The Inuit Heritage Trust is leading the planning process for the new Nunavut Inuit Heritage Centre (NIHC), with the support of Nunavut Tunngavik inc., Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Kitikmeot Inuit Association, and Kivalliq Inuit Association. The ‘urgent’ need for heritage facilities was identified in the 1993 Nunavut Agreement but it has yet to be realized. An approximately 5,500 sq. m.

Centre will be built in Iqaluit and, as well as providing exhibitions and programs locally, will have a mandate to foster the development of satellite centres in each region and coordinate territory-wide collaborative exhibitions and programs. The NIHC is conceived of as a Centre for Nunavut Inuit that focuses on: Living heritage,

The continuity of Inuit culture and language,

The preservation and exhibition of cultural belongings. The NIHC will support reconciliation and healing by bridging generations, allowing Inuit to connect with their Elders and ancestors as well as with non-Inuit through objects and stories. The legacy of colonialism – the residential school system, the rupture of families through relocation to communities, the TB crisis and the 60’s Scoop – and marginalization of Inuit culture, values and traditions in present-day Nunavut left many Inuit interested in reconnecting with their collective past to find a stronger sense of identity and culture.

Takuniarvik – a place to view As a preeminent cultural facility in the North, the Nunavut Inuit Heritage Centre must act as a beacon, welcoming and signalling its presence to peoples across Nunavut. Born from the arctic landscape, the diversity of Inuit culture and traditions should be reflected in this new facility which will become a vehicle for Nunavummiut to heal and move forward by passing on and celebrating cultural traditions.



The current facility will provide a means for historical artefacts to be repatriated to Nunavut.

The artefacts are protected at the heart of the building, the Uummati, but the passing of knowledge between Elders and youth will be a constant occurrence throughout the facility as opportunities for interactions are created between individuals moving through the generous public space in the facility. These interactions between the different generations will contribute the continuity of the Inuit culture and language. The variability of curated space provides respite from the elements during all seasons and conditions experienced in Iqaluit.

The facility’s programmed spaces fall under a single roof, protecting the users from the elements, while concealing the building into the landscape. This proposal provides a framework onto which the Inuit Elders and community can imprint appropriate and relevant symbols. The low-sloped roof provides one such opportunity.

While not designed for public access, the roof’s terraces provide support for creating interventions by Nunavummiut to denote the building in culturally relevant ways, signifying the centre as a place of knowledge and learning of the past, present, and future. At the centre of the building lies the heart of the facility, the Uummati. This core contains collections storage space, an environmentally controlled area that will preserve historic cultural belongings, and a long-term exhibition gallery, a space that will allow artefacts to be on display for the general public to appreciate.





Establishing a Category A-level museum space in the demanding climate of Iqaluit requires special care. This world class museum environment provides an opportunity for the repatriation and preservation of Inuit heritage objects from their temporary location in southern institutions. Surrounding the collections storage space is the substantial Uummati wall.

This gabion wall, physically constructed with rocks and minerals collected from various geological areas of Nunavut, symbolizes that people from all regions of Nunavut are protecting the cultural belongings within the Uummati. The rough stones are shaped to fit inside the metal frame of the gabion wall and will showcase the diversity and beauty of Nunavut’s landscape. Where possible, stones making up the gabion wall could be taken as raw material for carving and replaced by new stones brought by visitors from different communities of Nunavut, encouraging a tradition of the people of Nunavut physically reshaping the facility.

The facility is an attraction and a proud symbol of an evolving Nunavut, honoring its past, celebrating its present, and confident in its future. While numerous buildings in Iqaluit sit lightly on the ground on stilts the proposed structure is firmly rooted into the bedrock; built of timeless, long-lasting materials to establish the NIHC and its contents as a permanent part of Nunavut’s landscape.

Client: The Inuit Heritage Trust Type: Competition Date of Completion: May 2023 Competition Team Architects: 1x1 architecture & ALA Architects Landscape Architect: Groupe BC2 Structural Engineer: Crosier Kilgour Sustainability Consultant: Crosier Kilgour Civil Engineer: WSP Mechanical/Electrical Engineer: WSP Cultural Design Consultant: Jennifer Unialaaq Danision Filed under Competition

📌 Nunavut Inuit Heritage Centre
🏢 1x1 architecture
📍 Nunavut