Vancouver-based architect Alfred Waugh discusses the work of Formline Architecture, including the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre on the UBC campus, which won a 2022 Governor General’s Medal in Architecture.

Speaker:
Alfred Waugh, the founder of Formline Architecture, specializes in culturally and environmentally sensitive projects and has extensive experience with First Nations, cultural societies, and educational institutions.

His firm is dedicated to developing solutions that reflect the culture, community, and geographic regions specific to each project. The designs directly respond to site context, topography, climate, and regional materials. And as part of a sustainable design philosophy, Waugh aims to maximize comfort, longevity, functionality, and energy efficiency.

Waugh is Status Indian and part of Treaty 8. He was born and raised in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. He was the first Aboriginal person to graduate with honours from the UBC School of Architecture (in 1993) and become LEED certified and a registered architect. Prior to his architecture degree, Waugh acquired a Bachelor of Arts majoring in urban and regional analysis at the University of Lethbridge (in 1989). He is influenced by native culture, the northern climate, and frontier architecture. His connection to, and respect for, nature is inherent in his work.

*Annual Charles Gordon Lecture on Society and Design*