Story

OBSIDIAN Is a female and indigenous full service architectural firm, practicing sustainable design in Indigenous Communities across Western and Northern Canada.  Within our practice we design culturally reflective, and environmentally responsive and considerate spaces, in a range of building typologies: cultural and civic, commercial and residential structures and buildings. Engaging a high degree of consideration for use and occupancy within the design of buildings, to produce healthy spaces and building environments with low operations and maintenance costs for their communities is a foundation of our practice.   

Obsidian’s practice focuses on land-based building and something that our Principal, Kelly Edzerza-Bapty has termed ‘Generational Architecture’, in which the structures built within Indigenous communities are built to last for generations.  As an Indigenous and female forward practice, we are committed to working towards the gradual processes of re-building, growing and re-imagining Indigenous Communities and Cultural Centres, from within their own capacity, seeing Architecture as a tool of autonomy for Indigenous Nations.

We believe that planning our Indigenous communities with foresight and holistic thinking is a key aspect of weaving contemporary Indigenous communities that will be resilient for generations.  We believe Building healthy foundations for our Future generations through establishing our autonomy, as Stewards of our Lands, is a primary objective, as well as utilizing our own natural resources within our traditional territories to build the structures of our communities.

 WE ARE

AN INDIGENOUS

&

FEMALE

FORWARD

FIRM

WE PLACE INDIGENOUS

INTELLECT AND KNOWLEDGE

AS THE PRIMARY VOICES

GUIDING

OUR PRACTICE

& PROJECTS