Seneca College Odeyto Indigenous Centre

The Odeyto Indigenous Centre provides a space for First Nations, Métis and Inuit students to learn and gather.

The Centre has office space, a computer laboratory, a kitchen and space for Indigenous elders.The 1,800 sq. ft. Centre is an addition to an existing building on Seneca College’s Newnham Campus.

The building’s roof is a unique shape designed to mimic a resting canoe.

The roof’s shape and the limited amount of solid wall surface meant the lateral design of the structure had particular challenges for this build.

The centre’s composition is created by a wood-decking roof supported on mass timber glulam arches; the arches extend to the concrete foundation on one side and are supported on steel framing on the hidden side.A set of concrete-grade beam and helical pile foundations (deep foundations with a helix that self-screw into the ground) were used to reach an adequate bearing elevation and support the structure.

These foundations helped to properly support the addition, meet the stringent settlement criteria and they also breached the contaminated soils on the surface.