Lift Church Renovations

Today marked a milestone in Hamilton as ground officially broke at 95 Dundurn, a project dedicated to creating homes and community for Indigenous post-secondary student/ learners who are new to Hamilton. While the rain could have put a damper on the event, Dixie from the Sacajawea board beautifully reframed the moment as a “cleansing” of the land to make it ready for its future residents. Collaborating with SpruceLab for landscape design and Kalos for structural engineering, the architecture team at Invizij is creatively navigating the compact site’s steep grade changes to deliver 31 beds of affordable housing.

Designed for individuals, families, and intergenerational living, the development features barrier-free spaces, streetside plantings, and a proposed rooftop terrace overlooking Jackson Park—all shaped by ongoing collaboration with local students and Indigenous support staff.

This is one of the most complex infill project sites we have worked on to date, and it couldn’t have been possible without the stellar project team (along with many others):

@sacajaweahousing
Flourish - development consultant
@landwise.team - planning
@sprucelabinc - landscape & indigenous consultant
Schilthuis Construction
Kalos Engineering - structural
Collins Engineering - mechanical
Mighton Engineering - electrical
S. Llewellyn - civil engineer
Bruno Uggenti Law
G2S - environmental ...

The latest batch of drone photos by Dave Povao beautifully capture the progress of our @indwell.ca Acorn Flats project, as construction carries on. So lovely to see the building surrounded by lush green tree tops, against the Hamilton skyline!

This supportive housing project is the final phase in the development of the former Royal Oak Dairy site for Indwell. It is their first development for families, with two and three-bedroom units. The building includes eight total pods for23 apartments and one common room. There will be a shared playground for kids and a common room with laundry facilities for parents to build friendships and community connections.

The design of Acorn Flats was intentionally something that can be replicated on other sites, with a three storey walkup model. Each stair is used to directly access two pods, or six apartments, with a common exterior walkway to connect stairs as a secondary egress. We love that the intention of this new typology will create a different sense of ‘ownership’ from tenants, and nurture a connection to the outdoors. ...

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! ...