality, wholeness, and connection. The circle is unbroken and made of equal, connected and infinite points. The Creator is at the centre of the courtyard, around which all living things — including students — engage. All programs radiate from this centre and have a special and direct connection to it. The drum voices our connection to all creation when we move and strengthens our bonds to each other when we drum together.”

The project could break ground later this winter with an expected completion date set for 2026.