Architecture honour for UVic building
The National Centre for Indigenous Laws building at the University of Victoria is still under construction, but its architectural design is already winning awards.
Slated to open in late fall, the building received a 2023 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence for its Coast Salish design elements and focus on bringing the surrounding forest into the building.
The design was created through a partnership of three architectural firms led by Two Row Architect, an Indigenous-owned firm, along with Teeple Architects Inc. and Low Hammond Rowe Architects.
The 2,440-square-metre addition to UVic’s Anne and Murray Fraser law building will provide space for the learning and teaching of Indigenous laws.
It will include space for the Canadian Common Law and Indigenous Legal Orders joint degree program, public legal education programs, and classroom, clinical and research spaces for the Indigenous Law Research Unit, Environmental Law Centre, Business Law Clinic and the Access to Justice Centre for Excellence.
The building will include an Elders’ room and garden, and spaces for gathering, ceremony, dialogue, and research. The design creates a flow between the old and new buildings and indoor/outdoor spaces, including an outdoor learning deck, a sky classroom and a maker classroom.
The design emerged through a long engagement process with Elders and members of the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ communities.
The National Centre for Indigenous Laws is a provisional name.
Nature sanctuary gets salmon funds
Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary is receiving $58,608 in funding from the Pacific Salmon Foundation to support salmon stewardship projects in Greater Victoria.
The sanctuary engages about 400 community members across 10-plus riparian stewardship efforts on an annual basis.
The funding from the salmon foundation will go toward restoring the streams and lake to improve habitats for coho and chum salmon.
“This project will allow us to have more participants engaged with our water quality monitoring work aligned with provincial standards,” said Cara Gibson, executive director at the nature sanctuary.
“Also, new this year, we will be teaching participants how to do aquatic plant surveys and build vegetated floating islands to trial low-tech ways to uptake excess nutrients.”
Fifth location for Floyd’s Diner
Floyd’s Diner is opening its fifth location in the region next month, bringing its “heart-break pink” colour scheme and eggs benny menu to The Vic Hotel in the Gorge area.
Floyd’s owner Petr Prusa said the new location will be unique in his chain of eateries in that it will be part of a hotel and also provide room service and possibly cater to conferences.
The Vic, owned by the Evergreen Hospitality Group, underwent a massive renovation in 2022 after the building was used as social housing during the pandemic. The rooms, lobby and public spaces were completely redone and a new exterior facade was built.
Last fall, The Vic won a national award for Best New Entry in property excellence among Canadian hotels.
Prusa said setting up in a hotel will be a new experience for Floyd’s. The other locations are in standalone buildings.
The new location will have about 70 seats, said Prusa.
Floyd’s other locations are in James Bay, Royal Oak, Brentwood Bay and Langford.
Island spas among top 100
Parksville’s Tigh-Na-Mara Resort and the Oak Bay Beach Hotel Boathouse Spa and Baths have been named to the Spas of America’s Top 100 list.
The Grotto Spa at Tigh-Na-Mara was listed as No. 6 and the Boathouse in Oak Bay was named No. 54.
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