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
Market Data | Feb 10, 2016
Nonresidential building starts and spending should see solid gains in 2016: Gilbane report
But finding skilled workers continues to be a problem and could inflate a project's costs.
K-12 Schools | Feb 4, 2016
Grimshaw and BVN design 14-story public school in Australia
The design of the high-rise is based on the template of Schools-within-Schools (SWIS), a system that de-emphasizes age groups.
Education Facilities | Jan 26, 2016
Adjaye Associates, SHoP, and Snohetta selected as three finalists to design the National Veterans Resource Complex
Representatives of the firms will travel to Syracuse University to plan the next steps of their design processes
Market Data | Jan 20, 2016
Nonresidential building starts sag in 2015
CDM Research finds only a few positive signs among the leading sectors.
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.