PROJECT Inuusirvik Community Wellness Hub
ARCHITECTS Lateral Office Inc. (Design Architect); Verne Reimer Architecture Inc. (Prime Consultant)
TEXT Adele Weder
PHOTOS Andrew Latreille
As I entered the Inuusirvik Community Wellness Hub in Iqaluit last fall, it seemed like I was walking through a door into another universe. Aside from the hemispherical St. Jude?s Cathedral down the road, the building is mostly surrounded by starkly orthogonal edifices that relay no urban logic nor sense of place. Next door to the Wellness Hub is the windowless concrete hulk of NorthMart, one of the town?s main grocery stores. Beyond that are scores of former military housing units and recently built shoeboxes. But upon stepping into the Wellness Hub, a visitor is met with curves, birch plywood, and soft daylight seeping in from above.  In contrast to the prefab sheds typical in Iqaluit, the community wellness hub is inflected by curved, indented spaces that deflect wind in the winter and offer green roof decks in milder weather.
The building opened late last year in Iqaluit?s downtown core and was instantly beloved. In a community that struggles with social and geographic isolation, the Wellness Hub could turn out to be the town?s most important new building in years. Spearheaded by Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre director Gwen Healey Akearok, and designed by Toronto-based Lateral Office with Winnipeg?s Verne Reimer Architects as prime consultant, the project offers a refreshing approa...