Niagara West YMCA

From Switzerland, to our construction sites right here at home! 🇨🇭✈️🏗️

Our principal Emma recently had the opportunity to tour the factory of SIGA, one of the global leaders in high-performance building envelope and air-sealing systems. Hearing the story of a company so deeply committed to sustainability—and driven by the mission to “create a world of zero energy loss buildings”—was incredibly inspiring.

To make the trip even better, Emma & her family stayed at the SIGA guesthouse next door—a beautiful former orphanage that has been meticulously restored and rebuilt into an ultra-low-energy accommodation.

We love seeing this level of international climate dedication come full circle on our own active job sites. We are currently using SIGA’s high-performance tapes and membranes to achieve superior airtightness and energy efficiency on several projects, including:
🏢 Indwell’s 174 Ottawa St. Apartments: Ensuring a continuous, high-performance air seal for this crucial multi-unit affordable housing expansion.
🏥 The War Memorial Children’s Hospital Conversion (London): Bringing a 1922 Neoclassical brick landmark up to modern, near-Passive House efficiency standards through a complex, high-performance heritage retrofit.
High-level precision meets local community impact. We’re proud to build with materials that safeguard both our heritage structures and our collective future! 🌍💚
#SustainableConstruction #PassiveHouse #BuildingEnvelope #GreenBuilding #HeritageRetrofit AffordableHousing Architecture SIGA ZeroEnergyLoss ConstructionInnovation @siga_north_america ...

Invizij had a great time at the @indwell.ca Hope and Homes Hamilton Celebration Dinner, co-presented by Flourish!

The evening’s theme, Stories of Courage, highlighted the tenant experience—honouring the courage individuals demonstrate as they move into Indwell housing and change their lives for the better, through Indwell’s programs.

We are deeply proud to work alongside Indwell and to celebrate these meaningful stories in community together.

Can you spot our Ottawa Street Apartments project in the background of slide 3? 👀😊 ...

A pleasure to attend the YMCA Child Care Centre grand opening at 26 Arrowsmith Rd in Hamilton yesterday! This project created 54 much-needed affordable childcare spaces for children in Stoney Creek, taking 6 months from start to the end of construction, thanks to Schilthuis Construction`s push to complete it under a very tight budget.

Our firm oversaw the design of the classrooms in the existing mixed use building, alongside an excellent team of consultants: @ckengineering(mechanical & electrical) @kalos_engineering (structural) and @threeseasonslandscapes (landscape).

Heather and the YMCA staff were in charge of interior design--choosing a lovely mix of natural materials and a calming color palette.

It`s great to see how everything has come together, and we especially love the custom LEGO YMCA sign inside the entry vestibule! YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford

*Tasty donuts provided by @grandadsdonuts 🍩 ...

“This is the best place I’ve ever lived”. - Karl

We had a wonderful time celebrating the Grand Opening of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church/ @indwell.ca Magnolia Apartments 🌸 yesterday. Our highlight was hearing new tenant Karl, who had been baptized at St. Peter’s as an infant, share that after a long road of struggles, this is the best place he has ever lived. 💜 That is our goal with every project, and it fills our heart with joy, Karl! ☀️

Converting part of a church facility into affordable housing is no small feat, but the benefits of keeping the south wing of this beautiful mid century building in downtown Kitchener was entirely worthwhile. We can’t say enough how beautiful the courtyard is and wish it could be a feature in all future projects. 🌟

THANK YOU to the St. Peter’s congregation for donating 2/3 of their building to those in the community in desperate need of a safe place to call home, to Flourish, Indwell, and our whole consultant team and to all the contractors who made this dream a reality! ...

We couldn’t be happier with these photos of @indwell.ca`s redevelopment of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in downtown Kitchener!

Invizij and Indwell had the opportunity to help the congregation live out its call to “love your neighbour as yourself” by creating deeply affordable, supportive housing within the south portion of the building. Attendees at this Thursday’s grand opening will find a renovated wing that now includes more than 41 studio apartments across the ground, second, and third floors, along with Indwell’s new Kitchener-Waterloo regional offices and tenant support spaces. The need for affordable housing struck the downtown congregation in a new way back in 2024, after discovering a family of three living in an air vent behind the church building.

While St. Peter’s and Indwell will continue operating independently, the redevelopment creates opportunities for connection through shared amenities including a community kitchen and enhanced outdoor courtyard. The project carefully worked within the existing building envelope, introducing an addition beneath the bridge at the church entrance and a new elevator shaft near the courtyard. Renovations also extended to the building’s north wing and sanctuary spaces.

Projects like this demonstrate how existing community assets can be thoughtfully transformed to address urgent housing needs, while preserving the character and history of a meaningful gathering space. The result is a beautiful beginning for both new tenants and lifelong church members.

A huge thank you to the team of dedicated consultants involved in this project!

Flourish
@landwise.team
Kalos Engineering
@ckengineering
@zonengineeringinc
BELi
Seferian Design Group
Counterpoint Engineering
@lmdg_ltd ...

More drone photos for us to enjoy! 😍 How special to see the progress of Sacajawea 204 Gage Supportive Housing from this vantage point. We`ve come a long way from the September groundbreaking.

This exciting collaboration with @sacajaweahousing and Flourish Development Group will deliver 40 units of supportive housing for indigenous tenants to 204 Gage North in downtown Hamilton. As seen in the beautiful render (slide 3) the building’s palette will be a mix of earthy tones - inspired by the four sacred medicines (tobacco, cedar, sage, and sweetgrass). The ground level will be used for supportive programs, providing space for on-site staff, visiting practitioners, interior bicycle storage, as well as a kitchen and dining area.

With a focus on preserving and protecting our natural environment, Sacajawea will be designed equivalent to the Passive House US (PHIUS+ 2021) standard, helping to reduce the building’s overall energy consumption and associated emissions throughout its life cycle.

Drone photography courtesy of David Pavao.

@sla_architects
@defaveriteam
@sprucelabinc
@landwise.team ...

How do you build on really tight urban site? Here`s an example of how Schilthuis Construction is building a 4 storey addition to the @indwell.ca building at the corner of Ottawa & Cannon (with the @cannoncoffeeco on the ground floor. The structure is quickly being lifted into place with a @stubbesprecast total precast system that includes structure, insulation, & cladding.

These drone photos capture the four-storey addition to @indwell.ca `s Ottawa Street Apartments--a project now in its second phase that is bringing 38 additional units of affordable housing to Hamilton`s vibrant Crown Point East neighbourhood.

The project`s first phase revitalized the former Queens Hotel at the corner of Ottawa and Cannon street, delivering 12 studio units of affordable housing to the community and a new home for The Cannon, a popular local café.

It`s wonderful to get a bird`s eye view of this development as it evolves and grows from the ground up.

Many thanks to David Pavao for the photos! ...