Sacajawea 204 Gage Supportive Housing

Invizij is proud to be working with Sacajawea Non-Profit Housing and Flourish Development Group to design Indigenous-focused supportive housing, composed of affordable apartments and integrated healthcare services, to be located at 204 Gage North in downtown Hamilton.

With a palette inspired by the four sacred medicines (tobacco, cedar, sage, and sweetgrass), the six storey building will provide 40 studio units for Indigenous residents. The ground level is comprised of supportive program, providing space for on-site staff, visiting practitioners, interior bicycle storage, as well as a kitchen and dining area at grade to supply residents with one meal a day. Each residential level contains ten studio units and one small office for staff supervision; 20% of all units will be meet barrier-free standards for accessibility. At the sixth storey, a landscaped roof terrace will provide private, exterior amenity space for the vulnerable tenants, as well as a secondary interior amenity space (lounge), more offices, and a laundry room.

The design team is looking into opportunities for imbedding Indigenous artwork into the building’s design, and are currently in negotiations with the fire department to allow Indigenous ceremonial fire ceremonies on the private roof terrace. With a focus on preserving and protecting our natural environment, the building will be designed equivalent to the Passive House US (PHIUS+ 2021) standard, helping to reduce the building’s overall energy consumption, thus reducing its associated emissions throughout its life cycle, and incorporating technologies being developed to combat climate change.