Projects

Nk’Mip Cultural Centre

Nk’Mip Cultural Centre

Osoyoos, British Columbia
Canada
NkMip

The Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre is a celebration by the Osoyoos Indian Band of its historic landscape and the basis of a strategy to preserve it in perpetuity.

However, the Centre resides in one of the most fragile environments in Canada. The desert landscape surrounding Osoyoos forms the northernmost tip of the Great American Desert, which extends as far south as Mexico.

Introba (formerly Integral Group) provided mechanical engineering services to design this award-winning cultural center. Passive solar design strategies reduced the need for mechanically driven air conditioning. Glazed sections were minimized on the south and west sides, while the south façade tapers to reduce the exposed surface area. The habitable landscaped roof offers thermocycling advantages and allows a more significant percentage of the desert landscape to be re-established on-site. Building site and orientation were key design considerations. Embedding the east building face in the hillside helps moderate the interior temperature while the heavy mass of the building’s concrete and earth walls remove heat during the day and returns it at night. To regulate the temperature more specifically, a radiant heating and cooling system were incorporated in the ceiling slabs and an outdoor air displacement system.

Awards
Medal in Architecture, 2008
Governor General’s Medal in Architecture
Award of Excellence, 2007
Royal Architecture Institute of Canada
AIBC Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, 2007
AIBC Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia
Wood Design Green Building Award, 2007
Canadian Wood Council

Related Projects