The Kenaitze Indian Tribe recently opened the Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus (Kenai River People’s Learning Place), a new education center in Kenai, Alaska. The 67,000 sf facility supports core programs and community engagement.
The building is composed of two wings connected by a central indoor plaza. The education wing has classrooms and meeting spaces for the Tribe’s Early Learning preschool, K-12 Yaghanen Youth Language and Culture Program, Community Education and Career Training, and the Dena’ina Language Institute.
The second wing supports school and community activities, featuring a multipurpose room with a second-floor running track. A gathering space can house up to 300 people in banquet-style seating and is used by the tribe for tribal events, meetings, athletics, and other large events. There is also a cultural room for tribal demonstrations.
The campus is designed as a safe place where children can achieve educational milestones while embracing the traditions of the Dena’ina culture. The design responds to local, cultural, and tribal values with each detail providing teaching opportunities beyond the classroom:
- Reclaimed wood is repurposed from the community’s historic cannery, which emphasizes the Tribe’s longstanding fishing traditions.
- A 16-foot diameter tribal seal is embedded in the lobby floor, while a 20-foot diameter rendering of the Tribe’s Traditional Values Wheel is embedded in the multipurpose room floor.
- The building exterior features a custom copper color aluminum panel pattern that simulates salmon skin, a resource central to the Tribe’s identity. The curved design of this element references a circular sense of community.
- Landscape and playground areas were designed to teach children about the natural environment.
To create a warm and nurturing experience, the design emphasized a palette of natural materials throughout the light-filled space. Since overstimulation can result from the use of a strong color scheme, designers selected a balanced combination of accents and natural finishes and textures.
The Kenaitze Indian Tribe was federally recognized as a sovereign, independent nation in 1971 under the Indian Reorganization Act. Today, the tribe has more than 1,800 members who live across the Kenai Peninsula and beyond. It employs about 350 full-time and part-time employees.
On the Building Team:
Owner and/or developer: Stantec
Design architect: Stantec
Architect of record: Stantec
MEP engineer: Stantec
Structural engineer: Stantec
General contractor/construction manager: Blazy Construction Inc.
Related Stories
Architects | Jan 15, 2016
Best in Architecture: 18 projects named AIA Institute Honor Award winners
Morphosis' Perot Museum and Studio Gang's WMS Boathouse are among the projects to win AIA's highest honor for architecture.
| Jan 14, 2016
How to succeed with EIFS: exterior insulation and finish systems
This AIA CES Discovery course discusses the six elements of an EIFS wall assembly; common EIFS failures and how to prevent them; and EIFS and sustainability.
University Buildings | Sep 21, 2015
6 lessons in campus planning
For campus planning, focus typically falls on repairing the bricks and mortar without consideration of program priorities. Gensler's Pamela Delphenich offers helpful tips and advice.
Designers | Sep 21, 2015
Can STEAM power the disruptive change needed in education?
Companies need entrepreneurial and creative workers that possess critical thinking skills that allow them to function in collaborative teams. STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education might be the solution.
Education Facilities | Sep 14, 2015
Gehry unveils plan for Children's Institute, Inc. campus in LA
The new facility, which will have rooms for counseling, afterschool activities, and youth programs, will allow CII to expand its services to 5,000 local children and families.
Education Facilities | Sep 2, 2015
Mock neighborhood simulates ‘real’ driving conditions for automated vehicles
The University of Michigan’s Mcity is a public-private partnership interested in overcoming unpredictable obstacles to driverless travel.
Mixed-Use | Aug 26, 2015
Innovation districts + tech clusters: How the ‘open innovation’ era is revitalizing urban cores
In the race for highly coveted tech companies and startups, cities, institutions, and developers are teaming to form innovation hot pockets.
University Buildings | Aug 13, 2015
Best of Education Design: 9 projects named AIA Education Facility Design Award winners
Georgia Tech's Clough Commons, Boston's Berklee Tower, and seven other facilities were honored for aiding learning and demonstrating excellent architectural design.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
K-12 SCHOOL SECTOR GIANTS: To succeed, school design must replicate real-world environments
Whether new or reconstructed, schools must meet new demands that emanate from the real world and rapidly adapt to different instructional and learning modes, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
UNIVERSITY SECTOR GIANTS: Collaboration, creativity, technology—hallmarks of today’s campus facilities
At a time when competition for the cream of the student/faculty crop is intensifying, colleges and universities must recognize that students and parents are coming to expect an education environment that foments collaboration, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
