Thursday, April 27, 2023 (Toronto) — Seneca Polytechnic is embarking on a multi-million-dollar capital project to develop a complex for health and wellness that is infused with Indigenous design, sustainability and inclusion.

Drawing inspiration from the medicine wheel, the Health and Wellness Centre will be a destination for students and employees to support their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness. 

On the pre-design of the building, Seneca is working with DIALOG, an integrated design practice known for building spaces that support collaboration, community and connectivity, and the Indigenous design firm Two Row Architect to incorporate Indigenous architectural form. 

Seneca’s vision is to transform the decades-old Sport Centre at the east end of Newnham Campus into a dynamic multi-storey health and wellness complex that includes traditional medicines, counselling, recreation and varsity sports facilities. The Centre will also incorporate a new home for the Seneca Student Federation (SSF).

The circular shape of the design references the drum circle. The drum circle symbolizes balance, equality, wholeness and connection. At the centre of the complex, the drum circle represents a source of positive energy, bringing with it a natural rhythm to the world around it. 

Funding for the Centre is coming from Seneca, the SSF and the Student Athletic Association (SAA). The SSF and SAA contributions have been funded through capital fees contributed by students over many years. 

The Centre will represent the next phase of development at Newnham Campus, complementing the award-winning LEED Gold-certified Centre for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship, known as CITE, and the award-winning Odeyto Indigenous Centre. 

Landscaped outdoor space surrounding the Centre will provide opportunities to engage with nature. Highlights include a central drum courtyard with fire pit, an extensive arrangement of native plants and trees, regenerative forest, earth mounds and a teaching and leisure rooftop terrace. 

Affirming the commitment to being the sustainable Seneca, a multitude of green building practices will be incorporated, including mass timber, rainwater harvesting, solar energy, geothermal energy, renewable building materials, green roofing, and designing for resilience and operational sustainability.

Subject to approval by the provincial government, demolition of current facilities is slated for winter this year, with an estimated building completion in 2026.

“The Health and Wellness Centre expresses Seneca’s commitment to a holistic approach to the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual elements of wellbeing for our students and employees. This will be a truly inclusive place, where everybody is welcome. We are excited by the opportunities to bring the entire community together in a beautiful new place that reflects our values, and we thank our students – current and past – for helping bring it to life through their generous contributions.”
– David Agnew, President, Seneca Polytechnic

“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. 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."
– Craig Applegath, DIALOG Partner, Architect

The Health and Wellness Centre will be the heartbeat of Seneca. 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.”
– Erik Skouris, Two Row Architecture, Design Lead

Seneca Polytechnic provides a great polytechnic education to prepare our students for great careers. Combining academic rigour and practical, applied learning, we offer our students a seamless transition from education to employment. Expert faculty, excellent staff, outstanding campuses, awesome technology, deep connections with industry: that’s Seneca Polytechnic.  

Driven by its core values, DIALOG is committed to changing the world through great design. An integrated design practice comprising architects, urban planners, interior designers, structural, mechanical and electrical engineers, landscape architects, and sustainability consultants, DIALOG now has over 600 employees across North America. The firm has studios in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and San Francisco. Visit https://dialogdesign.ca/.

Established in 1992 by principal Architect Brian Porter, the name Two Row Architect was chosen to reflect the unique nature of the firm. Two Row Architect is a 100% native-owned business operated from the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, with additional offices in Toronto and Calgary. Since its inception in 1992, the firm has focused on providing services to projects for Indigenous clients as well as those that incorporate Indigenous cultural ideologies and teachings which are manifested in architectural form. Two Row Architect’s focus is on guiding the realignment of mainstream ways of thinking on their journey towards Indigenous ways of knowing, being, design and architecture. Two Row Architect’s goal is to promote architecture that has a positive impact on nature, humanity, and our current sense of civilization.