Location: Kirkland Lake, ON

Client: Keepers of the Circle

Status: To be constructed in Spring of 2025

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.